Play the Fool, by Lina Chern (Bantam)
Play the Fool, by Lina Chern is a murder mystery
with more than one delicious twist. Katie True, whose ability to read tarot
cards verges on (and plunges headlong into) the supernatural, is the classic
underachiever in an upwardly mobile, hyperconventional middle-class family. Her
world of one dead-end job after another takes a surprising turn with a new
friendship. Marley is free-wheeling, mysterious, and absolutely comfortable in
her own skin. Their burgeoning relationship gives Katie hope that she, too, can
one day live an authentic, irreverent, and joyous life.
Then a hapless young man stumbles into the shop where Katie
works, claiming to be the boyfriend Marley intends to break up with. Katie
takes pity on his evident distress and agrees to do a tarot reading for him.
She discovers a photo on his phone. It’s of Marley, murdered by a gunshot wound
to her head.
Shocked and grief-stricken, Katie determines to find
Marley’s killer. Even if it means taking reckless chances and ignoring the
advice of the gorgeous, emotionally bottled-up cop to stay out of it.
Throughout the thriller whodunit that follows, Katie’s first-person
voice shines through. In her quest to discover Marley’s killer, she must come
to terms with her own lack of purpose, fend off her well-meaning but
domineering family, and stay alive through one dark, dangerous plot twist after
another.
Katie’s luminous voice elevates a well-written mystery to
something more. I didn’t care whether or not she possesses supernatural
clairvoyance or an exceptional ability to read people. What matters is her
brilliant insight coupled with all-too-human vulnerability. The fact that she
is both kind and hilariously funny adds to the delicious tone.
And I did not see the ending coming at all.
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