Olivia Blacke’s debut mystery, Killer Content, introduces a spirited amateur sleuth in an atmospheric mystery. We all know how much I love debut mysteries. This one has unconventional characters and two charming animals. It’s an upbeat mystery, despite a murder, with a strong social media emphasis.
Odessa Dean is twenty-three years old, and fresh off the Greyhound bus from small-town Louisiana, arriving in Brooklyn to pet-sit for her Aunt Melanie’s cat, Rufus Talliwhacker, for three months while Aunt Melanie is in Europe. She turned down her aunt’s offer of a salary, but only when she’s there does she realize she can’t even afford to eat in the Williamsburg neighborhood, and she certainly can’t afford New York City. She’s waitressing at Untapped Books & Cafe.
Odessa isn’t happy when another waitress, Bethany, asks her to cover for her, and leaves her apron behind as she hurries out the door. However, Odessa is horrified when she sees a flash mob marriage proposal at Domino Park. In the background, she recognizes the cafe’s uniform as a body falls off the elevated walkway. Odessa rushes to the park, only to see Bethany’s body taken away.
Odessa is observant, though. She realizes that Bethany is missing a medical bracelet she always wore, and her cell phone. Bethany, an influencer on social media, would never be without her phone. Even when Odessa shares her news, Detective Vincent Castillo is convinced the death is accidental. Odessa uses all her crime investigation knowledge, gained from true-crime podcasts, to prove that Bethany was murdered, pushed off that walkway.
It’s easy to love Odessa Dean an an amateur sleuth. She’s out of her element in New York, but she’s determined to survive there. Her attempts at investigation are sometimes funny. The characters that surround Odessa at the cafe are unique, including one young woman who lives in an abandoned school. Then, there are the two wonderful animals, Rufus, and the bookstore’s “approximately 200 year old shop dog”, of an unknown breed, Huckleberry.
Olivia Blacke kicks off the Brooklyn Murder Mystery series with an entertaining story featuring a great cast of characters. Check out Killer Content.
Olivia Blacek’s website is https://oliviablacke.com/
Killer Content by Olivia Blacke. Berkley Prime Crime, 2021. ISBN 9780593197882 (paperback), 304p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a .PDF to review for a journal.
I’m glad you liked it since I have this on hold at the library
I liked hte characters, Sandy.
If there was ever a non-word word that gets my back up, it is “influencer.” Of course, Williamsburg, where else?
I automatically have some interest in any book set in Brooklyn, though.
I don’t like that word, either, Jeff. But, I think you’ll recognize several sites in the book.
I put it on my library list although when I will be able to get to it is uncertain…I have just started rereading Dell Shannon’s Lt Mendoza’s series!
and why do I only get your blog at Kevin’s Corner and not in my own email as I did sign up for that? Help!!!
Hmmm. I don’t know, Gram, about the email. I’ll have to check on it. Oh, I loved Dell Shannon’s Lt. Mendoza books. I’m not saying I read them all, but I read all that our library had.