cover image Untouchable

Untouchable

Ava Marsh. Berkley, $15 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-0-425-28113-0

High-class escort Grace Thomas (professional name Stella), who narrates British author Marsh’s well-executed debut, turns sleuth after a colleague of hers, Eliza (aka Amanda Mansfield), is found murdered in a cheap London hotel room. Grace, who’s not naive about her business and helps others by working at a rape crisis center, visits Eliza’s romantic partner, Kristen Grainger, with whom Eliza shared a flat. That Eliza paid for the hotel room in advance doesn’t make sense to Grace, while Kristen finds it highly suspicious that the police found no DNA evidence at the crime scene. Certain that no client would have killed Eliza, Grace takes her concerns to the police, who offer little sympathy. When Grace probes too deeply, she offends some powerful men, who first offer a gilded carrot and then a brutal stick. Grace’s fascinating backstory gradually unfolds, from her divorce to the event that led her to become a prostitute. Readers will want to see more of this unusual heroine. (Oct.)