Play the Fool

Play the Fool A Mystery by Lina Chern

313 Pages

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine, Bantam

Release Date: March 28, 2023

Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers, Tarot, Divination, Spies

Katie True reads tarot cards and works in Firebird Imports, a Russian gift shop in a rundown mall. She has a friend, Marley, who works in the Stone Blossom, metaphysical shop. A big guy runs into Katie’s store frantic, his head bleeding, and looking as if he is running from something. Katie takes out her tarot cards and starts a reading for him. When he isn’t looking, Katie looks at his phone. She sees a photo of Marley, shot dead by the dumpster. She begins investigating and calls the police. She meets Jamie, a detective recently transferred from Los Angeles. He believes her, but without a body or any clues, the investigation goes nowhere. Katie depends on her tarot cards to tell her the story. Hopefully she will find out the truth before the murderer finds out what she is doing.

The book has a fast pace, the characters are developed, and it is written in the first-person point of view. I love quirky characters with flaws. They feel more realistic to me. The author did a wonderful job including the tarot cards into the story. Not only does she do readings, but she also includes the descriptions of cards for the people she encounters. There is a little romance that I hope continues after the book ends. If you like light mysteries or tarot, you may enjoy this book.