4.5 stars! Please let this be a series! Evander "Vandy" Myrick is one of the best PI characters to come around in the 21st century!
Vandy is a PI back in her home town after her police job went sideways. She’s not interested in deep romantic relationships, her adult child has passed away, and her father has dementia. What starts out as a straightforward PI gig ends up taking twists and turns. Queenstown, NJ is a small town w/ that small town mentality, where everyone knows everyone and threads and pasts run deep. Vandy gets more than she bargained for when her original gig turns into a murder investigation that some very important people are not keen on her solving.
As I said before, PLEASE let this be a new series! Vandy is high on my list of fav characters for 2024.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-arc.*

I had to abandon this book because I just couldn't get into it, even after trying a few different times. I would be willing to read future works by this author.

thank you to MacMillan Audio and St Martin's Press for review copies! Note, the voice performance by Bahni Turpin is excellent, she captured the tone and style of a procedural as well as the complex racial, gender, and simmering family and professional tensions that would surely influence the main character, Vandy, in subtle and complex ways.

This is a strong police procedural, one that I for me is a complex one to review because all the strengths of a good procedural are present and there is great power in developing procedurals that explore a female Black woman as the lead PI. There are the usual tropes and styles with a procedural/noir style read and I think it was the leaning a bit more into noir style themes, while at times also feeling a little cozy, that kept me feeling distant from the plot. Loved the character, was all in for the themes, but something felt a little flat for me as a reader. This is often a feeling I have with an early book in a series, the start of a series... learning the tone and style of an author and character, getting to know the background themes and settings; that kind of set up can pay off down the road but sometimes diverts me as a reader.

So why 4 stars? The audiobook that I reviewed is well done, the voice acting and pacing are great and the performance definitely captured what I feel are the intentions and style of Delia Pitts. I also think that the book overall is strong, interesting, and perfect for the right reader and could serve as a start to a series that develops into a great and favorite main character for many.

Evander (Vandy) Myrick moved back to her hometown after the death of her daughter and is working as a private investigator. She is also dealing with her father's advancing Alzheimer's and she tries to spent as much time with him as she can. She is hired by the nephew of the mayor to investigate his wife, who he suspects is having an affair. Vandy thinks this is a rather routine job and on the day she is supposed to give her report, the wife and another person are murdered. Suddenly, Vandy finds herself in a situation that is far from routine. As she continues to investigate the murders, she unburies secrets that many powerful people in town would prefer to keep hidden. An intriguing mystery with several twists and turns.

This review was originally posted on Books of My Heart


Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I always enjoy a police procedural and new settings. Trouble in Queenstown is a private investigator who used to be a cop. Vandy has moved back to her hometown to deal with her grief and take care of her father as he ages.

At first, it seemed somewhat quirky and cliche, more like a cozy mystery but once the story moved along it was more of what I expected. Vandy has some typical PI issues like earning enough and taking odd cases to pay the bills. She has chosen not to drink alcohol or carry a gun. I think she needs to work on her self defense skills or get a dog if she is going to go into those high risk situations and cases.

Her case starts with trying to cultivate work with the establishment power brokers and ends up going against their corruption. The happenings are rather over the top but eventually she gathers evidence to prove her case. Vandy reconnects with old friends from high school and develops some new friends.

I enjoyed learning about these characters and their world. I look forward to more cases in Queenstown.

What a read. From the moment that you start this book you are taken away to another place and cannot return until the last page is read. It moves along at a great pace, has interesting characters that you want to know and love and a story that will not disappoint, keeping you interested and turning pages until the end. This is a must read book, no doubt about it.

This one could have been great...

Small town politics and hidden family secrets are always a fun story premise, but it just wasn't well executed in this book.

The main character was unlikeable (trying too hard to be a badass, tough-guy PI), the character interactions were unbelievable, and the ending was unrealistic. Not to mention that it felt like it needed a few more rounds of editing (we've already met these characters multiple times, you don't need to give their last names AGAIN).

On the plus side, the bond between the main character and her father was heartwarming. Her patience and dedication in the face of his dementia was commendable.

Synopsis:
Evander “Vandy” Myrick became a cop to fulfill her father’s expectations. After her world cratered, she became a private eye to satisfy her own. Now she's back in Queenstown, New Jersey, her childhood home, in search of solace and recovery. It's a small community of nine thousand souls crammed into twelve square miles, fenced by cornfields, warehouses, pharma labs, and tract housing. As a Black woman, privacy is hard to come by in "Q-Town," and worth guarding.

For Vandy, that means working plenty of divorce cases. They’re nasty, lucrative, and fun in an unwholesome way. To keep the cash flowing and expand her local contacts, Vandy agrees to take on a new client, the mayor’s nephew, Leo Hannah. Leo wants Vandy to tail his wife to uncover evidence for a divorce suit.

