My thanks to Net Galley and St Martin's Minotaur for this arc.

What would you do if your ex husband spent the night with you, was murdered right afterwards, and the cops asked you to assist. That a what Vandy Mayrick has to face throughout this story while dealing with his new wife and family.

Well written, complex characters. I wasn't wowed. Not a page turner, but good

3.5 stars

Death of an Ex, which is Delia Pitts’s second Vandy Myrick mystery, is a thoughtful, deliberately paced private eye novel with a rich New Jersey setting and a heaping of emotional healing. A former Rutgers University cop, the middle-aged Vandy moved back to her small hometown of Queenstown and took a job as a lawyer’s “pet private investigator.” Her boss, Elissa Adesanya, is also Vandy’s best friend and the work tends to be low market rackets like divorce, insurance fraud, and process serving.

Vandy is thrown into the deep end of the investigative pool after attending a glitzy event at the high-end Rome School—a private boarding school in Queenstown—where her young friend, Ingrid Ramirez, is receiving an award. Vandy’s ex-husband, Philip Bolden, is at the reception and even after twenty years he can still make Vandy’s pulse rise and her knees weak. A few days later Vandy takes Philip to her bed and for a moment she doesn’t mind being the other woman. That changes when Philip is gunned down a few blocks from Vandy’s apartment and Vandy is left to figure out who did it and why. All while traversing the mine field of Philip’s personal life—he was married with a teenage son and his wandering libido caused nothing but trouble. All while trying to keep her and Philip’s indiscretion a secret.

Death of an Ex, while rightfully a private eye tale, has the atmosphere of an amateur sleuth in a particularly well-done cozy. Vandy’s investigative style is circular and primarily based on emotion rather than the linear style most often used in detective tales. She bumps around the primary suspects, as sneakily as an English Village sleuth, looking for motive and opportunity. A wobbly tactic because of its use of repetition—a repetition of Vandy’s emotions and a repetition of questioning the same suspects over and over—to deepen the mystery, but one that ultimately works since it reveals the illogic and tragedy of murder. But the true charm of Death of an Ex is Vandy’s own struggle with the death of her only child and Pitts’s vivid rendering of a predominately Black New Jersey town.

This review will be posted on July 14, 2025, at gravetapping.blogspot.com and darkcityunderground.blogspot.com

I rated last year's series opener, Trouble in Queenstown, highly. Death of an Ex was even more impressive to me. I'll gladly continue to read this series, if it continues.

This installment includes many connections that unfold gradually, but with big impact. Vandy is certainly flawed. Ultimately, her positive qualities—family ties, friendships, loyalty, sense of justice, curiosity, and determination—power her and make her an appealing character. Despite the content warnings—infidelity; extreme violence, including multiple murders; blackmail; and various other crimes—there is a positive conclusion, of sorts.

The author's background is fascinating—she was a journalist, U.S. diplomat, and a university administrator before leaving academia to begin writing fiction.

4.33⭐

Thank you for the free ebook St Martins Press @stmartinspress Minotaur Books @minotaur_books Netgalley @netgalley and Delia Pitts @deliapitts50
“Death of an Ex” (Vandy Myrick Mystery #2) by Delia Pitts Genre: Detective Mystery. Location: Queenstown (Pennington), New Jersey, USA. TIME: October, present

THE SERIES: Lanky, strong, Evander “Vandy” Myrick (48) has a messy life. She became a cop to fulfill her father’s expectations. She became a private eye 30 years later to satisfy her own, partnering with attorney Elissa Adesanya and her wife Belle Ames. Vandy’s back home in Q-Town: 9000 souls in 12 square miles, with Ku Klux Klan (KKK) history. She lives in a Victorian house on Main Street; her office is above the Queenstown Pharmacy, across from her friend Mavis Jenkins’ Kings Cross Tavern. As a Q-Town Black woman, privacy needs guarding, but is hard to come by. Keeping busy with work helps Vandy deal with grief from losing her child.

THIS BOOK: Memories crash back when ex-husband, Philandering Phil Bolden, walks back into Vandy’s life. Promising everything, returning home, restoring family. For Vandy, it’s “Bad choices, no strings. My brand. My way.” When Phil is murdered, she pieces together what brought her ex-husband's life to an end: complicated marriage, son who attends prestigious local school, businessman, philanthropist? Will this very personal case break Vandy?

