The Ninja Daughter

Set in Los Angeles, Eldridge’s wild ride of a first novel marries Kill Bill with Killing Eve. Lily Wong, who has secretly become a ninja, has dedicated herself to protecting women since her sister’s murder. First, she must stop a Ukrainian gangster, Dmitry Romanko, from abusing his wife and son, and return them to the safety of a shelter for abused women. Second, Lily takes on the enigmatic thug J Tran, who has created a scandal by publicly assaulting cocktail waitress Mia Mikkelson. Mia fears he’ll return to kill her. After Lily witnesses Tran fatally stab two men on a Koreatown street, she learns that the brazen killer hides a lot of secrets, including some that point to several more bodies, notably including 20-year-old Julie Stanton, the mayor’s goddaughter, who recently died in an apparent hiking accident. Lily eventually identifies a villain behind Julie’s death worse than any she’s previously encountered. Readers will want to see more of the feisty Lily. Eldridge expertly mines both domestic suspense and action thriller. (Nov.)