Murder for the Modern Girl by Kendall Kulper

An irresistible caper perfect for fans of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, in an exquisite hardcover package with rose-gold foil. Waltzing between a supernaturally enhanced romance, the battle to take down a gentleman’s club, and loyal friendships worth their weight in diamonds, Ruby brings defiant charm to every page of Murder for the Modern Girl -not to mention killer fashion. Even more unfortunately: sharp, independent Ruby has fallen in love with him. No one knows that she uses her mind-reading abilities to target men who prey on vulnerable women, men who escape the clutches of Chicago “justice.” When she meets a brilliant boy working at the morgue, his knack for forensic detail threatens to uncover her dark hobby. Until now, eighteen-year-old Ruby’s penchant for poison has been a secret.

It’s a match made in 1928 Chicago, where gangsters run City Hall, jazz fills the air, and every good girl’s purse conceals a flask.

A soft-spoken genius toils away in the city morgue, desperate to unearth the science behind his gift for shapeshifting. A ravishing young mind reader stalks the streets at night in kitten heels, prowling for men to murder. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties.Gatsby-era glamour, a swoon-worthy love story, and an indomitable heroine dazzle in this romp that captures the extravagance of the Roaring Twenties and the dangers of vigilante justice. Several characters are Prohibition-era stereotypes, and the inclusion of 1920s slang can feel a bit shoehorned, but on the balance, Kulper (the Salt & Storm series) delivers a glitzy, adrenaline-fueled crime novel brimming with formidable women.

Ruby and Guy co-narrate, tension mounting as they work at cross-purposes while falling in love. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Ruby, Guy is investigating a string of poisonings to curry favor with medical examiner and cellular metamorphosis expert Gregory Keene, hoping to learn more about his own abilities. After she discovers that a morgue employee known as Guy Rosewood, 18, can morph his appearance to resemble nearly anyone, she agrees to keep his secret-and then solicits his assistance. Evidence points to mob boss Herman Coward, but Ruby suspects he’s being framed by a crooked politician angling to run the city.

She writes historical fantasy for young adult readers and has published two novels, (YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, Junior Library Guild Selection) and Drift & Dagger (JLG Selection), and a novella, Murder for the Modern Girl (JLG Selection) is her first book with Holiday House. In 1928, Ruby Newhouse-the 18-year-old daughter of an anticorruption state’s attorney-likes to pretend she’s a flighty flapper, but she’s actually a shrewd vigilante who reads minds to identify and then poison “killers, monsters, abusers.” Ruby usually targets women-harming men whom few will miss, but when someone tries to assassinate her father, she shifts her focus to Chicago’s power players. Kendall Kulper is an author living in Cambridge, MA.

Murder for the Modern Girl by Kendall Kulper