Tricks of Fortune

Lina Chern’s crime fiction has been published in Mystery Weekly, The Marlboro Review, The Bellingham Review, Rhino, The Collagist, Black Fox Literary Magazine, and The Coil. She is a Pitch Wars alum, the author of Play the Fool, and lives in the Chicago area with her family.

Tarot card reader extraordinaire Katie True gets embroiled in another local murder when her best friend becomes the prime suspect in this exciting mystery from the Edgar Award-winning author of Play the Fool. “A delicious blend of suspense and madcap humor.” –Library Journal, starred review of Play the FoolKatie True has finally gotten her crap together. Sort of. It’s a miracle after the wild events of the last year, but she has her own tarot reading room now. The small space might be her sister’s unused real estate office, but it’s a start. She can hardly get her ducks in a row when she learns a veteran police officer has been murdered, and their small town is shaken to its core.Katie doesn’t have many strong allegiances, and this officer saved her as a child and he’s the reason she’s still around. At the same time, her closest friend Gina is arrested for the murder—the one person who Katie feels understands her better than she knows herself. Katie can’t just sit around, but as the investigation unfolds, the details surrounding the officer’s death become murky, as does Gina’s innocence. Following her gut is what has gotten her this far in life, but it may take more than a tarot reading to solve this one.