Suburban Dicks

By: Fabian Nicieza

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

*A finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel*

*A finalist for the Shamus Award for Best First P.I. Novel*

From the cocreator of Deadpool comes a highly entertaining debut featuring two unlikely and unforgettable amateur sleuths. An engrossing murder mystery full of skewering social commentary, Suburban Dicks examines the racial tensions exposed in a New Jersey suburb after the murder of a gas station attendant.

Andie Stern thought she'd solved her final homicide. Once a budding FBI profiler, she gave up her career to raise her four (soon to be five) children in West Windsor, New Jersey. But one day, between soccer games, recitals, and trips to the local pool, a very pregnant Andie pulls into a gas station—and stumbles across a murder scene. An attendant has been killed, and the local cops are in over their heads. Suddenly, Andie is obsessed with the case, and back on the trail of a killer, this time with kids in tow.

She soon crosses paths with disgraced local journalist Kenneth Lee, who also has everything to prove in solving the case. A string of unusual occurrences—and, eventually, body parts—surface around town, and Andie and Kenneth uncover simmering racial tensions and a decades-old conspiracy.

Hilarious, insightful, and a killer whodunit, Suburban Dicks is the one-of-a-kind mystery that listeners will not be able to stop talking about.

©2021 Fabian Nicieza (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Satire is hard to establish and even harder to maintain, but Nicieza flawlessly critiques the pervasiveness of suburban racism, the challenge of stay-at-home motherhood, the toxic culture of White masculinity, and the self-aggrandizing role of the media, and he does it with a pair of completely flawed yet appealing characters and a diverse cast of voices. Delightfully irreverent and so very entertaining.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

“[An] outstanding debut novel.... Nicieza delivers a wildly entertaining blend of high-octane snark and brass-knuckle social commentary.... Mystery fans looking for something different won’t want to miss this quirky crime novel.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

“Well-paced and packed with memorable characters.” (The Wall Street Journal)

A great novel

This is the first novel of this author. It is a murder mystery and full of suspense. The some characters are easy to like and others easier to hate. The humor in the book is more the characters’ own traits rather than jokes. The narrator was very good and varied her presentation for each character.

Good a little slow.....

this is a fun story well written but it's just a little slow and very predictable

Triggering if you're not ready for the racism

so far the only thing this book has accomplished is showing how racist the author is.

Diversity at its best

Wonderful book!! The characters are amusing and entertaining. The author weaves an awesome story that held my attention throughout. I laughed out loud at some of the incidental comments made by the characters. Hope there are more novels to follow!!

Incredibly funny

I don't have kids, don't live in a suburb, but... it's the attitude and humor I love about this book. It takes me back to NY. The narration is perfect.

Entertaining

Certainly not a "cozy" mystery. The story deals with death and dismemberment, racism, bigotry, sexism, and nepotism. It does so with compassion, a serious mind, and a lot of sarcasm. The very three-dimensional heroine is in the late stages of pregnancy, and the problems associated with getting her four existing children to where they need to be is treated as a complex problem second only to the murders to be solved. I look forward to other books by Mr. Nicieza.

Well done!

Enjoyed this book. A bit of mystery, cozy crime, societal commentary, and a dash of humor. A little different than the norm.

DNF - not hilariously entertaining as promised

This is a good basic murder mystery featuring a mature smart woman and an Asian journalist who has fallen in grace. The story is set in a diverse neighborhood and features some local history. All elements that I enjoy. However, this book was in the Humor/Satire category and twice in the book's blurb is advertised as hilarious. It's not. It's a basic mystery story. I won't return the book since I've spent some time reading it, but there's still 7 hours 9 minutes to finish it. Maybe sometime in the future when I am in the mood for a mystery story I'll return to it. Right now I want humor. Something to make me laugh. I spent my money on a book advertised as humor/satire and planned to spend my time listening to a book that would make me laugh or at least smile. This is just a mystery story. Maybe we are supposed to laugh at the pregnancy or the kids, but . . . no . . . that didn't happen. This is the 3rd or 4th book I've bought in the past year or two that was advertised as funny but was actually a mystery. Whoever is deciding to market books like this is not doing the authors any favors.

Fun and imaginative

Witty dialogue. Super fun heroine. Clever plot. I hope this is the first in a series featuring the reluctant housewife solving mysteries in NJ.

Want more

I loved this book. Loved the snark. Could have done with out the cursing but you can’t always get what you want.