Die on Your Feet

A missing junkie. A corrupt system. A woman committed to the truth.

Lola Starke is a PI with a trust fund. Not that she gets everything she wants—or doesn’t want. Like being rid of her ghost, Aubrey O’Connell, for instance. But in Crescent City, ghosts are commonplace and hosts are supposed to be happy about it. So Lola’s learned to bide her time. It’s served her well as a gwai girl raised in a Chinese city.

When two disparate clients won’t take ‘no’ for an answer, Lola reluctantly agrees to both. She and Aubrey are quickly entangled in a murky puzzle of government officials, drug addicts, angry cops, and the gossamer threads of a dangerous plot. Soon enough, the past comes calling with bad news and worse enemies.

This is the ’30s and this is Crescent City, where mah-jongg parlours and film studios hold sway. Where the City’s highest official is a ghost with unimpeachable power and a history with Lola’s mother. Where secrets last only as long as it takes money to change hands—or a gun to pry them loose.