Trouble in Queenstown

This is different from other cozies I've read and I loved this. Vandy is tough, no-no sense, strong and real. She made Trouble in Queenstown worth the read.

The story is great too and I enjoyed all the twists and turns and questions that popped up everywhere. Looking forward to more in this series!

I sincerely appreciate the author and NetGalley for the review copy.

I love hard boiled detective radio shows, so I get excited when I can find a modern hard boiled detective book. Vandy is a PI in the vein of a Sam Spade or Phillip Marlowe. She is obviously a black woman, so she has more layers than the above mentioned PIs. Then you add in her backstory and you have a complicated character trying to solve a mystery, bring justice and just maybe deal with her own issues.
The gritty beginning lets us know exactly what we are getting into right away. So no one should be surprised that this is a hard boiled detective instead of a cozy mystery. As a cozy mystery reader also, I appreciate Pitts letting us know what we are in for right away.
I am hoping for some more books with Vandy to see how she develops as a character. Great ‘start' to a hard boiled detective series.

I finished Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts and here are my musings.


Vandy Myrick gave up being a cop to take on the world as a PI. Now she's back in her hometown, as a black woman and a business owner, she knows she has an uphill battle.

That is until Leo Hanna, the nephew of the Mayor, requests her services to tail his wife. Should be pretty easy and routine but when his wife is murdered in their home and the murderer shot by Leo, something doesn't make sense and Vandy can't keep her nose out of it.

YAHOOO this book was phenomenal! I read and listened to the audio and the narrator was BRILLIANT! I loved the sass of Vandy and her no nonsense way of conducting herself. Please tell me this is going to be a series! I loved the characters. Except Leo... Slippery MF.

I thought the plot was clever and the pace worked really well. There were a couple of slower spots but I felt like it was a little rest for the reader before you got the full POW again! The twists were excellent and the dialogue was really intelligent and realistic.

There wasn't really anything I didn't like, it was a really entertaining book. I really think if you like thrillers with a bad @ss MC.. This has to be your next read!

4.5 stars!

Thank you to @minotaurbooks and @netgalley for my gifted ALC and ARC.