I love the mystery both in Vandy's life and the mystery the book is taking the reader along. I love a good book with a strong character and something to keep me turning the pages. This is one you'll want to read until the end.

*Trouble in Queenstown* by Delia Pitts is an engaging mystery that pulls you in from the first page. The atmospheric setting and well-developed protagonist create a gripping read. The plot is full of twists and turns, keeping you guessing until the end.

While there were a few slower moments, the overall pacing and tension were strong. The resolution was satisfying, and the story's depth made it a standout.

I’m giving it 4 stars and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a well-crafted mystery. 👍🏻😃

Delia Pitts has been writing mysteries for quite some time, but she is new to me. In Trouble in Queenstown, she introduces hardboiled sleuth Evander Myrick. Myrick’s friends call her Vandy, and that helps to distinguish her from her elderly father for whom she is named; he’s in a memory care unit.

My thanks go to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for the review copies. This book is for sale now.

At first glance, I thought that this detective fiction was set in New Zealand. Queenstown, right? But in this case, the locale is Queenstown, New Jersey. The story opens with Vandy cleaning up a mess in her office just as Leo Hannah storms in and wants to see Evander Myrick. He assumes Myrick will be a Caucasian male, and that Myrick herself is a member of the cleaning staff.

Oops.

Hannah comes to hire Vandy in the wake of his wife’s murder. He knows exactly who did it, he tells her, and he wants her to prove it, starting with some surveillance. Vandy isn’t sure she should take this job, but she has to pay top dollar to keep her daddy in the best facility, so she reluctantly signs on. As the story progresses, there are numerous twists and turns, and the violence escalates. By the story’s end, three different people have tried to hire her for exactly the same case!

The thing I appreciate here is the way Pitts addresses cop racism. So many detective novels require the reader to suspend belief, to assume that every cop is fearlessly dedicated to finding out the unvarnished truth and arresting the perpetrator of the crime, regardless of race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. But as Vandy conducts her investigation, Pitts keeps it real. At one point the detective speaks with a salon stylist that worked on Ivy’s hair, and he tells her that Ivy was afraid of someone at home. Vandy asks if he contacted the police.

“’The police?’ He jerked his neck, pursing his lips as if I’d farted. ‘Girl, you think the cops came here?’ He sniffed. ‘You don’t look like a fool. Maybe I read you wrong.’”

Sadly, the second half of the book doesn’t impress me as much as the first half does. I have a short list of tropes that I never want to see again in a mystery novel, and she trips a few, including my most hated one. I won’t go into details because it’s too far into the story, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but when it appears, I sit back, disengage from the text, and roll my eyes. Ohhh buh-ruther. As I continue reading, I can see who the murderer is well in advance, and the climax itself is a bit over the top, though without the tropes, I mightn’t have noticed this last issue.

In addition to the digital review copy, I have the audio. The reader does a fine job.

The more mysteries a person reads, the staler tropes become. I am perhaps more sensitive than most readers, having logged over a thousand novels in this genre. Readers that have not read many mysteries are less likely to be aware of, and therefore bothered by overused elements, and so this book may please you much more than it did me. But for hardened, crochety old readers such as myself, I recommend getting this book free or cheap, if you choose to read it. Newer readers may enjoy it enough to justify the sticker price.

Evander (Vandy) Myrick is the main character in Trouble in Queenstown. Her life imploded with the death of her college aged daughter. She moved back to her home town (Queenstown) and opened a private eye practice. Leo Hannah hires Vandy to follow his wife who was allegedly being stalked. Leo calls Vandy to his house to deliver her report. When she gets there, Leo’s wife and her alleged stalker are both dead. Because Leo’s aunt is the mayor, the investigation is fast tracked and marked solved. But Vandy decides to do some more investigating and uncovers political corruption and family unrest that involves her own family. Delia Pitts is a gifted writer that has a way with words. The descriptions made me feel like I was in Queenstown with Vandy. Grab a copy now.

I can't wait to read more books featuring detective Vandy Myrick. She's a kickass, take-no-prisoners, complex main character who you can't help but root for. Delia Pitts writing is evocative and sophisticated. She brings the fictional Queenstown to life, both the sordid and heroic characters leaping off the page. Highly recommend.

I tried so hard to like this one. It just didn't keep my attention the way I wanted. I read about 40% then I put it down. The characters and the writing was ok. I just think the plot wasn't as interesting and it seemed to drag. Maybe I'll pick it back up one day.

I was a little taken aback by the opening pages that felt almost like too much right off (similar to my reaction to Christa Faust’s Money Shot), but once we got to the case I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. I like how Pitts divides book into cases based on whose perspective Vandy is looking into, even though it’s an investigation of the same crime throughout. Vandy’s ability to connect with the people she meets on the job, without a king down or losing face, is as engaging as the twists each piece of evidence brings to the plot. The wrap-up felt a little too tidy, but that comes with the genre.

Vandy herself is a tough, lovable wreck coping with loss of her mother and daughter, as well as the ongoing loss of her dementia-patient father, the great police detective Evander Myrick. Add to that a great cast of secondary characters, plus a lived-in feel to the city of Queenstown, and I’m counting the days ‘til we get another book. This has the potential to be a really great detective series.

Started out rough. Almost like the author was trying to make the main character hard and bitter and unlikeable...but like it felt forced. Then there was a lot of questions about what happened. Did end up getting cleared up in the end and got better as read. Nice ending. I did figure it out pretty fast.

