Serious as a Heart Attack

by Louisa Luna

Queenie Sells is having what she thinks is a good day. After getting fired from her job at a calendar company for botching Daylight Savings, she is informally hired by a wealthy acquaintance to track down his girlfriend, a stripper named Trigger Happy. But Queenie's seemingly good luck turns hard when she finds Trigger dead in her apartment.

Now Queenie's daily routine of being a drunk smart-ass is put on hold as she becomes both a suspect for the murder and the target for an unknown predator. Hopping from bar to bar, from Coney Island clam stands to the Waldorf-Astoria, she inadvertently lands on the trail of Trigger's killer and puts herself in the line of fire.

Along the way she meets Rey, a private eye with a soft spot for tough-talking ladies; Detective Olds, the stuttering cop who thinks Queenie's the culprit; and a dozen New York denizens, among them a cult recruiter, a hit man, a thief, and even Rip Torn -- some strange, some sad, some sweet, and some deadly, every one dropping in and out of Queenie's life as she searches for each fragile piece of the puzzle that may eventually lead her to the truth.

With danger closing in on her, Queenie can't help but realize the precariousness of her own mortality. As she stares out of the window at an old lady on the corner, she thinks, "There is nothing separating you from that old lady right now -- maybe something, maybe time is all, but that's really nothing when you think about it." After all, thinks Queenie, it's just days. But unless she can find the killer before the killer finds her, Queenie's days are seriously numbered.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Louisa Luna is the author of the novels Brave New Girl, Crooked, and Serious As A Heart Attack. She was born and raised in the city of San Francisco and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

https://www.instagram.com/louisalunaw...

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I just loved this book! The protagonist is...okay, well, she's somewhat of an alcoholic. But boy, is she ever BRAVE. I loved all of Luna's characters in this book. And even though it was just a teensy bit predictable at the end, it was a fantastic read.

[Jo Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Complete crazy sauce but I enjoyed it.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very strange and very fun to read! I loved this story - this earlier work is so different from the author's current work but it is equally well written.

[Amber Ridgeway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author. Her character is so real and flawed and hilarious.
Makes me remember my trip to New York, just less drunk lol.
The mystery wasn’t all that a surprise but there were plenty of twists.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a so-so read. I expected it to be funnier, but it was a murder mystery, after all. It was a fast read, however.

[Denise Benoit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fluff

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty flimsy story and writing.