My Review of Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts. I love a good PI procedural mystery and Murder in Queenstown had a great main character, a memorable setting, and a lot of mysteries to unravel. Will you love this one? Let’s Discuss!
Trouble in Queenstown: Jen’s Quick Take
- Trouble In Queenstown is a PI (private investigator) procedural mystery, a favorite subgenre of mine
- The main character is a Black female PI who refuses to back down in pursuit of the truth
- The book takes place in Queenstown, New Jersey, a small central New Jersey town that’s predominantly white
- Trouble in Queenstown incorporates issues of grief, race and race relations, politics and more
- 320 pages, published on July 16, 2024 by Minotaur. Thanks to the publisher for an advance review copy.
Review of Trouble in Queenstown
I absolutely love a good procedural and to me, police procedurals and PI procedurals have a whole different vibe.
Police procedurals are about teamwork and methodically building a case. A private investigator is more of a lone wolf, not as bound by the rules of law enforcement. And often battling personal demons.
Give me all the tough, wisecracking female PIs, like Kinsey Millhome and V.I. Warshwaski. And okay, I’m a fan of the guy PIs too: Spenser, Elvis Cole, Cormoran Strike, and Matt Scudder.
Vandy Myrick is a great main character. Still fiercely mourning after the death of her college-aged daughter, she’s also struggling to look after her father, a former cop suffering from dementia.
A client walks into Vandy’s office, worried that his wife is cheating, which is a bread and butter case to a fictional PI. But of course things are way more complicated than that, and soon Vandy finds herself in the middle of a tangled mess of lies, secrets, and criminal activity.
Trouble in Queenstown has a lot to say about small town life, about race and class in America, about grief and the difficulties of being a caretaker. It’s a character study, a mystery, and a bit of a sociological inquiry into small town life.
I really enjoyed it and if you are also a fan of the PI story, please give it a try!