A skeptical tarot card reader stumbles upon a murder — that no one else believes happened
Play the Fool — Lina Chern
Welcome to Reading Under the Radar, where every Tuesday you’ll receive a book recommendation right to your inbox that hasn’t hit any major lists or book clubs but definitely deserves to be read.
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Housekeeping note
Earlier this year, I took a much-needed rest from weekly posting. Turns out, that’s exactly what I needed. This newsletter will be shifting from a weekly format to a more chaotic when-I-can format. I’d love for you to stick around and maybe be happily surprised when I pop in your inbox with a new recommendation. All posts going forward, for now, will be free for everyone. If you have a paid subscription, payments have been paused indefinitely, so you don’t need to worry about being charged. (You can certainly still send me a book from my wishlist if you’d like to support another way!) I hope you’ll stick with me through this change (and I’m officially announcing, scarily, that I’ve been and would like to spend more time working on my novel!) Without further ado, back to the books!
Play the Fool by Lina Chern
Content warnings included in the footnote of this newsletter.1
What It’s About
Katie True is a struggling tarot card reader. She works in a little souvenir shop in a run-down mall in the Chicago suburbs, and she’s feeling stuck but not quite sure what she should do to be un-stuck. When she meets Marley, a woman who works across the way in a Nirvana-style, hippie gift shop (you know the one), she finally feels like she’s made a friend. Marley is extremely cool, worldly, and Katie can’t believe Marley wants to hang out with her.
When an unusual customer comes into the tarot shop, frantic and disheveled, Katie senses she can at least get a reading out of him. After all, she needs to make rent. And she’s very good at reading people, in addition to the cards. But when a notification comes up on his phone while he’s not looking, Katie glimpses what’s on it: a picture of a dead woman. Marley. A picture of a dead Marley in an alleyway behind the mall.
She’s shocked, confused, scared, and has no idea what to do next, other than go to the police, who don’t seem to believe her—because now there’s no sign of a body at all. They all assure Katie nothing happened, there was no crime, and that no one was murdered. But Marley is missing, and Katie feels like no one cares, other than her and a new detective to the area who is determined to at least help Katie find a resolution, whether the outcome is good or not.
Why You Should Read It
This is a really great mystery with both an engaging plot and characters you want to read about. The main character is flawed, a bit self-centered, and trying to find meaning in her life, which I greatly appreciated. She has privilege and recognizes it at times while forgetting it others, making her a very realistic protagonist.
And an added bonus for me was a detective character that didn't romanticize police officers and had many characters skeptical of organized security. The detective was committed to his job of helping others but knew his own limitations and biases, trying to take into consideration all his past experiences and those of others while performing his job.
This book also recently won the 2024 Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark award at the Edgar Award ceremony, so if reading an award-winner is on one of your Bingo cards or lists this year, this is a great one to pick up! A second book, Tricks of Fortune, is expected in January of 2025.
Can’t get enough, or looking for a different recommendation? Browse the archives, or check out some popular past recommendations:
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Content warnings include death of child by car accident (off page, minor story told once); description of dead body in detail; endangerment of young autistic person (19–20 year old, put in dangerous situation and used as collateral by antagonist).
As usual, you've sucked me into whatever title you're recommending, Cassie. UGH! 😘
And, I'm super proud of you for changing up this newsletter as you need to -- I know it's not easy to make those decisions, and I will 100% support whatever you decide.
I have this one. I need to knock it to the top of the list. Listening to the Community Board now on your rec.