Vice and Virtue

by Libby Klein Narrated by Stefanie Kay

Overview

Layla Virtue, a blue-haired, thirty-something recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself as a musician. She's taking her new life one day at a time from the Lake Pinecrest Trailer Park she now calls home. Being alone is how she likes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Though try telling that to the group of local ladies who are in relentless pursuit of Layla as their new BFF, determined to make her join them for coffee and donuts.



Since her first career ended in a literal explosion, Layla's trying to eke out a living as a rock musician. It's not easy competing against garage bands who work for tacos and create their music on a computer, while all she has is an electric guitar and leather-ish pants. But Layla isn't in a position to turn down any gig. Which is why she's at an eight-year-old's birthday party, watching as Chuckles the Clown takes a bow under the balloon animals. No one expects it will be his last . . .



Who would want to kill a clown-and why? Layla and her unshakable posse are suddenly embroiled in the seedy underbelly of the upper-class world of second wives and trust fund kids, determined to uncover what magnetic hold a pudgy, balding clown had over women who seem to have everything they could ever want. Then again, Layla knows full well that people are rarely quite what they seem-herself included . . .

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for VICE AND VIRTUE by Libby Klein

"This perfect comination of mystery, humor, and romance explores serious social problems." —Kirkus Reviews STARRED REVIEW

"Layla is a lovably flawed, three-dimensional protagonist, and her sardonic humor will happily remind readers of Kinky Friedman…This is a winner." —Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2025-03-08
Sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, and murder in Northern Virginia.

Layla Virtue’s life is a mess. She quit the police force after her whole team was killed when she arrived for an operation a little late and a little tipsy. Though she doesn’t remember getting drunk, she blames herself as much as her police friends blamed her. Now she’s living in a trailer park filled with eccentrics and ekes out a living singing and playing the guitar at parties. As she’s making out in an alley with her new neighbor, Nick Hayes—a hottie she just met while playing an anniversary-party gig—she hears a police radio, which sends her running. Then Nick’s black Lab shows up at her door. The childhood friends who betrayed Layla in order to cash in on the fame of her father, rock superstar Don Virtue, taught her not to trust anyone. So when she goes to AA meetings, she usually avoids other members. This time, though, in a life-altering decision, she accepts friendly overtures from three women. Arriving home from the meeting, she’s greeted by the Lab and her dad. Don, who seems spacier than ever, has a classic Aston Martin DB5 delivered to the trailer, gets Layla’s TV service and Wi-Fi turned on, and takes her on an epic food shopping trip, but she refuses his help in jumpstarting her career. Instead, she reluctantly agrees to play at a kids’ party whose other entertainer, sleazy clown Chuckles McCracken, ends up dead. Building on her relationships with Nick and her new friends, Layla accepts help in investigating the clown’s death while desperately trying to keep her dad incognito.

This perfect combination of mystery, humor, and romance explores serious social problems.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940194535682
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	04/29/2025
Series:	Layla Virtue Mystery , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

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