Fortune Favours the Dead

Pentecost and Parker, Book 1

By: Stephen Spotswood

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

The 'razor-sharp' first book in the charming, fast-paced Pentecost and Parker mystery series.

Meet your new favourite duo, audacious and iconic, and perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel, Agatha Christie and M. C. Beaton.

It's 1945 and Lillian Pentecost is the most successful private detective in New York City, but she needs help. Enter Willowjean Parker, a circus runaway - and the perfect assistant. Quick-witted and street-smart, she's a jack-of-all-trades with a unique skill-set. She can pick locks blindfolded, wrestle men twice her size, and throw knives with deadly precision - all of which come in handy working for Ms P.

When wealthy young widow Abigail Collins is murdered Pentecost and Parker are hired by the family to track down the culprit. On Halloween night, there was a costume party at the Collins' mansion, where a fortune teller performed a séance which greatly disturbed Abigail. Several hours later her body was discovered bludgeoned to death in her late husband's office. Problem is, the door to the office was locked from the inside. There was no-one else in the room, and the murder weapon was beside the victim; the fortune teller's crystal ball.

It looks like an impossible crime, but Pentecost and Parker know there is no such thing...

A 2020 Radio 2 Book Club pick.

©2020 Stephen Spotswood (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Razor-sharp, tons of flair and a snappy sense of humour." (Tana French)

"Spotswood's stellar debut puts a modern spin on classic hard-boiled fiction...a novel to remember." (Publishers Weekly)

"This novel not only offers fun, offbeat characters and an exceptional flavour of the time, it's utterly charming too." (Woman's Weekly)

such a good book!

I adore the narration. The storyline is nice as it's Present Will retelling the case. I also love that there's LGBT representation :)