Author Pitts has written a powerful mystery that blends grief, classism, racism, messy personal lives, and family ties. Her characters are authentic and moving-Vandy’s toughness that hides vulnerability, her snarky language, her determination and her weaknesses. With her powerful (often funny) narrative, Pitts speaks truth about racism, sexism, classism. (“I fell into the age-old script of people of color. When confronted by police, speak little, offer nothing.”) There are many red herrings-Vandy‘s not perfect, she falls for them too. It’s as good as book 1 so it’s 5 stars from me👩🏼‍🦳 #deathofanex #deliapitts

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for an early copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. I thought it was well written, loved the storyline, and all the characters. I would definitely recommend this book.

A satisfying and engaging murder mystery set in a small New Jersey town called Queenstown. In this second book in the Vandy Myrick Mysteries, Evander Myrick, a private detective, takes on the case of the murder of Phil Bolden. Phil is Vandy’s ex-husband and after a long absence is back in her life. Vandy is conflicted about him, but still very much attracted to the man. Vandy is an interesting and relatable character. She’s flawed (aren’t we all?) and haunted by the recent loss of her only child (who wouldn’t be?). She’s intelligent, caring, and unstoppable when it comes to solving crimes. If I needed a PI, she’d be at the top of my list. The author keeps it interesting by giving the reader a number of suspects and the story has a satisfying flow to keep it intriguing. If you enjoy crime fiction then pick this one up!

Death of an Ex by Delia Pitts is a layered mystery that explores grief, identity, and the murky truths we discover in the people we thought we knew. Vandy Myrick, a private investigator navigating life back in her hometown, is forced to confront her past when her ex-husband is murdered—and she takes on the case herself.

Even without reading the first in the series, the emotional depth and small-town complexities come through clearly. Pitts weaves a thoughtful story about love, loss, and legacy, set against a backdrop of secrets and shifting truths. A solid second entry for readers who appreciate slow-burning mysteries with heart.

2.5 Stars rounded up because I did get to more than 50% before I gave up.

I loved the first book, so I'm not sure what it was that set me off about this one. It might have been that this plot line was more personal than the first novel; it could have been that there was too much time for me between books to remember what the language was like or the secondary characters were like for me to enjoy this book. I'm not sure, but it just didn't sit right with me.

I could only read this book in stops and starts. I kept getting frustrated with Vandy and the secondary characters. This time, the language used was complex for me to understand.

However, this book is receiving good reviews, so you should trust your gut and instincts, rather than worrying about my opinion.

*ARC supplied by the publisher, Minotaur Books, the author, and NetGalley.

One of the more unusual PI stories I've read. But it was a great read. I didn't realize this was book 2 in a series so I'm gonna go back and read book 1. Vandy lives with regret after what happened to her daughter. After a spicy night with her ex husband, he leaves and is found murdered the next day. Vandy is determined to find out what happened to him. She unpacks a lot more than she expected. There were lots of seemingly obvious suspects in this one but I did not guess who the murderer was. I was so confident and then surprised when the killer was revealed. That's a good thriller in my eyes.

I'll go back and read book 1 and I'll look for more by this author.

I absolutely devoured this book.
It was a good cozy mystery!
I was able to finish this story in a couple of days.
Scandal, affairs, mysteries, and suspense wrapped all in one!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book had the perfect balance of mystery, tension, and just the right amount of personal drama. From the start, I was pulled into the story, curious about how all the pieces would come together. What worked for me was the main character’s voice. They felt sharp, thoughtful, and fully grounded in their world. I appreciated how Pitts didn’t overcomplicate things but still gave me enough twists to keep me on my toes. The pacing was steady, the stakes felt real, and the relationships, especially the complicated ones, added a nice emotional weight to the story. I also loved the setting. It had such a strong sense of place, and the atmosphere gave the mystery a gritty, authentic feel.

This book! I love Vandy SO much. She is hurting, she is broken, she is flawed, but she is SO strong and still cares for others so much that it shines off the page. She is only human and she is trying her best, even when the world seems to continuously beat her down. She goes through more struggled and heartbreak in this book, but somehow keeps her face straight and risks everything to find justice for someone who might not seem like they deserve it. I was captivated by this book and the vibrant characters; so many twists and turns and I loveddd the storytelling the author does to slowly reveal the secrets and all the connections. Shocks pile up and Vandy keeps going until the bitter end. I feel for her so much, I want to give her a huge squeeze. I love this writing and the way the author writes flawed characters that you can't quite decide if you trust. I already cannot wait for more.

