Dark Streets Cold Suburbs
Trying to help a teen in peril proves to apprentice PI Willa Pennington that sometimes home is the most dangerous place of all.
People move to the suburbs for a better life—nice houses, good schools, safe communities. But there's no place you can go that's completely safe from danger. Willa Pennington knows this all too well after her first PI case almost got her killed. Helping her old mentor review a decades-old cold case seems much safer. Then she reaches out to a teenager in trouble, and suddenly a new case rips into Willa's life in a way she could have never predicted. It seems menace is always lying in wait behind someone's door. Especially on the dark streets of the cold suburbs.
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Praise for What Doesn't Kill You, book 1 in the Willa Pennington, PI mystery series
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"A debut that saddles tough-girl noir with the heart of a cozy."-- Kirkus Reviews
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"The book has plenty of twists and surprises, but what stands out is the tight writing and fast narrative of the author's debut novel."-- Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
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"Aimee Hix is an up-and-coming author everyone should watch."-- Crimespree Magazine
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"This is a solid beginning to a character and setting that could go on to very good things."-- RT Book Reviews
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"Willa Pennington is a smart, savvy, tough heroine with a heart as big as the ocean. I’d follow her anywhere, especially into the pages of What Doesn’t Kill You. She thrilled me, scared me, and made me laugh and cry all on the same page."
-- Eileen Rendahl, bestselling author of COVER ME IN DARKNESS
"Aimee Hix writes a gripping mystery with just the right amount of heat and humor. Fans of Kinsey Millhone will find much to love in the complex, smart and smart-mouthed ex-cop Willa Pennington. I couldn't put this book down."
-- Jess Lourey, Anthony-nominated author of SALEM'S CIPHER
"This impressive debut packs more hairpin turns than a mountain road, whip-smart dialogue, and plenty of steam in the romance—but its greatest strength lies in the walk-right-off-the-page characters. I would love to take Willa out for a drink (or three). Hix has created a fresh, feisty, and utterly fabulous heroine readers will crave more of.”
-- LynDee Walker, Agatha Award-nominated author of LETHAL LIFESTYLES
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"One of the best debut efforts I've ever seen. Tight plotting, edge-of-your-seat suspense and a protagonist in PI Willa Pennington you'll want to read about again and again. I couldn't put this book down." -- Maggie Barbieri, author of ONCE UPON A LIE
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What Doesn't Kill You
Favors are for suckers, especially when they lead you straight to a dead body.
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Willa Pennington thought that becoming a PI would be better than being a cop. She thought she’d never have to make another death notification or don a bulletproof vest again. She thought she’d be safe.
But she couldn’t have been more wrong, because Willa’s real problem is that she’s always sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. And people really don’t like that.
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Now, agreeing to do a simple favor has netted her a dead body, a missing person, and an old friend who just may be a very bad guy. If whoever is trying to kill her would lay off she could solve the murder, find the missing girl, and figure out if the person she’s trusted with her life is the one trying to end it.
- 2019Lefty Best Debut Mystery Novel nominee
- 2019 Agatha Best First Novel nominee
- 2019 Anthony Best First Novel nominee
- 2019 Shamus Best First Private Eye Novel
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