Starr Sign

Finalist for the 2022 Edgar Awards, Paperback Original Category

Candace Starr goes searching for her mother in the Detroit mob ? but infiltrating her own crime family may be her deadliest assignment ever.

Candace Starr has fallen on hard times since she helped her friend, Detective Malone, with a murder case last year. These days, she trades on her dark celebrity as a former contract killer to keep the wolf from the door and her glass of Scotch whisky full. But when her teenage half-sister, Janet, shows up, Candace finds herself responsible for more than her nightly bar bill.

Candace and Janet?s mercurial mother has gone missing while visiting her estranged family of Detroit mobsters, and Candace needs to track her down to take the kid off her hands. But the vicious Scarpello clan is hiding far more than her mother?s whereabouts.

Witty, gritty, and full of cocky hard-edged flair, the second book in the Candace Starr series unearths the well-buried secrets of Candace?s mob family tree, laying bare the roots of her own identity along the way.

AUTHOR

C.S. O’Cinneide

C.S. O’Cinneide is the author of the Candace Starr crime series as well as Petra’s Ghost, a semi-finalist in the Goodreads Choice Awards. On her blog, She Kills Lit, she features women writers of thriller and noir. She lives in Guelph, Ontario.

Reviews

Candace’s wryly amusing take on events is perfectly balanced with scenes of chilling action. Fans of Lawrence Block’s burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr will have fun.
– Publishers Weekly

Hard-boiled humour meets high-octane action in this superb crime noir novel set in the underbelly of Detroit. C.S. O’Cinneide’s razor-sharp wit and taut writing bring to life the incomparable Candace Starr in this second installment in the Candace Starr series. Prepare to be swept up in a twisted tale of sisterhood, mob hijinks, and unexpected love that will leave you pining for more!
– Erin Ruddy, author of Tell Me My Name

This novel is full of action, lots of creative and sharp-edged dialogue, a clever plot, and a satisfying ending. A must-read for thriller readers.
– The Miramichi Reader

This is assured prose in the hands of a masterful storyteller, taking the reader effortlessly from the mansions of the very rich to the seedy sex-trafficking brothels where gangsters go to let their guard down.
– Bookish

A clever plot delivered with dry wit by a reluctant hero you can’t help cheering for.
– Mike Finn’s Fiction