Shaken by the outcome of her last big case, PI Roxane Weary is keeping a low profile. When she takes on a new client who suspects his fiancée is cheating on him, Roxane is happy to have landed a run-of-the-mill surveillance job. Until, that is, Marin Strasser, the woman she's been tailing, turns up dead.The police are convinced her client is the one who pulled the trigger. Certain - and scared - that things aren't so straightforward, Roxane starts to follow a paper trail that gets more dangerous the farther it goes.So who really was Marin Strasser? Who could have wanted her dead? And how can Roxane stop her work from once again pushing away the few people she thinks she can trust?
What You Want To See by Kristen Lepionka was published by Faber Books on 3 May 2018. As part of the Blog Tour, I am delighted to welcome the author here to Random Things today. She's talking about the books that are special to her in My Life In Books.
My Life in Books - Kristen Lepionka
Sam the Cat Detective by Linda Stewart. I read this middle-grade book when I was about 9 years old and it started my lifelong love affair with mysteries. Having re-read it several times over the year, I can report that this book is actually a really clever parody of classic PI novels, even though I didn’t quite grasp that when I first read it.
Dry Fire by Catherine Lewis. Not a mystery, per se, but still a crime novel, this one follows a lesbian police cadet through the academy and into her first months on the job as a patrol cop in Florida. This was probably the first book I read with a queer protagonist.
The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt. One of my all-time favorites. The Last Samurai exploded my understanding of structure, introduced me to Kurasawa (and Ikea?), and contains memorable lines that I quote on the regular in conversation.
The Driftless Area by Tom Drury. Part midwestern noir, part ghost story, I take this book with me on every flight I go on just because I never get sick of re-reading it. I love how Drury blends genres together with his clear-eyed, sardonic prose.
Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran. I’ve always loved private investigator mysteries, but for a while I forgot exactly how much—till I read this book. Then I remembered. An absolutely brilliant take on the classic PI novel, but with Eastern philosophy, a Nancy Drew-esque comic book, and lots of recreational drug use.
None of Your Business by Valerie Block. A white-collar mystery on its face, this book follows detectives and perps through a massive embezzlement case—but the part that I love is one of the “bad guys,” Erica King, whose unabashedly bitter, cynical, and hilarious voice stands out as one of the most refreshing characters in the genre. (No tropes to be seen here!)
After Leaving Mr. Mackenzie by Jean Rhys. I grew up thinking I “didn’t like” classic literature because a lot of what I read in school was very polite and proper. Then I read Jean Rhys in college and I realised that I just hadn’t discovered the right corner of the classics yet.
Run River by Joan Didion. A few years ago, I “discovered” that Joan Didion wrote novels. I was familiar with her brilliant essays, but for whatever reason hadn’t realised that she was also a fiction writer. I devoured all of her novels in about a month and I’m still recovering. They’re all on my list of absolute favorites, but Run River is her first.
Kristen Lepionka - May 2018
Kristen Lepionka is the author of the Roxane Weary mystery series, starting with The Last Place You Look (Minotaur Books, 2017).
She grew up mostly in a public library and could often be found in the adult mystery section well before she was out of middle school.
Her writing has been selected for Shotgun Honey, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Grift, and Black Elephant.
She lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her partner and two cats.
She is represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.
For more information, visit www.kristenlepionka.com
Follow her on Twitter: @KMLwrites
Find her Author page on Facebook
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