At first the surveillance job seems routine, but Vandy soon realizes there’s trouble beneath the bland surface of the case when a racially charged murder with connections to the Hannah family rocks Q-Town. Fingers point. Clients appear. Opposition to the inquiry hardens. And Vandy’s sight lines begin to blur as her determination to uncover the truth deepens. She’s a minor league PI with few friends and no resources. Logic pegs her chances of solving the case between slim and hell no. But logic isn’t her strong suit. Vandy won’t back off.

In "Trouble in Queenstown," Delia Pitts exposes readers to the grim world of private detective Vandy Myrick. The complicated relationships between race, class, bereavement, and family in the close-knit fictitious town of Queenstown, New Jersey, are explored in this gripping mystery book. A fascinating protagonist is Vandy Myrick, a Black lady negotiating the difficulties of privacy in a small community. She battles her own issues and handles the gritty grind of divorce disputes to make ends meet as a former police officer turned private investigator. When she agrees to follow the mayor's nephew's wife, the plot really gets going. A series of incidents culminate in a racially tinged murder with ties to the powerful Hannah family.

The advantages of "Trouble in Queenstown" are its captivating storyline and the striking portrayal of a community full of secrets. The story delves into the convergence of Vandy's personal and professional challenges, giving her more nuance. The way Queenstown is shown as a little area encircled by pharma labs, warehouses, and cornfields heightens the anxiety in the scene.


The book does, however, contain certain flaws. Unfortunately, the character development comes across as a little bland. Many characters aren't deep enough to be genuinely memorable. The riddles are initially intriguing, but they wrap up a bit too neatly and stray into the fantastical, which makes it hard to completely buy into what is happening.

The reader found solace in the Jersey environment, since I have a thing for any novel with a Jersey girl in it. "Trouble in Queenstown" is a well-written mystery with an engaging premise, to sum up. For readers who like a small-town setting with a blend of personal and professional turmoil, this book nevertheless makes for an enjoyable read, even though the character development and the mystery' conclusion may need some work. Mystery lovers will probably find this to be a valuable addition to their reading collection because of Delia Pitts' excellent investigation of Queenstown's underbelly.

Sincere gratitude to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for a critical review.

The best part of this book is the main character. I love bad ass female characters. THis role is usually taken by men, so it was a breath of fresh air to have a female in the role. The elements of race underlying were interesting as well.

As a PI with a police background, Evander "Vandy" Merrick's caseload mostly contains surveillance for divorce cases. It's hardly a surprise when Leo Hannah hires her to tail his wife though he muddies the waters about his motive for wanting the job done. When Ivy Hannah is found murdered in her home, Vandy is hired again - this time to capture a killer.

The first sentence of the book threw me and I nearly DNF'ed. That would have been a mistake on my part as the story is rich and nuanced. It takes a moment to find a soft spot for the main character, but Vandy's determination and single-mindedness demand full support. Meanwhile, the plot unrolls at a rapid, yet comfortable rate. The final scenes were immensely satisfying leaving me with a profound craving for another book.

I highly recommend this novel with the caveat that this story encompasses many difficult subjects. A cosy, it is not.

Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing Group and Netgalley for this complimentary eARC with particular appreciation to Steve Erickson. My opinions are my own, honest and true.

Author Delia Pitts introduces private investigator Vandy Myrick, a former police officer trying to make it as a black woman in a town with racial tensions just below, and sometimes above, the surface. Hired to gauge a threat against a client's wife, Vandy soon begins to wonder if she wasn't actually hired for less noble reasons. A murder with racial overtones threatens to uncover the town's deepest secrets, and powerful people will go a long way to protect those secrets.
I really enjoyed this book. The characters are well-developed and each has flaws that impact their relationships and the plot. The book is a little slow at the beginning as we are introduced to the town and the characters, but when it takes off about a third of the way through, it really takes off! There's a strong hint at the end that there's more to come, and I can't wait to read more.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book that just did not do much for me. Vandy is a female private investigator. She was a little too harsh and she did not connect with me as I was reading. I wanted to get involved in who was guilty and why.
It was a very slow read and I had to really concentrate to keep reading.
Thank you NetGalley, Delia Pitts and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of Trouble in Queenstown. This is my personal review.

I liked the idea of this book, but did not care for the character..

It was a them against us and the little guy can do whatever.

I thought it was very one sided.

NetGalley/ St. Martin's Press July 16,2024

Deception, Corruption, Secrets, and Murder.

