No Memes of Escape

August 15, 2021
An escape room poses Brooklyn hipsters a deadly challenge. Odessa Dean can't seem to get over the wonder that is Williamsburg. Catsitting while her aunt travels in Europe, the visitor from tiny Piney Island, Louisiana, is thrilled by the bustling streets, lavish green parks, and exotic shops (none of which she can afford to patronize), all within blocks of the doorman apartment building in which she's temporarily staying. Parker Reed, the chef at Untapped Books & Caf�, where Odessa toils for meager wages, introduces her to all manner of exotic fare. And new friend Izzy Wilson protects the na�ve Odessa from the dangers her trusting nature might expose her to. But even Izzy thinks an escape room--a treat far too expensive for Odessa's limited budget--might be fun. So when Izzy's childhood friends Victoria Marsh and Gennifer Buckley produce two extra tickets to Verrazzano-Narrows Escape, Odessa and Izzy tag along. Their free adventure turns out to carry a heavy price. The escape room is a series of puzzle rooms, and the evening is capped when Vickie's found dead in one of them. Now Odessa has two problems: The police zero in on Izzy as their prime suspect, and Aunt Melanie returns from abroad with a fractured ankle. How can she exonerate her best friend? And how can she ever find an affordable apartment in Brooklyn? The determined heroine carries the reader past even the most improbable plot twists.

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August 30, 2021
A cutthroat New York real estate broker meets her demise in Blacke’s unfocused second mystery featuring transplanted Southern waitress Odessa Dean (after Killer Content). Odessa enjoys waiting tables and posting on social media for Untapped Books & Café in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. When Odessa joins her Brooklyn friend Izzy Wilson and four other women in an escape room adventure, one of the group, Vickie Marsh, a high achiever in the world of apartment rentals, winds up bludgeoned to death during the adventure. As the murder weapon was a trophy belonging to Odessa and Izzy, NYPD Det. Vincent Castillo can’t exonerate them immediately. Seeking to unmask the killer, Odessa uncovers professional and personal jealousies among the women. Far-fetched scenarios and preoccupations with Odessa’s personal life over actual detection make for disappointing reading. Hopefully, Blacke will do better next time. Agent: James McGowan, BookEnds Literary.