Kill Smartie Breedlove — Joni Rodgers

Recently widowed private dick Shep Hartigate is a dishonored cop reduced to chasing cheating spouses for a ruthless Houston divorce lawyer. Free-spirited pulp fiction writer Smartie Breedlove is on a mission to find out who's killing the inconvenient exes of Texas -- including Smartie's BFF, Charma Bovet, a notorious centerfold with a heart of gold. Could Shep's gorgeous but unscrupulous employer really have a secret bimbo/mimbo hit list? Or is Smartie Breedlove lost in the dime novel that's constantly unwinding in her pretty little head?

A colorful cast of problematic lovers, longsuffering family, and stalwart friends (both two-legged and four-legged) close ranks around Smartie and Shep as they sift clues and maneuver to stay alive. Calling on her longtime companions Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Daphne du Maurier, Smartie leads Shep through the hardboiled plot twists and U-turns that draw her perilously close to a damaging past and leave Shep dangerously close to a lethal dose of disillusionment.

This deliciously quirky whodunit by NYT bestselling ghostwriter Sam Finney has a scathingly funny noir twist, casting a gimlet-eyed side glance at the publishing industry. Characters resonate, dialogue crackles with wit, and the plot is full of surprises. If you love a great mystery woven with skill, humor and compassion, SMARTIE BREEDLOVE will not disappoint.