A NEW YORK TIMES BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR • In the newest entry into the Nero Award-winning Pentecost & Parker Mystery series, Lillian and Will are hot on the trail of a serial killer whose murders are stranger than fiction. The Pentecost & Parker series "takes gritty 40s noir, shakes it up, gives it a charming twist, and serves it up with unforgettable style" (Deanna Raybourn, author of the Veronica Speedwell Mysteries). From the author of Fortune Favors the Dead and Murder Under Her Skin. New York City, 1947: For years, Holly Quick has made a good living off of murder, filling up the pages of pulp detective magazines with gruesome tales of revenge. Now someone is bringing her stories to life and leaving a trail of blood-soaked bodies behind. With the threat of another murder looming, and reluctant to go to the police, Holly turns to the best crime-solving duo in or out of the pulps, Willowjean “Will” Parker and her boss, famed detective Lillian Pentecost. The pair are handed the seemingly-impossible task of investigating three murders at once without tipping off the cops or the press that the crimes are connected. A tall order made even more difficult by the fact that Will is already signed up to spend her daylight hours undercover as a guileless secretary in the hopes of digging up a lead on an old adversary, Dr. Olivia Waterhouse. But even if Will is stuck in pencil skirts and sensible shoes, she’s not about to let her boss have all the fun. Soon she’s diving into an underground world of people obsessed with murder and the men and women who commit them. Can the killer be found in the Black Museum Club, run by a philanthropist whose collection of grim murder memorabilia may not be enough to satisfy his lust for the homicidal? Or is it Holly Quick’s pair of editors, who read about murder all day, but clearly aren’t telling the full story? With victims seemingly chosen at random and a murderer who thrives on spectacle, the case has the great Lillian Pentecost questioning her methods. But whatever she does, she’d better do it fast. Holly Quick has a secret, too and it’s about to bring death right to Pentecost and Parker’s doorstep.
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“You can’t get much better at honoring the golden age of pulp…With dialogue and descriptions straight out of Chandler, and spunky heroines with plenty of pizzazz, Secrets Typed in Blood is not to be missed.”
— CrimeReads
“Series narrator Kirsten Potter returns with another smashing performance…Plot twists and Kirsten Potter’s narration put this P&P adventure right up there with the best. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile“The dialogue crackles, the mysteries intrigue, and there is an abundance of wit and grit."
— Minneapolis Star Tribune“Brilliant…The Pentecost & Parker series will thrill fans of Stout’s iconic characters."
— BookPage (starred review)“Undeniably engaging.”
— Kirkus ReviewsBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Stephen Spotswood is an award-winning playwright, author, journalist, and educator. He is the author of the Pentecost and Parker historical mysteries series, of which the first book, Fortune Favors the Dead, won the 2021 Nero Award for best American mystery. As a journalist, he has spent much of the last two decades writing about the aftermath of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the struggles of wounded veterans. His dramatic work has been widely produced across the United States.
Kirsten Potter has won several awards, including more than a dozen AudioFile Earphones Awards and been a three-time finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. Her work has been recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and by AudioFile magazine, among many others. She graduated with highest honors from Boston University and has performed on stage and in film and television, including roles on Medium, Bones, and Judging Amy.