OCTOBER 2020 - AudioFile
Narrator Je Nie Fleming’s soft voice is a good match for this mystery. Grayson Sykes is excited to get her first serious case as a private investigator at her friend’s consulting firm. A hotshot doctor wants to find his missing ex-girlfriend, who took off suddenly, leaving no forwarding address and taking his dog with her. Fleming highlights Gray’s frustrations at making rookie mistakes, her growing suspicion of foul play, and her conflicted feelings for her male boss. Varying her tone and inflection to distinguish each character, Fleming adds intensity to the dialogue as Gray gets closer to the truth. The story deals with tough issues, including domestic violence. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 07/13/2020
Newbie L.A. PI Gray Sykes, the 39-year-old heroine of this smart, razor-sharp novel from Thriller Award finalist Hall (They All Fall Down), reluctantly accepts her first independent assignment from her boss, Nick Rader, a friend of hers since she was 15 and on whom she now has a crush: to locate physician Ian O’Donnell’s missing girlfriend, Isabel Lincoln, who may not want to be found. As Gray searches for Isabel, she discovers that self-professed nice guy Ian abused Isabel, and that Isabel even attempted suicide, revelations that resonate with Gray, who was abused as a child growing up in the foster care system. Then Isabel herself starts to text Gray, who eight years earlier went under another name, to tell her to stop investigating, and it becomes clear that Isabel’s own strange history mirrors Gray’s in the way Isabel has shifted identities. A final plot twist puts Gray’s life in peril just as she’s getting closer to Nick. Full of wry, dark humor, this nuanced tale of two extraordinary women is un-put-downable. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Praise for And Now She's Gone:
“It’s a feat to keep high humor and crushing sorrow in plausible equilibrium in a mystery novel, and few writers are as adept at it as Rachel Howzell Hall.” —Washington Post
“One of the best books of the year...whip-smart and emotionally deep, And Now She's Gone is a deceptively straightforward mystery, blending a fledgling PI’s first 'woman is missing' case with underlying stories about racial identity, domestic abuse and rank evil.” —Los Angeles Times
“Smart, razor-sharp....Full of wry, dark humor, this nuanced tale of two extraordinary women is un-put-downable.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Smart, packed with dialogue that sings on the page, Hall’s novel turns the tables on our expectations at every turn, bringing us closer to truth than if it were forced on us in school.” —Walter Mosley
“A fierce PI running from her own dark past chases a missing woman around buzzy LA. Breathlessly suspenseful, as glamorous as the city itself, And Now She’s Gone should be at the top of your must-read list.”
—Michele Campbell, bestselling author of A Stranger on the Beach.
“One of crime fiction’s leading writers at her very best. The final twist that will make you want to immediately turn back to page one and read it all over again. And Now She's Gone is a perfect blend of PI novel and psychological suspense that will have readers wanting more.” —Kellye Garrett, Anthony, Agatha, and Lefty Award-winning author of Hollywood Homicide and Hollywood Ending
“Sharp, witty and perfectly paced, And Now She’s Gone is one hell of a read!” —Wendy Walker, bestselling author of The Night Before
“Hall once again proves to be an accomplished maestro who has composed a symphony of increasing tension and near unbearable suspense. Rachel brilliantly reveals the bone and soul of our shared humanity and the struggle to contain the nightmares of human faults and failings. I am a fan, pure and simple.” —Stephen Mack Jones, award-winning author of the August Snow thrillers
“Heartfelt and gripping... I'm a perennial member of the Rachel Howzell Hall fan club, and her latest is a winning display of her wit and compassion and mastery of suspense.” —Steph Cha, award-winning author of Your House Will Pay
“An entertainingly twisty plot, a rich and layered sense of place, and most of all a main character who pops off the page. Gray Sykes is hugely engaging and deeply complex, a descendant of Philip Marlowe and Easy Rawlings who is also definitely, absolutely her own woman.” —Lou Berney, award-winning author of November Road
“A deeply human protagonist, an intricate and twisty plot, and sentences that make me swoon with jealousy...Rachel Howzell Hall will flip every expectation you have—this is a magic trick of a book.” —Rob Hart, author of The Warehouse
“And Now She's Gone has all the mystery of a classic whodunnit, with an undeniably fresh and clever voice. Hall exemplifies the best of the modern PI novel.” —Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author
Praise for Rachel Howzell Hall:
“A fresh voice in crime fiction.” —Lee Child
“Devilishly clever. . . Hall’s writing sizzles and pops.” —Meg Gardiner
“Hall slips from funny to darkly frightening with elegant ease.” —Publishers Weekly
Praise for They All Fall Down:
“A riotous and wild ride.” —Attica Locke
“Dramatic, thrilling and even compulsive.” —James Patterson
“An intense, feverish novel with riveting plot twists.” —Sara Paretsky
“Hall is beyond able and ready to take her place among the ranks of contemporary crime fiction’s best and brightest.” —Strand Magazine
OCTOBER 2020 - AudioFile
Narrator Je Nie Fleming’s soft voice is a good match for this mystery. Grayson Sykes is excited to get her first serious case as a private investigator at her friend’s consulting firm. A hotshot doctor wants to find his missing ex-girlfriend, who took off suddenly, leaving no forwarding address and taking his dog with her. Fleming highlights Gray’s frustrations at making rookie mistakes, her growing suspicion of foul play, and her conflicted feelings for her male boss. Varying her tone and inflection to distinguish each character, Fleming adds intensity to the dialogue as Gray gets closer to the truth. The story deals with tough issues, including domestic violence. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
