The Stories You Tell: A Mystery

by Kristen Lepionka

Overview

The third installment in the Shamus Award-winning and Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated Roxane Weary series.

A late-night phone call is never good news, especially when you’re Roxane Weary. This one is from her brother Andrew, whose evening was interrupted by a visit from Addison, a hip young DJ he knows. She was hysterical, but she wouldn’t say what was wrong. After using his phone, she left as quickly as she appeared, and Andrew is worried. That’s when Andrew calls Roxane.

But another late-night call occurs as well: Addison's father contacts the police after getting a panicked voicemail from his daughter. The only thing he could understand is the address she gave in the message— Andrew’s. Before long, the police are asking Andrew all about how he got the bloody scratch on his face and what he did to Addison. Meanwhile, another cop is found dead on the opposite side of town, leading to a swirl of questions surrounding a dance club whose staff—which includes Addison—has suddenly gone AWOL.

The Stories You Tell, Shamus Award-winning and Anthony and Macavity-Award nominated author Kristen Lepionka’s heart-pounding third novel, will keep readers on the edge of their seat with her signature twists and mile-high stakes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250621450
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/07/2020
Series:	Roxane Weary , #3
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	547,723
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

KRISTEN LEPIONKA is the Shamus Award-winning and Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated author of The Last Place You Look, What You Want to See, and The Stories You Tell. She grew up mostly in her local public library, where she could be found with a big stack of adult mysteries before she was out of middle school. She is a co-founder of the feminist podcast Unlikeable Female Characters, and she lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her partner and two cats.

Editorial Reviews

05/27/2019

At the start of Lepionka’s entertaining third mystery featuring Columbus, Ohio, PI Roxane Weary (after 2018’s What You Want to See), Roxane gets a late-night call from her brother, Andrew, asking for help. A short time before, Addison Stowe, a DJ working at Nightshade, a nearby nightclub, appeared at his door in great distress, begging to use his phone. After making the call, Addison rushed out, despite Andrew’s efforts to detain her. When Roxane tries to find Addison, she discovers that she hasn’t returned home, Nightshade is completely deserted, and that a few days earlier a policeman visited Addison’s apartment asking for her. Roxane’s search for Addison becomes personal after the police learn that Andrew was the last person to see her before she went missing; they arrest Andrew for drug possession, a pretext to detain him while they investigate Addison’s disappearance. A cop’s murder and troubles in Roxane’s long-term relationship heighten the drama. Fans of plucky female detectives will look forward to Roxane’s further adventures. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"Building to a chilling and surprising conclusion, the third book in Lepionka's Shamus-Award-winning series is both intricately plotted and character-driven, with a complicated protagonist."—Library Journal

“With Kristen Lepionka’s The Stories You Tell, an already-great series takes a major leap forward - and readers should rejoice. In Roxane Weary, Lepionka has created an unforgettable, deeply flawed hero that nods to the past but blazes a wholly unique trail. The Stories You Tell is brimming with surprises and a mystery that’s both stealthy and menacing. Lepionka is a pro." —Alex Segura, author of Dangerous Ends and Blackout

"Lepionka's keen eye for integrating national news and technology into her developing characters' plotlines produces a story that's timely in more ways than one." —Kirkus Reviews

"Entertaining. Fans of plucky female detectives will look forward to Roxane’s further adventures ."—Publishers Weekly

"Roxane herself, a remarkably well-drawn and interestingly flawed character, continues to command interest." —Booklist

"Don’t think, 'I’ll read a few pages before I go to sleep.' It won’t work. Keeping pace, Lepionka’s third Roxane Weary novel will keep you wide-eyed and transfixed."—Lavender Magazine

From the Publisher

2019-04-14
Things get much too personal when a private eye's brother is implicated in the disappearance of a local DJ.

Not a sound sleeper, especially when she's over at her girlfriend Catherine's place, Roxane Weary is roused in the middle of the night by a frantic call from her brother, Andrew. Andrew is panicked that he might be in trouble—real trouble, more than his home stash might otherwise get him into. He tells Roxane the story: Addison Stowe, a girl he once knew, came by his apartment in a state of terror, made a phone call, then disappeared into the night. Now Addison's missing and Andrew's the last person to have seen her. He knows he needs an ally like Roxane if the cops come knocking because he has a suspicious scratch on his face that suggests he might've been more than just a potential safe harbor to Addison. But Andrew claims he hadn't seen or heard from Addison for ages before this last visit. Roxane wants to protect Andrew, whom she trusts in spite of his unconvincing story. She reaches out to Tom Heitker, a friend on the force who was her late father's closest friend, to ask for his help and also because, well, she's missed him. The two have put a brief romantic interlude aside to pursue a less fraught friendship, though Tom may be interested in revisiting their past. Roxane and Tom connect Addison's presence at Andrew's to the Nightshade Club across the street, where Addison was a sometime DJ, and to the BusPass dating app. Just as things start to go Roxane's way in the investigation, Mickey Dillman, a former cop connected to the case, turns up dead, bringing Roxane back to square one and Andrew into police custody.

Lepionka's keen eye for integrating national news and technology into her developing characters' plotlines produces a story that's timely in more ways than one.

Kirkus Reviews