A different kind of Kitty...

Tomorrow, we'll be turning this space over to Linda L. Richards. In addition to being the editor of January magazine, Linda's a crime fiction author. We'll be celebrating the release of her new Death Was the Other Woman, which takes us back to 1930s Los Angeles in the company of one Kitty Pangborn, the tough and loyal secretary who keeps private eye Dex Theroux off the ropes.

The book has already garnered a good deal of advance praise, but I particularly like this Booklist review. Or maybe I just like the name Kitty...


“Using a female narrator for a Depression-era noir tale seems a calculated strategy, but Richards makes it work naturally. Kitty, whose life of privilege disappeared when her father killed himself after the 1929 stock market crash, brings a peculiarly ironic point of view, filtering the tough guys, broads, gats, and gunsels through a patrician context that makes all the hard-boiled posturing seem as silly as high-society tomfoolery. Honoring the noir tradition while turning it on its head, Richards’ richly detailed period portrays a world in which lifestyles, whether high or low, become an elaborate defense against a harsh environment in which there is only one final act and the trick is to determine the time the curtain falls. Expect to hear more from Kitty Pangborn.”