Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

This plodding standalone from Mitchard (A Very Inconvenient Scandal) finds Chicago fashion journalist Irene “Reenie” Bigelow returning to her native Wisconsin to report on her childhood best friend’s murder arrest and trial. What perplexes Reenie is how Felicity Wild, once a bright biology student, could have turned to a life of sex work and stand accused of poisoning two of her clients. The victims—economics professor Cary Church and dairy salesman Emil Gardener—both listed Felicity as a beneficiary of their life insurance policies, despite being married to other women. Still, Reenie believes Felicity is innocent, so she’s shocked when Felicity tells her to go away when the two bump into each other during the arraignment. Instead, Reenie persists, interviewing Felicity’s attorney and the pair’s mutual friends, which eventually leads her to Ophelia, the strip club where Felicity worked. Posing as a bartender at Ophelia, Reenie befriends some of Felicity’s former colleagues, who clue her into the club’s criminal underbelly. Mitchard squanders a strong setup with a predictable ending and too many long-winded, inconsequential diversions into the local lore of her Midwestern setting. It’s a letdown. Agent: Jeff Kleinman, Folio Literary. (Dec.)

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

When her childhood best friend is accused of committing double murder, a fashion reporter tests her skills as an investigative journalist in hopes of discovering what really happened. The book opens as middling fashion reporter Irene Bigelow watches her old friend Felicity Wild suffer through her arraignment. The charges allege that while working as a professional escort, Felicity manipulated two clients into naming her as beneficiary of their life-insurance policies before killing them. Reenie hasn’t seen Felicity in years, but she knows in her gut that her old friend, a bird-lover who’d wanted to be a biologist, couldn’t have committed the acts of which she’s accused. When catching sight of Reenie in the courtroom, Felicity mouths one message: “Go away.” Reenie doesn’t buy it. Thus begins her quest to find information she can use in an article intended to clear Felicity’s name. The only problem is that nobody wants her to proceed—not Reenie’s boss at the fashion magazine, not Felicity’s handsome attorney, and, most especially, not any of the people in Felicity’s life who might actually possess useful information. Even so, Reenie won’t be deterred, and she begins investigating Felicity’s personal history as well as the crimes, no matter what it might cost her. Narrated in the first person, the book follows Reenie as she knocks on doors, tracking down Felicity’s family members and old acquaintances. The novel includes a preponderance of dialogue, which, though often witty and insightful, slows the pace in a story meant to deliver heightened drama and suspense. Likewise, the large cast of characters proves difficult to follow as most supporting characters fail to distinguish themselves. Despite the slow pace, the author does an admirable job of creating a complex criminal scenario and portraying characters with nuanced feelings about old friendships, while also highlighting the interplay between sex, money, and power. An unhurried crime story that pulls between friendship and secrets. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.