cover image Exiles on Main Street

Exiles on Main Street

Lisa Kleinholz. HarperTorch, $5.99 (384pp) ISBN 978-0-06-101411-6

Flashy clothes and pink hair streaks are nearly all that remain of 31-year-old Zoe Szabo's glamorous and chaotic past. After ending an eight-year stint as a Rolling Stone writer, Zoe escapes from glitzy L.A. to the small town of Greymont, Mass., with her drug-addicted musician husband and two small children. Their hopes for a quieter life are quickly shattered when Zoe, now reporting for a local paper, discovers the body of a Cambodian immigrant in the local mall's parking lot. Despite her husband's plan to revitalize his career with a concert tour, Zoe throws herself into the case, uncovering the dead woman's identity before the police do. Kleinholz's debut is replete with compelling personalities, particularly the rock-and-roll refugees, but her unduly long list of suspects and motivations slow the pace: the reader must wade through community anti-immigrant sentiment, an abusive family member who possesses an extensive weapons collection and even possible Khmer Rouge involvement. Zoe's unbelievably easy, sometimes unethical, access to information also disturbs. But Kleinholz's gift for depicting memorable characters will attract readers in her subsequent outings. (Sept.)