Vandy was once a cop like her father until that all went south and is now a P.I. She takes a case that she believes will be an easy divorce case to help out the mayor’s nephew but the case starts to become more and then maybe murder you cannot stop her now. I liked everything about this story from the characters and the story itself. A very entertaining book and the Vandy character along with a few others keeps this story following along until the end. Very much worth the read.

I enjoyed this book immensely! It started off a little slow. But once it picked up. It was like a freight train. While it was a little obvious to me who did it, I still enjoyed the ride! I also actively wanted to fight some of the characters. But it was a good read overall!

I was expecting a cosy mystery but instead got a dark detective novel set in New Jersey, featuring Vandy, a tough-as-nails former police officer. Race crimes , dirty politicians and personal loss feature heavily in this one.

Vandy is hired by the town’s golden boy Leo to find out what his wife is up to. There is something fishy about both him and his story. Vandy finds this out too late.

Vandy doesn't care who she offends, she takes care of herself, and makes sure all her needs are met. She's devoted to her father and her friends and is likely the one you'd want on your side in a battle. She's also fairly unlikeable.

I'd recommend this one if you like hotshot female detective and gritty dialogue.

Thanks to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, and the author for an ARC of this book!

I’ll keep this short and sweet.

I didn’t like the characters, including Vandy, our MC. I found her unnecessarily brash, and I didn’t enjoy spending time with her.

The content felt too preachy with the social commentary. Even when I agree, I don’t need an issue shoved at me throughout a book I’m reading for entertainment.

The writing is fine, though again, I didn’t connect well.

I had an ebook copy and probably wouldn’t have finished it. I wound up solely listening to the audiobook. The narrator does a great job.

*I received a free eARC from Minotaur Books via NetGalley, and a free audiobook download from Macmillan Audio.*

Evander (Vandy) Myrick is a former police officer (following in the footsteps of her father) has left the force and is working as a private investigator in her hometown of Queenstown, New Jersey. So far, her work has consisted of gathering evidence for divorce cases. So, when the nephew of the reigning mayor of Queenstown asks her to compile evidence that his wife is having an affair, it all seems pretty routine. Until it goes sideways and Vandy is caught up in family secrets and more than enough racial tensions.

The first few chapters of this book didn’t fully capture my attention, but I really liked the premise and the main character was definitely interesting. It didn’t take too long to get used to the author’s writing style and I began to really enjoy Trouble in Queenstown. Ms Pitts has crafted a great plot, with some unexpected twists and characters. The story is told at a good pace and as characters and more layers are added to the story, the mystery stays on track.

I thoroughly enjoyed Trouble in Queenstown. Vandy is a smart, feisty woman and she’s one of my new favorite characters in the world of mysteries. I’m looking forward to spending more time with her in the future. NetGalley provided an advance copy.

The book started off slow for me but it kept me interested so I wanted to see how it ended. The book did pick up for me and if it’s a start of a series I would read more by this author

It took me a little bit to warm to the narrator and her style of narration/the dialogue. But I have a soft spot for PIs and I came to like her once her tough facade lifted and I could get a sense of her.

Once I became invested in the story, I enjoyed the mystery as well as the side characters, they added to the story and to the narrator’s life. It seemed like the intro to a series and with the set up of the relationships, I’ll look forward to continuing.

I will read any book based in NJ solely because it was my home state, but I was especially interested in this one.

The story got me in the beginning, I felt the pull to read, but as the story progessed, I began to lose interest. Overall, not a bad read, but wasn't a top read of the year

I really enjoyed this story and the characters. They all had depth and their own challenges, and were also relatable. With Vandy coming back home as a PI after her own tragedies, then reading about her relationships and her grit, I found I'd like to read more about her. I was also learning about Jersey and considering culture, race, politics, policing, sexual orientation, and power as an individual. I thought the twists and turns and backstories were compelling. I look forward to more Delia Pitts books!

Thanks for the ARC from Netgalley, publisher Minotaur Books, and the author.

What a wonderful modern take on the noir detective fiction genre! Vandy is a fantastic reimagining of the classic detective. Being black and a woman means she faces extra obstacles. As a result she is more multi layered than the detectives of the past.

This book has a compelling mystery, and amazing storytelling. The prose is crisp, snappy and descriptive.

The story covers a lot of relevant issues including racism, grief, family trauma and memory loss. All of those elements are wound up in a compulsive mystery that is more of a whydunit than a whodunit.

Overall, this book was a hit and snapped me out of a mini reading slump I was in. Thank you to the author and publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was filled with lies, deceit, scandals and much more. I did not expect the family twist towards the end but I love how it all tied together. Growing up in a small town very similar to Queenstown (Blountstown) it was nice being familiar with some of the surrounding towns mentioned in the book (Quincy/Tallahassee).
This story embodies how treacherous some people in a position of power can be. This was my first time reading anything by this author but it most definitely won’t be my last.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the arc! 💜

3.5 stars. This book started off really strong. I was super invested in the story and how the case was unfolding for Vandy. Even as the story progressed to different cases being the main focal point, I truly wanted to help solve this mystery. But somewhere in the middle, the book got content heavy and I lost a lot of interest. It seemed to just go on and on and didn’t really hold my attention. Fast forward to about 85% of the book and it picked back up again. Overall, the mystery was interesting. The plot twist definitely came out of left field for me, and I feel like it didn’t hit the way it should have because I forgot much of the book due to the middle feeling so long. I would try out another mystery from this author though if the opportunity presented itself. I feel like this would have been great as an audiobook and I may have enjoyed it more.