Play the Fool

1

I always knew Marley would disappear. We worked across from each other at the Deerpath Shopping Center, me at the Russian knickknack place and her at the goth boutique, where she rang up anarchy T-­shirts for tweens in five-­hundred-­dollar Nikes. She was a lot like me ­smart enough to get the hell out of Lake Terrace once she grew up, but dumb enough to come back. For how long, I didn t know. She put out a chill bloom-­where-­you re-­planted vibe but always looked like she was watching the exits, marking the days until she could peel out and leave Lake Terrace in the rearview.

When she did disappear, it didn t go down how I expected.

The guy who set the whole thing off walked into Firebird Imports on a Sunday, the deadest day of the week and consequently the only time my boss, Larissa, trusted me to run the place alone. Less for me to screw up. I was laying out a three-­card tarot spread when the store s heavy glass door slammed open.

I jerked up. He was plastered against the inside of the door, breathing hard and staring out into the mall ­a weight-­lifter-­looking guy with a bristly haircut on a blocky head, a faded Gold s Gym T-­shirt, and jogger sweats. He spun toward me and I froze, hands on the cards. There was an angry red gash on the man s forehead.

A low warning throbbed in my mind. Are you ­ Do you need ­

He took a stumbling step into the store and collided with a sign reading 60% off all musical spoons. The sign bowled over and he floundered after it, hooking it with his arm before it hit the ground. He looked like he was tangoing with a beautiful lady who had been, alas, enchanted into a piece of advertising.

A squeaky honk flew out of me, part dimwit guffaw, part concerned oh! The guy jiggled the sign back into place. I glanced across the mall court: was Marley watching this? At Stone Blossom, the alternative lifestyle boutique where Marley worked, a pale mope in a Black Flag T-­shirt slouched at the counter. No

Lina Chern has been published in Mystery Weekly, The Marlboro Review, the Bellingham Review, Rhino, The Collagist, Black Fox Literary magazine, and the Coil. She lives in the Chicago area with her family. Play the Fool is her debut novel.

With a delicious blend of suspense and madcap humor, Chern s standout debut is guaranteed to delight fans of Lisa Lutz [and] Alan Bradley, and readers who enjoy witty, fast-paced mysteries. Library Journal (starred review)

A sharp, unique, and memorable debut, Play the Fool is unlike any mystery I ve read before and that s a good thing! Lina Chern s voice shines brightly, and readers will be immediately drawn into Katie True s twisty and gripping investigation. It s a fantastic read. Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity

Lina Chern s Play the Fool pulls off a tricky blend of humor and menace that had me flipping pages like crazy. The mystery is fresh and twisty, but it s her characters (and voice) that kept me enthralled. I can t believe this is a debut novel, and I can t wait for more. Duane Swierczynski, award-winning author of Canary