This was quite an engaging mystery novel. Vandy is a PI who has gone through a lot in her life, and these experiences have impacted her thoughts, actions, and choices. Losing her daughter to a senseless incident, Vandy has to leave the police force and sets out on her own as a PI. Now, she is not the best PI, as we discovered while reading this book. She is good and comes to the correct conclusions. But she misses a lot that is right in front of her. She even admits to this when confronted with the facts. I like that she doesn't think she is perfect and will rely on help from others to solve the case. 

There is a lot to unpack in this book, including Vandy's relationship with her father, the men she cycles through, and the town itself. Even though it is obvious who the killer is (or at least from what is laid out in the book), there were some surprises that I did not expect. 

I don't know if this will become a series, but I hope it will. I can see future cases with Vandy on the case doing her best to put things right that are wrong.

We give this book 4 paws up.

“Trouble in Queenstown” by Delia Pitts
More Twists and Turns than a bowl of Spaghetti
It took me a chapter or two to get truly engaged in this story; but then it was so-o-o hard to put it down. There are some things one must attend to no matter how good the book one is reading. I thoroughly enjoyed trying to figure out the who, why, when, etc before the author spelled it out for me. Good Luck being the super sleuth and Happy Reading ! !

I ended up DNFing this after just a few chapters. I can see what others might like about it, but I stopped reading a lot of American detective novels a while ago because I found them so formulaic - hot shot man bangs his way through every lady in the book, punches lots of people, somehow solves a crime. I requested Trouble in Queenstown because I was hoping for hot shot lady detective who focuses on the crime. But, it’s still formulaic. In three chapters, I read so much about hot shot lady banging her way through all the men, and also punching someone with methodical finesse that doesn’t seem plausible in real fights, that I lost interest before even getting to the crime. The first sentence of being horny tipped me off right away, but I was hoping for some more substance.

It reads like old film-noir PI, which some people totally dig and all the power to them, especially if they want the same style but with a female main character. That was never my cup of tea, and so I know to call it quits rather then struggle my way through it. I have read glowing reviews, and I know this book will start to deal with more substantive themes especially regarding race and being a Black woman in a predominately white male career, and I bet that’s super well done. I just didn’t jive with the writing for this, and that’s on me.

What a freakin firecracker of a mystery! Vandy Myrick, I am here. For. You.

Delia Pitts’ latest is my first from her, but it won’t be my last. I loved Vandy as a character—flawed but honorable, tough but vulnerable.

I loved the layers to the setting. Queenstown is so many American towns., with layers of history, of racism, of immigration to pull back to understand it. Pitts handled that deftly and in such a truthful way.

The mystery itself is a cracker of a plot, too. It started a tad slow, but once it got going? I could not put this book down, without hyperbole.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for the ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

I really wanted to like this. I think it was just too slow. I was reading on a kindle and it said I was 50% and we still had zero info on why certain events had happened and the motive. I think it would’ve been different if there would have been hints to some aspects but there just wasn’t hints so as a reader I couldn’t even guess or predict what happened. It took about until 65-70% to get any info and then I pieced a few things together which was good. That’s why I’m giving it a 3 out of 5. I think if some of the later info was sprinkled in more between like 30-50% of it I would’ve been more excited. It just felt dragging until the end and then it was bomb shell after bomb shell. Almost too much bomb shell information.

Vandy is a private eye who is sassy but has a past. She moves back to her hometown and helps people that need a private investigator. The mayor’s nephew reaches out to ask Vandy to help prove his wife is cheating. She doesn’t learn much but when she is supposed to go to tell him everything, she finds herself in his home with two bodies. The wife and suspected lover. While the mayor’s nephew is alive. Was it self-defense or a lover’s quarrel. That is what Vandy is tasked to find out by the wife’s father.

I think the story was there it just took a second to get to the info and then finding out all the facts in one short sprint was underwhelming and did not leave room for me to have that OMG factor because they kept happening.

This was quite the story! The first line of chapter one was definitely an attention grabber and introduced us to Evander “Vandy” Myrick, private investigator. She is equal parts tenacious, caring, no-nonsense, and a tour-de-force. She understands the dynamics of her small town, both from a race and gender perspective. It doesn’t help that her father’s legacy as a man of the law is on the mind of the townspeople as Vandy takes on a potential stalking case that quickly escalates to murder.

Overall, I enjoyed the mystery and all its twists and turns. While the beginning of the book focuses on establishing key relationships and interactions in Queenstown, the rest is devoted to solving (and unraveling) a web of lies that culminates in a surprise ending. I sure hope this is the first book in a series because I hope to see more of Vandy and Queenstown. Delia Pitts has been one of my favorite crime fiction authors for some time, and I didn’t think she could top her previous work until I read Trouble in Queenstown. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advance copy of the book. I genuinely look forward to future books!

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Vanda is happy to be home. She likes being her own boss. Her next job seems simple enough, but becomes harder after an individual is found dead. Thus book kept me guessing.