Review of Play the Fool by Lina Chern

I love going into a book with no expectations and being pleasantly surprised. If you love contemporary cozies (this is also a perfect addition to my list of Books With Millennial and Gen Z Detectives) and don’t mind some Tarot, check this one out. Here’s my review of Play the Fool by Lina Chern

Play the Fool by Lina Chern

To be published on March 28, 2023 by Bantam Books. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Plot Summary for Play the Fool by Lina Chern

For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are 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.

One day, having been encouraged by Marley to practice soothsaying, Katie reads tarot for someone who stumbles into her shop. But when she sneaks a glance at his phone, she finds more than just clairvoyant intel. 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. Katie must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley’s murder–or risk losing everything.

What Else Has Lina Chern Written

This is Lina Chern’s debut novel, so congratulations to her. Check out Lina’s website.

Review of Play the Fool

I’m not sure what made me request this except that I once had my tarot cards read and was told I might move somewhere near the ocean (I didn’t).

Katie True is the underachiever in her family. She’s working at a sketchy antiquities store at an equally sketchy mall in Chicago. One day, Marley, a friend who also works at the mall, disappears and Katie has reason to believe that Marley is dead.

Katie throws herself into the investigation, much to the annoyance of an attractive police officer who seems pretty skeptical of Katie’s claims. “No body, no case,” he tells her.

If you read cozy mysteries (or watch cozy mysteries on the Hallmark Channel) you will recognize the hallmarks of a cozy mystery: a somewhat quirky heroine who pokes her nose into a police investigation, an attractive police officer who is annoyed at the heroine’s intrusions, a best friend, and concerned family members.

But I feel like Play the Fool puts a welcome modern spin on the cozy. The book is not set in a small town. There are no cute bakeries or charming coffee shops. The Chicago setting puts a slightly grittier spin on things.

Play the Fool as plenty of humor and I think it would appeal to fans of the Finlay Donovan series. For me as a reader, Play the Fool was a better fit than Finlay, as it felt a little more realistic and a little less outlandish.

Have you read this? Have you ever had your tarot cards read?