Publishers Weekly
08/12/2024
In this accomplished if underheated series launch from Graves (a pseudonym for Welcome Home, Stranger author Kate Christensen), Arizona private eye Justine “Jo” Bailen navigates a looming midlife crisis while digging into the disappearance of her estranged childhood best friend, Rose Delaney. While staking out an infidelity case brought to her all-female detective agency, Jo learns that Rose has gone missing; soon, Rose’s mother, Laura, hires Jo to investigate. The inquiry takes Jo back to Delphi, the artists’ colony north of Tucson where she and Rose grew up. Returning home brings Jo face to face with decades-old traumas, including her distant relationship with her mother and the love triangle involving Jo’s high school boyfriend, Tyler, that destroyed her and Rose’s friendship—which becomes especially pertinent when Tyler, now a police officer, gets assigned to Rose’s case. Graves skillfully depicts the flawed utopia of her desert setting and wrings affecting insights from Jo’s struggles with aging, but the core mystery never totally takes flight. For genre readers more interested in character and atmosphere than plot, however, Graves’s dazzling prose and well-drawn heroine make this well worth seeking out. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Accomplished . . . . Graves’s dazzling prose and well-drawn heroine make this well worth seeking out.” — Publishers Weekly
“This desert noir features complex characters trapped in an ugly, emotional past. The vivid details and beauty of the Arizona landscape are in sharp contrast to the repellent secrets of a killer.” — Library Journal
“This is a propulsive, taut and occasionally anxiety-provoking read, with evocative Arizona desert environs. . . . The Arizona Triangle may have provided Christensen with a break from her novel, but Sydney Graves brings the author’s same perspicacity and wit to this whodunit.” — Sante Fe Reporter
“Fans of action-packed mysteries with strong female detectives, like Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, will enjoy this series starter.” — Booklist
"The Arizona Triangle reminds me why I love mysteries. Christenson's book sneaks up on you; what starts as an ordinary little mystery slowly turns into a deep look into family and connection in the desert southwest. Read The Arizona Triangle in the desert if you can; this book brings the beautiful strangeness of Arizona to life." — Sara Gran, author of the Claire DeWitt books
"The Arizona Triangle is a taut, propulsive, and darkly funny modern noir. And Jo Bailen, the complex protagonist of this twisted Arizona whodunit, is a welcome addition to the pantheon of sleuths with big appetites and bulldog instincts. Gritty entertainment at its best." — Peter Swanson, New York Times bestselling author of A Talent for Murder
“Oh, goody goody! A new mystery series, with a smart, complicated sleuth, great writing, and a can’t-guess-the-killer plot. What’s not to love?” — Monica Wood, author of How to Read a Book, The One-in-a-Million Boy, and When We Were the Kennedys
"Sydney Graves has crafted a gorgeously written southwestern noir that straddles the line between literary and genre in a landscape whose spaciousness and light contrast sharply with the darkness of crime and the treacherous terrain of personal history. Graves has caught beautifully the complex textures and woodsmoke tang of Tucson and the rich high desert environment, and gone beyond that to create characters and a community as particular and elemental as a great western. And her protagonist, Jo Bailen, is as distinctly wrought and shaped as a Sahuaro cactus. I loved her and this story." — Peter Nichols, author of Granite Harbor and The Rocks
"A queer PI in an all-female detective agency housed in a sorry part of Tucson—for starters. Then there are the horrifyingly grotesque actions of a tortured soul. But who? A suspenseful thriller that’ll keep you guessing till the very end." — Stella Sands, author of Wordhunter, Baby-Faced Butchers, and The Dating Game Killer
Library Journal
09/01/2024
In this series starter from Graves (a.k.a. Welcome Home, Stranger author Kate Christensen), ecological despoilment and emotional trauma are entangled in a case that leads back to teen secrets. Jo Bailen works for an all-women private detective agency based in Tucson, AZ. She's just finishing a case when her boss sends her back into her own past: Delphi, where Laura Gold is afraid for her missing daughter, Rose Delaney. Rose and Jo were childhood best friends, but they've been estranged since age 14. Laura believes that only Jo can find Rose, who's been gone for two days. Jo follows the police to the site where Rose's body has been found hanging from a tree, and police officer Tyler Bridgewater is vomiting. It was Rose, Jo, and Tyler's triangular relationship that caused their teen trauma and estrangement. Now, 26 years later, Tyler's involvement in investigating Rose's death raises Jo's suspicions. She thinks Rose tried to prevent a land scam that affected a local artists' community, which might have led to her murder. VERDICT This desert noir features complex characters trapped in an ugly, emotional past. The vivid details and beauty of the Arizona landscape are in sharp contrast to the repellent secrets of a killer.—Lesa Holstine
