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vera kelly is not a mystery

When ex-CIA agent Vera Kelly loses her job and her girlfriend in a single day, she reluctantly goes into business as a private detective. Heartbroken and cash-strapped, she takes a case that dredges up dark memories and attracts dangerous characters from across the Cold War landscape. Before it’s over, she’ll chase a lost child through foster care and follow a trail of Dominican exiles to the Caribbean. Forever looking over her shoulder, she nearly misses what’s right in front of her: her own desire for home, connection, and a new romance at the local bar.


“Knecht’s excellent sequel [...] This winning literary page-turner gives a strong sense of a smart, queer, and complex person navigating an unfriendly world.” Publisher’s Weekly, starred review

“Impossible to put down and just begging for a third installment.” Bookpage 

“Knecht’s prose is[...] lively in moments of action[...]  Readers will be thrilled by Vera Kelly’s return. A worthy and welcome continuation of a subversive series.” — Kirkus

“Rosalie Knecht has resurrected the detective novel for the 21st century. Sharp, self-possessed, and with a nuanced, meaningful knowledge of realities and histories well beyond her own, Kelly's take on who’s lying and why makes for riveting reading in every scene. I tore through this book. More Vera Kelly, please.” — Idra Novey, author of Those Who Knew

“Rosalie Knecht is an audacious talent, and her latest novel a propulsive, subversive gem. [Vera is] one of the most compelling and complex characters in modern fiction[...] an intriguing mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end.” — Lauren Wilkinson, American Spy