Lola Starke

Crescent City, 1934. In Crescent City, the dead are always close. At the point of death, people can choose to become Ghosts, tethered to the living. They can remain with their loved ones as invisible companions…or in the case of Crescent City's ghostly mayor, remain in office forever. Being a P.I. in Crescent City isn't easy or glamorous. Luckily Lola Starke has an edge: her Ghost, Aubrey, who can gather valuable clues from other Ghosts in the Ether. When they accept a simple missing-persons case, they're drawn into a complicated web of lies and double-crosses that involves the most powerful people in the City-including Lola's own mother, Grace McCall, a famous film star and the mayor's former lover. As Lola races to untangle the deceit ensnaring her, she discovers an old enemy at its center carefully orchestrating the perfect moment to betray Lola and destroy Aubrey forever-unless Lola and Aubrey can stop them first.

Crescent City, 1934... In Crescent City, the dead are always close. At the point of death, people can choose to become Ghosts, tethered to the living. They can remain with their loved ones as invisible companions - or in the case of Crescent City's ghostly mayor, remain in office forever. Being a P.I. in Crescent City isn't easy or glamorous. Luckily Lola Starke has an edge: her Ghost, Aubrey, who can gather valuable clues from other Ghosts in the Ether. When they accept a simple missing-persons case, they're drawn into a complicated web of lies and double-crosses that involves the most powerful people in the city - including Lola's own mother, Grace McCall, a famous film star and the mayor's former lover. As Lola races to untangle the deceit ensnaring her, she discovers an old enemy at its center carefully orchestrating the perfect moment to betray Lola and destroy Aubrey forever...unless Lola and Aubrey can stop them first.

*** Library Journal SELF-e Selection*** ***Whistler Independent Book Awards Nominee *** Enter the world of Crescent City, an alternate history 1930s "Chinese Los Angeles" and home turf of private investigator, Lola Starke... A double murder. A tangle of deceit. A woman committed to the truth. A chance reunion with her schoolgirl crush, Stuey Lim, has Lola Starke dreaming of new possibilities, but her nascent hopes are brutally crushed as she witnesses Stuey and his best friend, Tommy, a world-famous comedian, gunned down in front of Crescent City's most exclusive club. Shocked and grieving, Lola is nonetheless duty-bound to investigate the deaths at the request of her mentor, Nicky Lo. Puzzling out the intricate history of Tommy's tight-knit show business family, intent on guarding their status as closely as their secrets, is dangerous enough. But Lola must also protect Stuey's parents from a gangster with suspect claims to Stuey's cherished missing pocket watch-all while navigating a new phase in her contentious relationship with her Ghost, Aubrey. This is the '30s and this is Crescent City, where hauntings are a normal part of life and magic-fuelled funeral rites determine the dead's journey in the sacred cycle of reincarnation. Where traditions and family can nurture a comedic genius-or destroy him. And where, no matter how old the secret, blood will out.

*** Library Journal SELF-e Selection *** Enter the world of Crescent City, an alternate 1930s "Chinese Los Angeles" and home turf of PI Lola Starke... It's a straightforward case: find a missing husband who spends his days examining stamps. Still reeling from recent tragecy, however, Lola wants to pass altogether, more so since her over-protective ghost Aubrey insists it's the perfect case to ease back into things. But the wife is adamant that something bad has happened. What's a shamus to do-especially when the missing man works just down the hall? But straight ain't in the cards, not in the middle of a high-stakes business deal involving the City's most powerful film studio, a wily gangster, a shady fence for stolen goods, a rival PI...and a rare stamp. When her client is kidnapped, Lola discovers just how far she's willing to go to save the woman and her missing husband. This is the '30s and this is Crescent City, where gangsters and thieves are thick on the ground and the film studios are the biggest game in town. Where smiles hide secrets ad good intentions mean nothing. Where the only question is, what will it take to be last woman standing?

*** Library Journal SELF-e Selection *** Enter the world of Crescent City, an alternate history 1930s "Chinese Los Angeles" and home turf of private investigator, Lola Starke... A simple job. A den of thieves. A woman committed to the truth. It's a straightforward case: find a missing husband who spends his days examining stamps. Still reeling from recent tragedy, however, PI Lola Starke wants to pass altogether, more so since her ghost, Aubrey, insists it's the perfect case to ease back into things. But the wife is adamant that something bad has happened. What's a shamus to do-especially when the missing man works just down the hall? But straight ain't in the cards, not in the middle of a high-stakes business deal involving the City's most powerful film studio, a wily gangster, a shady fence for stolen goods, a rival PI...and a rare stamp. When her client is kidnapped, Lola discovers just how far down the twisting path she's willing to go to save the woman and her missing husband. This is the '30s and this is Crescent City, where gangsters and thieves are thick on the ground and the film studios are the biggest game in town. Where smiles hide secrets and good intentions mean nothing. Where the only question is, what will it take to be last woman standing?