DEAD WRONG (formerly DEATH WILL HELP YOU LEAVE HIM) is the SECOND novel in the Bruce Kohler mystery series by Agatha- and Derringer-Award nominee Elizabeth Zelvin.
A darkly funny mystery-meets-psychological-drama
IF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL DON’T KILL YOU, LOVE ADDICTION JUST MIGHT DO THE JOB…
New Yorker Bruce Kohler, clean and sober for almost 10 months, is startled awake one rainy autumn night by a jolting phone call from his friend, Barbara. It seems her Al-Anon sponsee, Luz, came home to find her abusive boyfriend stabbed to death on the kitchen floor of her East Harlem apartment. Bruce and his best friend Jimmy (Barbara’s main squeeze) are curious, yet happy to leave it at a mob hit/drug deal gone bad. But Barbara, in classic codependent form, just can’t seem to mind her own business.
The trio takes a ride through the twists and turns of New York City in search of the killer, with Bruce all the while fielding booty calls mixed with pleas for help from his ex-wife Laura. But Laura’s hooked on Mac, who might be the death of her. DEAD WRONG is an over-the-top yet utterly believable depiction of mental illness and recovery, mixed in with a thrilling mystery that brings new meaning to the old adage “laughter is the best medicine.”
Fans of Parnell Hall and Tony Dunbar (or any cozy mystery reader with a soft spot for humorous male sleuths) will love Bruce Kohler's wry musings and daring adventures.
“Elizabeth Zelvin proves with this second outing that she is not only here to stay but is indeed the sober version of the Thin Man series. No higher praise than that—ask Nora or Nick. A wondrous read.” -Ken Bruen, Shamus award winner and Edgar finalist
“A heartbreaker of a novel. Through seamless prose and her lead series protagonist Bruce Kohler, Elizabeth Zelvin exposes the internal and external demons of recovering addicts and recovering lovers. Much more than a mere whodunit, DEAD WRONG is a whydunit and the ‘whys’ will haunt you long after the book is read.” -Naomi Hirahara, Edgar Award-winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series.
“With humor and heart, Zelvin writes about the challenges of sobriety and the beat of New York City with impressive accuracy. DEAD WRONG is a terrific read." -Alafair Burke, author of Angel's Tip
Excerpt:
When the phone rang at nine, I was cleaning my apartment. Sobriety, housework, up at the crack of dawn. I hardly recognized myself. I had made a few improvements in the place since I got out of detox. I had exchanged the mattress on the floor for a futon on a pale wood platform. The boxes of neglected possessions that had stuck to me like moss the last few years of my drinking were gone. Some stuff had ended up in the worthy-cause thrift shop on the corner, the rest in the nearest dumpster. I didn’t miss any of it. I’m not a moose. I don’t need moss.
The phone kept ringing. Probably Barbara, to tell me the game was afoot. She had a theory that playing detective would keep me from getting so bored with sobriety that I relapsed. Now I just had to locate the phone. Barbara, in a fit of helping, had organized the crap out of the whole apartment. I couldn’t find anything.
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