This is a new private investigator. She is hired to follow a wife who ends up being murdered. Did she miss clues as she wrapped up her surveillance report. Things quickly get messy as she's hours to find out who murdered the victim. Small town policing and corruption complicates matters very quickly. I really. enjoyed the main character.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Trouble in Queenstown.

I love novels featuring female protagonists so this was right up my alley.

Evander “Vandy” Myrick is a former copy turned PI in the small town of Queenstown, NJ, her childhood home. She's still mourning the loss of her beloved daughter, Monica, and struggling to deal with her father's dementia.

When a client, the nephew of the mayor of Queenstown, comes to Vandy with a job, it seems pretty cut and dried. Until two people end upp dead and Vandy discovers the case isn't quite so cut and dried.

Now, using only her wits, her training, and the help of her friends, Vandy sets out to uncover a conspiracy, but will she lose her life over it?

I liked Vandy, but I didn't love her. Honestly, I felt she was terribly naive for a former police officer.

For example, she's shocked when the mayor threatens her friends and their livelihoods, and makes a lot of assumptions (proven wrong) about the suspects and victims in the murder case.

The twist was decent, but the ending was ridiculously hard to suspend disbelief for.

A renegade mayor goes off the rails to protect her reputation and family? Is this a small town thing?

It's hard for me to buy since I'm from the 'big city.'

I did like Vandy's loyal friends, her BFFs, Key, and Sam, but I could have done without the silly 'love triangle' brewing between Key and Sam.

Why does almost every novel regardless of genre need to have a romantic component? It doesn't.

The writing was fine, but the suspense and urgency was lacking.

The narrative became quickly repetitive with Vandy's bed hopping (her way with dealing with grief), and repeated mentions of how much her dad wanted a son (Daddy issues, anyone?).

Vandy didn't seem like a very capable PI; she lucked into the gig, asked questions, and got lucky in the end with the help of her friends.

This was a real treat! The story took off right from the start and I was totally hooked. I was really impressed with the depth the story delivered; I love when there are real emotions interwoven in what could’ve been a standard mystery plot.

I def enjoyed and recommend!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy.

Note: this book is direct in its discussions of loss and grief.

Trouble in Queenstown introduces us to private investigator Evander "Vandy" Myrick. From the start, Vandy brings a no-nonsense intensity to everything she does. A potential case of infidelity quickly turns into an investigation of murder. We're pulled into the mystery through Ms. Pitts' use of having Vandy examine the case through the stories of the other characters.

This mystery pulls you in with its quick pace and believable characters. Looking forward to hopefully more mysteries starring Evander Myrick.

Delia Pitts does a great job in writing this type of book, it had everything that I was hoping for from the mystery genre. It had me on the edge of my seat and thought it worked well overall. I enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book and how they interacted with the book. It left me wanting to read more in this universe and glad I got to read this.

ex-cop, New-Jersey, private-investigators, black-African-American-thriller, fast-pace, investigation, family, divorced, hard-boiled, dementia, corruption, racism, class-consciousness, suspense****

Opens with a bang to set the stage for the personality of main character Evander “Vandy” Myrick and never slows down. Mother is dead and father is in care facility because of dementia which stole his long history of local cop and everything else from him and left his daughter with an underlay of sadness. Enter the lying client swiftly followed by the murders and a very complex investigation. Hope this will become a series!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Available 6 Jul 2024

Trouble in Queenstown is classic murder mystery about Evander Myrick as a detective turned PI solving a murder in a small town. As someone who loved Nancy Drew and Veronica Mars I’m a fan! I liked the characters and thought the mystery was engaging. There were themes of race, grief, class and family as well as a diverse set of characters that added dimension to this mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Q town through “Vandy” Myricks POV as she put together the pieces of this mystery.

It was a good book and one I will definitely be putting on in my store. However, there were just a few plot points I was confused on!

Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts has a gripping storyline. The setting of Queenstown was the highlight due to the author's ability to vividly describe the town and its surroundings.

I enjoyed the well-developed characters, Each character feels authentic and adds depth to the story. The book had great pacing.

I recommend it to fans of the mystery genre. If you're looking for a captivating read with a compelling plot and well-developed characters, this book might be worth adding to your reading list.

Boy, do I love a strong, female protagonist! And Vandy delivers on this like nobody else. Being a jersey girl myself, I was already rooting for her little did I know that I’d be adding a new author and series to my must read list. Really enjoyed this one. It’s cozy, but fierce.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and the premise of this book. It vaguely reminded me of Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie. This too is a mystery, and it is set in a small fictional town in New Jersey. It starts with a double homicide of the town celebrity’s wife and what is presumed to be her lover.
Vandy (female, name after her father) is the local PI that had become deeply entwined with the entire case.

I enjoyed the premise of this mystery quite a bit but I felt some of the story was a bit redundant (harping on a twisted pen) and then some extra drama was thrown in to try to give it a shock factor.

I definitely would have liked to learn more about Vandy and her past life too.

