A BAD DAY FOR MERCY
Coming June 19, 2012!

"Fans of quirky mysteries straddling the line between
tough and funny need to grab a Littlefield pronto."
   —Kirkus

call from Stella's little sister brings the news that Stella's step-nephew, Chip, has been threatened with serious bodily harm if he doesn't settle his unpaid gambling debts. So Stella makes the drive to Chip's home in Wisconsin, only to walk in on a wee-hours dismemberment...

Jogging home from the Freshway at sunset on a sultry evening in late May had been a fine idea. Trying to carry home a box of frozen taquitos, a carton of pistachio ice cream, a family size bag of Fritos Scoops, a tub of french onion dip, two cans of vegetable soup, a three-pack of Dove Beauty Bars, and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black in her backpack had not been a very good idea—even if the pack was a BlackHawk Raptor model, cleared for special ops use. The heavy load bounced and jostled against Stella Hardesty's spine as each step brought her closer to her little white house on Poplar street.

She hadn't had much of a choice, anyway—her Jeep was in the shop for a suspension problem that she suspected was the result of too many fast drives down too many bumpy dirt roads, an ill-advised habit that she enjoyed to an unseemly degree for a middle-aged woman.

Read more about the book here and more of the excerpt here

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Praise for Sophie and Stella

"[Littlefield] blends humor and southern-fried crime-solving, to delicious effect."
   —People Magazine

"Compelling and addictive."
   —4 1/2 Stars, RT Book Reviews

"Littlefield wields humor like a whip."
   —Starred Review, Publishers Weekly

"Crime fiction hasn't seen a character as scrappy, mean, and incredibly appealing as Stella in a long time. A-"
   —Entertainment Weekly

"Amusing, sassy debut... Spunky, unapologetically middle-aged and a tad cantankerous, Stella barges bravely and often unwisely into danger."
   —Publishers Weekly

"Littlefield puts a new spin on middle-age sleuths in this rollicking, rip-roaring debut."
   —Booklist

"Wickedly funny...a can't-put-it-downer narrated in a brilliant, bristly voice."
   —Mystery Scene Magazine

"The story's compelling, the dialogue perfect—and Stella is one of the most memorable characters of this summer or any other."
   —Jay Strafford, the Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Humor and heart."
   —Hallie Ephron, Boston Globe