Death of a Dancing Queen

A female Jewish P.I finds herself involved in a deadly gang war while looking for a murder suspect in this new own voices crime novel.

After her mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis, Billie Levine revamped her grandfather's private investigation firm and set up shop in the corner booth of her favorite North Jersey deli hoping the free pickles and flexible hours would allow her to take care of her mom and pay the bills. So when Tommy Russo, a rich kid with a nasty drug habit, offers her a stack of cash to find his missing girlfriend, how can she refuse? At first, Billie thinks this will be easy earnings, but then her missing person's case turns into a murder investigation and Russo is the detective bureau's number one suspect.

Suddenly Billie is embroiled in a deadly gang war that's connected to the decades-old disappearance of a famous cabaret dancer with ties to both an infamous Jewish mob and a skinhead group. Toss in the reappearance of Billie's hunky ex-boyfriend with his own rap sheet, and she is regretting every decision that got her to this point.Becoming a P.I. was supposed to solve her problems. But if Billie doesn't crack this case, the next body the police dredge out of the Hudson River will be hers.

Author: Kimberly G. Giarratano
Publisher: Datura Books
Published: 02/14/2023
Pages: 344
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.30w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9781915202420

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 10/28/2022 pg. 1
Publishers Weekly 11/21/2022
Foreword 12/27/2022
Booklist 01/01/2023 pg. 29
Shelf Awareness 02/24/2023

About the Author
Kimberly G. Giarratano is an author of mysteries for teens and adults. Her debut novel, Grunge Gods and Graveyards, won the 2015 Silver Falchion Award for Best YA at Killer Nashville. A former librarian, she is currently an instructor at a SUNY Orange County Community College and a reviewer for BookPage. She is also the chapter liaison for Sisters in Crime. Born in New York and raised in New Jersey, Kim and her husband moved to the Poconos to raise their three kids amid black bears and wild turkeys. While she doesn't miss the Jersey traffic, she does miss a good bagel and lox.

Visit her website at www.kimberlyggiarratano.com