A Vandy Myrick Mystery #2
By: Delia Pitts
ISBN: 9781250904249
Publisher: St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books
Publication Date: 07/15/2025
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: TBR (ARC)
Delia Pitts expertly writes about family, race, class, and grief in her mysteries. Vandy Myrick captured readers' and critics' hearts in Trouble in Queenstown. She returns in Death of an Ex, where Vandy tries to piece together what brought her ex-husband's life to an end.
Queenstown, New Jersey, feels big when you need help and tiny when you want privacy. For Vandy Myrick, that’s both a blessing and a curse. Now that Vandy’s back in “Q-Town”, her services as her hometown’s only Black woman private investigator have earned her more celebrity—or notoriety—than she figured.
Keeping busy with work helps Vandy deal with the grief of losing her daughter, stitching the seams, cementing the gaps. The memories will always remain, and they come crashing back to the surface when her ex-husband, Phil Bolden, walks back into her life. Promising everything, returning home, restoring family. Until she answers her door to the news that Phil has been murdered. And Vandy decides Phil is now her client.
It’s hard to separate the Phil that Vandy knew with the one Queenstown did. She sees him—and their daughter—in Phil’s son, who attends a prestigious local high school. She sees the layers of a complicated marriage with his wife. She sees all of Phil’s various roles: parent, husband, businessman, philanthropist. But which role got him killed?
A Vandy Myrick Mystery #1
My Review
Delia Pitts introduces her razor-sharp new mystery series starring the lively, witty, intelligent, challenging, and sassy PI Vandy Myrick with TROUBLE IN QUEENSTOWN!
The novel explores grief, class, race, and family within a murder mystery—from small-town suspense, lies, dirty politics, family secrets, and corruption infused with humor and a kick-ass black female PI. READ MORE
Praise for Trouble in Queenstown
“Trouble in Queenstown starts at a simmer, but when Vandy’s investigation gets going, it reaches a full boil.”
–The New York Times Book Review
“[Vandy Myrick] is a perfect fit for her new career as a private eye.”
–The Washington Post
“The story flies. Pitts’s prose strikes a sophisticated balance between elegance and energy, with a description of Queenstown as a blend of “American Revolutionary severity and antebellum frippery” coming only pages after a cracking bar brawl.”
–Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Danger, thrills, and intrigue meld in this tale.”
–Woman’s World
“[A] promising start of a series.”
–Shelf Awareness
"A standout series launch . . . With an indelible lead and a richly rendered setting, Pitts sets this series up for success. Readers will be eager for the next installment."
–Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A darkly atmospheric debut whose heroine just might want to reconsider her decision not to carry a gun next time."
–Kirkus Reviews
"Vandy is a realistic, tough woman who refuses to quit, and her inner thoughts are fun to read. Although this is a mystery novel, it also deals with grief, race, classism, and family."
–Booklist
“Intriguing.”
–Library Journal
About the Author
Photo Credit: Steven C. Pitts
DELIA PITTS worked as a journalist before earning a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. After careers as a U.S. diplomat and university administrator, she left academia to begin writing fiction. Delia is the author of the Vandy Myrick mysteries, featuring a Black private investigator in New Jersey. She is also the author of the Ross Agency Mysteries, about a Harlem detective firm, and several short stories. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Crime Writers of Color. Learn more about Delia at www.deliapitts.com