Received an ARC via NetGalley.

I like Vandy. I like the people she surrounds herself with. And I liked the cases so far.

But the writing style takes some getting used to for me. It’s very clipped and brusque, I guess? That’s the best way I can describe it. It works and it reminds me of when I try to read classics, trying to adapt to a different style of writing. And I guess in a way it’s kind of nice, more direct, and engages my brain in a different way.

This was a lot of fun, as a Jersey girl, to have the book take place somewhere I’ve been. Vandy is a great heroine/detective and the mystery was a good one. So many twists and turns. The drama was on point, the characters were well done, and the backstory is just the right amount of tragic.

Readers who hate first person POV should steer clear of this series because Pitts has her readers inside the head of Vandy for the entirety of each book - and it can get very messy, and, sometimes, repetitive. The good thing is that you know exactly what Vandy knows when she knows it.

The writing, while sometimes chaotic, is excellent with turns of phrases that will have you smiling. Vandy’s descriptions of the many secondary characters are razor sharp and will aid in keeping all the players in their assigned seats.

If you like well-developed mysteries, a unique and flawed main character, and a diverse cadre of secondary characters, this book is for you and should be on your list of top ten books to be read this year.

My thanks to Minotaur and NetGalley for an eARC.

St. Martin's Press provided an early galley for review.

I liked the first book of this series - 2024's Trouble in Queenstown. Therefore, I wanted to give the sequel a chance as well.

In Pitts' Queenstown, there is an awful lot of folks dancing along the morally gray lines, including our protagonist Vandy. While I see it a lot in this genre of fiction, it really jumped out to me a lot more when reading this story.

Admittedly, I found myself disengaged with the story at several times throughout. I also noted a number of tropes in the plot that did not saying very much new on the subject. This easily contributed to my lack of focus. Readers want to be surprised and challenged.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series so I had high hopes for this one. Overall, book was pretty good but I feel like Delia did Vandy dirty with the actions she had her take. I understood her as a person in the first book and during the first half of this book, I was like she has been ruined. Bit of redemption towards the end but still. Once the mystery started going though, it was clear what the real life basis for the book came from. Vandy doesn't seem like the best PI but wonder what she'll do next.

Thank you NetGalley and minotaur books for the ARC!

This is the second Vandy Myrick mystery. Vandy is Queenstown, New Jersey's only Black private investigator. She is also a Q-town native who is back trying to rebuild her life after the death of her teenage daughter. When she runs into her ex, she is still smitten.

When her ex, Philip Bolden, is shot to death after their one-night stand, Vandy uses guilt as her lever to look into the murder. Her investigations take her from her mother's church Bethel African Methodist Episcopal and its very eager church secretary to the prestigious Rome School where Philip's son Tariq is a student and wife Melanie is a guidance counselor.

The more she investigates the more she learns about her ex-husband and the life he was living. She uncovers secrets that indicate he didn't just forget about her and her daughter even though they split up with Vandy was four months pregnant. She also learns that he's involved in a twisty scheme that includes money-laundering. She has a plethora of suspects that she needs to sort through since a number of people might have wanted the charming philanderer dead.

Vandy is an interesting character who lives on the grey side of life. She manages to combine toughness with vulnerability and is a realistically flawed human being.

“Death of an Ex” (Vandy Myrick Mystery, book 2) by Delia Pitts
A Good Mystery
This story kept me second-guessing myself. One death and so many reasonably plausible suspects to be the ‘doer of the deed’ readily available. I really did not appreciate my eyes getting tired and requiring my setting aside the story for their rest time. Yup, I really liked this story. Happy Reading ! !

I really liked the first installment of this series and really enjoyed this one as well! The author did a great job with her characters—Vandy is a character I love to hate (or maybe hate to love?) but I think she’s lots of fun and endearing. The ways that racism, classism, mystery, and private investigation come together in this story is awesome! Never thought I needed all those things together, but it definitely has me interested in PI now! Haha! Can’t wait for the next in this series!