cover image No Memes of Escape: A Brooklyn Murder Mystery

No Memes of Escape: A Brooklyn Murder Mystery

Olivia Blacke. Berkley Prime Crime, $16 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-0-593-19790-5

A cutthroat New York real estate broker meets her demise in Blacke’s unfocused second mystery featuring transplanted Southern waitress Odessa Dean (after Killer Content). Odessa enjoys waiting tables and posting on social media for Untapped Books & Café in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. When Odessa joins her Brooklyn friend Izzy Wilson and four other women in an escape room adventure, one of the group, Vickie Marsh, a high achiever in the world of apartment rentals, winds up bludgeoned to death during the adventure. As the murder weapon was a trophy belonging to Odessa and Izzy, NYPD Det. Vincent Castillo can’t exonerate them immediately. Seeking to unmask the killer, Odessa uncovers professional and personal jealousies among the women. Far-fetched scenarios and preoccupations with Odessa’s personal life over actual detection make for disappointing reading. Hopefully, Blacke will do better next time. Agent: James McGowan, BookEnds Literary. (Oct.)