Death of an Ex is the second book in the Vandy Myrick series. I absolutely loved the first one so was excited when I was invited to read this. While I did not enjoy it as much as the first one, I am glad I read it and plan to read the next in the series. I love that you get to learn a bit more about Vandy and her past. I enjoyed the mystery and twists.
I just loved the narrator Bahni Turpin.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape audio for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for a honest review

4 stars.
This book is much better than the description suggests!
I liked that the setting and plot line were different.
The entire book just had a different and unique feeling, and I liked that about it.
I have to say that there were times that I was annoyed with Vandy, mostly based on her decisions.
There were twists and turns, I do think that the majority were a little bit predictable, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the book. I was engaged from beginning to end.
The plot was well structured, and I felt the pace was adequate for the storyline.
The characters were well-developed, but I did have a hard time relating to Vandy at times, again due to her morally gray decision-making.
I loved seeing a book focused on a strong, successful, yet soft around the edges, African American woman as the FMC. We NEED MORE OF THIS!
I think Phil was written perfectly as the skeezey, alcoholic, ex-husband, who has an underlying tone of a loving nature.
The relationships are complex and written so well!
This was my first Delia Pitts book, and I will be reading more of the author's writing.
I did not realize that this is the second book in a mystery series. Even without having read book one, this book reads extremely well as a standalone. I did not feel I missed out on anything, that I was left trying to figure things out, or that I had missed anything from the first book that could be essential to the plot of this book.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Delia C. Pitts, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!
Add this to your summer TBR!
Happy Reading!

I enjoyed this stoy but found it a bit hard to follow. Could be because I was listening to the audio while working on some complicated reports for work. I though the narrator did a great job though. I will give this author another try when I am not so unfocused myself. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an e-copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Vandy is back as the private investigator in Queenstown. She is still dealing with her own grief of her daughter’s death when her ex-husband comes back to town. After their encounter, he ends up dead when she has to find out who murdered him.
Multiple suspects, small town vibes, bribes, scandals. Death of an ex has it all.

The story for this was intriguing, and I liked experiencing the mystery unfold. That said, I felt a little unsatisfied with the ending. I wanted a bigger twist than we got.

I also didn't care for Vandy, our main character. I didn't realize this was a sequel or the second book in a series until I had already started it, so maybe there's a reason she's so unlikable. I felt for her with her daughter being dead. That's truly heartbreaking. Vandy is MESSY, though, and on PURPOSE. She knowingly slept with a married man and then made claims to him later on. I took issue every time she acted like she was family or owed information. She tended to use everyone around her.

There were some very unrealistic parts of this, as well. People around her revealed way too much for it to be believable. In the real world, people wouldn't willingly give out very personal information to anyone-- especially a private eye. A warrant was never once breached, and the cops were kind of a secondhand thought.

4 stars

I stumbled upon _Trouble in Queenstown_, the first book in this series, last year and really enjoyed Pitts's style and the way she developed Vandy, the protagonist of both books. This is an enjoyable addition to the collection and a great way to see these characters evolve.

While this is the second book in the series, it can be read in isolation. However, I don't recommend that at all. The setup for Vandy and what plagues her most is so solid in the first book that it just can't be missed. I strongly recommend that prospective readers make sure they've read the first book in advance for maximum enjoyment of this one.

Vandy's complicated life gets even more complicated in this book because more people she loves - or at least once loved and now marks as "it's complicated" - are in trouble here. The mystery unfolds and becomes more layered as events evolve, and it is fascinating to see how everyone comes together AND how Vandy responds to added info about her life and those she holds (or held) close. She's an intriguing character in general, both smart and risk taking and at times extremely vulnerable, so it's pretty enjoyable to watch her in action.

I continue to enjoy this series, including the narration of the audiobooks, and I am looking forward to future installments.