Polis Books 2018
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The Blue Kingfisher
What happens when a master of disguise tries to be herself for once? If you're private investigator Kat Stone, trouble seems to find you with or without your favorite wig. Kat knows she's living on borrowed time, waiting for her violent past to catch up with her. Still, she doesn't expect men to start falling from the sky. On a desolate morning in Fort Washington Park, Kat discovers the body of her building's French expat maintenance man atop the Jeffrey's Hook Lighthouse. The NYPD is quick to dismiss his death as suicide, another lost soul leaping from the bridge overhead. Kat is less than convinced, especially when she learns about his dangerous side hustle, finding jobs for immigrant members of their community. Her investigation turns up unexpected connections to Manhattan's tony art world, not to mention a host of dark superstitions. When she goes undercover with a deep-sea fishing company, she gets a little too cozy with a colorful cast of characters and a couple of jellyfish. Will she find his killer before her past drags her under? From one of the most acclaimed new mystery writers working today comes a riveting novel of suspense that will have you guessing until the last page is turned.
Publishers Weekly:
Fascinating and fully developed characters lift Wright’s intriguing third Kat Stone mystery (after 2015’s The Granite Moth). Wright’s vividly told tale is studded with wry wit.
Make-believe, convincing make-up and wigs courtesy of her drag-queen friends, plus a New Yorker’s persistence—these are some of the tools in Kat Stone’s toolkit. Erica Wright’s The Blue Kingfisher is a gritty mystery that’s grounded in the reality of life in The Heights.
Crime-fiction fans will enjoy the suspenseful twists and numerous red herrings that Wright packs into this tale of greed, family, fear, and — despite everything — something like grace.