Play the Fool: A Mystery

Play the Fool: A Mystery - Paperback

$17.00
Sale price  $17.00 Regular price 
Skip to product information
Play the Fool: A Mystery

Play the Fool: A Mystery - Paperback

by Lina Chern
$17.00
Sale price  $17.00 Regular price 

Book Overview

by Lina Chern (Author)

WINNER OF THE MARY HIGGINS CLARK AWARD - A cynical tarot card reader seeks to uncover the truth about her friend's mysterious death in this delightfully clever whodunit, "a delicious blend of suspense and madcap humor" (Library Journal, starred review).

For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just 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. Until the day when Katie, having been encouraged by Marley to practice soothsaying, reads the cards for someone who stumbles into her shop. But when she sneaks a glance at his phone, she finds more than intel to improve her clairvoyance. 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. But Katie's recklessness lands her in the crossfire of a threat she never saw coming. Now she must use her street smarts and her inner Strength card to solve Marley's murder--or risk losing everything.

Author Biography

Lina Chern has been published in Mystery Weekly, The Marlboro Review, the Bellingham Review, Rhino, The Collagist, Black Fox Literary magazine, and the Coil. She lives in the Chicago area with her family. Play the Fool is her debut novel.

Number of Pages: 320
Dimensions: 0.8 x 7.9 x 5.1 IN
Publication Date: March 28, 2023
Award: Edgar Allan Poe Awards (2024)
ISBN9780593500668
Author Lina Chern
PublisherBantam
GenreLiterature
FormatPaperback
PublishedMarch 2023
LanguageENG- English
Pages320
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

1% fer Each of the Seven Seas

Every purchase sends 7% of our profits to The Ocean Cleanup. No fine print, no opt-in — just how we sail.

Whoever Ye Be, Welcome Aboard

Queer lit, music, art, philosophy, fiction — stories for every kind of soul. Come as ye are, matey.

About Lina Chern

Lina Chern's debut mystery novel, Play the Fool, won the 2024 Mary Higgins Clark Award and was nominated for the 2024 Lefty and Anthony Awards. Her shorter work has appeared in Mystery Weekly, The Marlboro Review, The Bellingham Review, Black Fox Literary Magazine, and The Coil. She lives in the Chicago area with her family.

You may also like