by Chelsea Cain
First published 2007
The titian-haired sleuth everyone thinks they know steps forward to correct the record. She was never a fictional character, she insists. She solved real mysteries throughout the twentieth century, only to watch her college roommate Carolyn steal her stories and publish them as made-up tales. Carolyn got plenty wrong in those famous books. The real adventures included daring escapes and brilliant deductions, but also the messy parts readers never saw. Secret love affairs complicated her cases. She drove recklessly and drank too much. Political causes drew her attention between mysteries. Family problems created constant drama. Other young detectives from different mystery series crossed paths with her, creating chaos the published versions never captured. Now she tells her side of the story, revealing both the heroic moments and the human struggles that shaped her life as a teenage investigator.
Genres: romance, 20th-century, mystery, young-adult, 21st-century, amateur-sleuth
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family, secret-identity
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
176 pages · Paperback · Bloomsbury USA
Content warnings: alcohol-abuse