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Title details for Play the Fool by Lina Chern - Wait list

Play the Fool

A Mystery

by Lina Chern
ebook
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WINNER OF THE MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD • A cynical tarot card reader seeks to uncover the truth about her friend’s mysterious death in this delightfully clever whodunit, “a delicious blend of suspense and madcap humor” (Library Journal, starred review).
For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just tools of the trade. After a failed attempt at adulting in Chicago, she’s back in the suburbs living a bit too close to her overbearing parents, jumping from one dead-end job to the next, and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance. Then along comes Marley.
Mysterious, worldly, and comfortable in her own skin, Marley takes a job at the mall where Katie peddles Russian tchotchkes. The two just get each other. Marley doesn’t try to fix Katie’s life or pretend to be someone she’s not, and Katie thinks that with Marley’s friendship, she just might make it through this rough patch after all. Until the day when Katie, having been encouraged by Marley to practice soothsaying, reads the cards for someone who stumbles into her shop. But when she sneaks a glance at his phone, she finds more than intel to improve her clairvoyance. She finds a photo. Of Marley. With a gunshot wound to the head.
The bottom falls out of Katie’s world. Her best friend is dead? Who killed her? She quickly realizes there are some things her tarot cards can’t foresee, and she must put her razor-sharp instincts to the ultimate test. But Katie’s recklessness lands her in the crossfire of a threat she never saw coming. Now she must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley’s murder—or risk losing everything.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 28, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780593500675

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780593500675
      • File size: 2741 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from January 1, 2023

      DEBUT Katie True hails from a solidly middle-class family. She was expected to graduate college, secure a respectable career, then marry and start procreating. Instead, she dropped out of university, became a professional psychic, and began working a series of dead-end jobs. Her latest gig is selling Eastern European tchotchkes at a failing mall outside of Chicago. The only positive is Marley, her new best friend who works at the "alternative lifestyle boutique" and possesses all the self-confidence and bravado that Katie lacks. When Katie discovers that Marley has been brutally murdered, she sets off to find Marley's killer. With no body and no evidence, she begins a frenetic investigation with the assistance of the laconic yet fetching Officer Jamie and her quirky genius brother Owen. When they learn that they aren't the only ones on the case, it doesn't take a psychic to realize that the situation could turn deadly. VERDICT The charming and eccentric Katie will captivate readers with her wry sense of humor and self-deprecating asides. With a delicious blend of suspense and madcap humor, Chern's standout debut is guaranteed to delight fans of Lisa Lutz, Alan Bradley, and readers who enjoy witty, fast-paced mysteries.--Amy Nolan

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 23, 2023
      Katie True, the 29-year-old narrator of Chern’s enjoyable debut, is stuck in a dead-end job at a “Russian knickknack place” in a mall outside Chicago. Her only friend, Marley, works in a goth boutique across the way. Secure and self-sufficient, Marley is everything that Katie is not. With Marley’s encouragement, Katie, whose only skill is reading tarot cards, takes her first steps toward discovering her place in life, in defiance of her caring but judgmental family. Then a bleeding man stumbles into Katie’s shop and asks her to read his cards. A panicked Katie sneaks a glance at his phone while he’s distracted and spots a photo of Marley with a gunshot wound to the head. Katie’s quest to discover the truth about her friend’s death leads her afoul of organized criminals as well as a disturbingly attractive, by-the-books police detective. Mystery-first readers may find the plot a bit scant, but Katie is a heroine anyone will root for. This good-natured romp works best when it focuses on Katie’s efforts to negotiate the gentle art of adulthood. Agent: Joanna Mackenzie, Nelson Literary.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Funding for additional materials was made possible by a grant from the New Hampshire Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.