This is the first ever ARC I’ve had and I definitely enjoyed getting a sneak peek at this upcoming novel. Will definitely read more from Pitts in the future!

3.5 star out of 5 rating for me.

It's hard enough to be a black woman and a cop, but once Vandy Myrick's world was shattered she moved back to her hometown of Queenstown, New Jersey to become a private investigator. She handles a lot of divorce cases, and Leo Hannah, the mayor's nephew, asks her to spend a week following his wife, Ivy. He provides several excuses; she might have a lover; he's thinking about a divorce; she has a stalker; no, maybe Leo is the one with the stalker. The morning Vandy is to turn in her report to Leo, she walks in on a tragedy. There's a dead man on the floor. Ivy is dying, and Leo says he killed the stalker, a Hispanic taxi driver. The police wrap up the case quickly because the mayor says it's solved. But, suddenly Vandy has two paying clients who want to know the truth behind the deaths. Vandy's loved ones are threatened, and she's beaten, but she's determined to find the answers in a murder case that reeks of racism, politics, and corruption.

I was fortunate enough to receive an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Vandy Myrick is a former police officer now a private investigator, she comes back to Queenstown after a tragedy occurs and to spend time with her father, who has dementia. Vandy gets hired by Leo Hannah to follow his wife. Leo claims he thinks his wife is in danger of that she might be cheating on him. Nothing looks out of the ordinary and on the day she goes to hand in her report to him Leo’s wife, Ivy, is dead by a supposed stalker Hector Ramires. As things don’t add up Vandy goes to investigate further. The book was a fun thriller but there were parts that dragged on a bit. But everything gets pieced together nicely. Recommend the read

Let's talk about Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts! Warning: Once you meet characters like Evander "Vandy" Myrick and the men in her investigations and life, you WILL get attached!

When Vandy takes on client Leo Hannah, the Mayor's nephew for a simple divorce case, it turns into so much more. Two deaths, four investigations, one case. Oh yea, and one badass woman determined to uncover it all.

Mystery and thriller lovers will devour Trouble in Queenstown and be eager for more from Delia Pitts and her cast of characters.

Delia Pitts has weaved an intriguing and complex tale with private investigator Vandy who is hired for a job that appeared to be easy peasy. When the client becomes embroiled in a murder, it is Vandy who sees something is amiss and finds herself with yet another client and another one looking for the same thing…who killed Ivy and Hector.

The author did a great job with this well-written and evenly paced drama that I could not put down until all was said and done. The writing was crisp, making it easier to follow along with what the author intended. The mystery was well-defined and the more the story progressed, the more we learned about who was doing what to whom. And the big reveal … I did not see that one coming. This is an excellent read and I hope this is a series because I want to know more about Vandy and her friends.

At 3.5 stars rounded up, Trouble in Queenstown begins well enough. A former cop turned private investigator, Vandy Myrick takes on racism as she chases down adultery in her small town. Her latest case of surveillance leads to her finding her clients wife murdered and a seemingly innocent man dead and accused of the murder. Working for the victim’s father and the accused murderer’s sister, Vandy works a twisted unexpected case where privilege and corruption run wild in the town.. The first three quarters of this story was interesting and I liked Vandy and the supporting characters well enough. The ending went a little wild and felt just a tad extreme to me. The bad guy was expected but the villainy seemed forced and unnecessary and I would have just settled for an easy arrest to end a satisfying mystery. This is a first book in a series and I would try the second book in the series. My voluntary, unbiased, and non-mandatory review is based upon a free review copy from NetGalley.

I hate giving reviews like this but I want to be honest. I could not finish this book, read 40% but couldn’t read anymore. Interesting plot, but did not enjoy the writing style. Very slow moving. Just couldn’t get into the writing style, struggled to pick this book up. I’m sure many will really enjoy this book though as the plot is very intriguing

This story follows Vandy, a PI on a case where every turn connects to someone or something else. There are touches of racism throughout the book and the challenges that are faced. Through racism, corruption, and unlikely partnerships, we follow along to see if she can solve the case! I definitely enjoyed this book!

Delia Pitts presents some intriguing characters in her book Trouble in Queenstown although they aren't always firmly connected. The PI is a Black woman named Vandy who has occasional and fairly urgent searches for a one night partner which are amusing but a little outside her more serious searches as a private investigator which look into divorce cases. She is hired by the mayor's nephew to look into his wife's possible transgressions, but when the wife, Ivy, and her friend Hector, are found dead, Vandy knows that something is not right.

The relationships that lend depth and interest to the novel are those of Vandy with her father, Evander (after whom Vandy is named), who is at a retirement home. He is a retired policeman, and Vandy wants to be like him in her new position. His assistant, a thoroughly likeable young man, is a close friend of Vandy's, and they remotely play chess with one another.

This book has a fairly quick series of plot twists, and by the end of the book, there a plenty of curve balls that keep the pace rolling.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the privilege of reading this book.

This book was pretty good. I had never read anything by this author before, but I enjoyed the story. However, it didn’t grab my attention immediately, and at points felt very slow.