Also the author of the Fairy Tale Fatal mystery series, Maia Chance here introduces us to 31-year-old society matron Lola Woodby, who has survived her loveless marriage in 1920s New York City with an unholy mixture of highballs, detective novels, and chocolate layer cake; when her husband Alfie dies suddenly, however, all she inherits is a big pile of debt. Soon Lola and her stalwart Swedish cook Berta are reduced to hiding out in the secret love nest that Alfie had kept. But when rent comes due, Lola and Berta have no choice but to accept an offer made by one of Alfie's "girls on the side": in exchange for a handsome sum of money, she wants Lola to retrieve a mysterious reel of film for her. It sounds like an easy enough way to earn the rent, but Lola and Berta realize they're in way over their heads when, before they can retrieve it, the man currently in possession of the film is murdered, and the reel disappears. On a quest to retrieve it and solve the murder before the killer comes after them next, Lola and Berta find themselves navigating one wacky situation after another in high style and low company. Charming, witty, often laugh-out-loud funny, this is the first in the Discreet Retrieval Agency Mysteries.

"Interfering relatives, difficult friends, and fearsome gangsters make prohibition-era New York the perfect site for a delightful mystery with the tang of speakeasy hooch."—Kate Parker