Negative Girl

For fans of Cottonmouths by Kelly J. Ford comes Negative Girl: an evocative, moody, neo-noir thriller that explores obsession and people dying across America's forgotten spaces.Martin Wade lived hard in his youth, but unlike many of his former bandmates and roadie friends, he didn’t die young. Instead he hit the recovery path, cleaned up his life, and became a private investigator in a dying city in upstate New York.When his heavily tattooed and scarred assistant Valerie sets up an appointment with a young woman who needs help keeping her biological father away from her, none of the three realize that the father is Martin’s old bandmate, still using, and on a destructive path that will soon be headed straight for Martin’s clean life. As Martin struggles, Valerie becomes increasingly obsessed with their new client’s life.Then the client is found dead in a riverbank, and duty, nostalgia, and lifetimes of regret find Martin and Valerie on the case for the young woman’s killer. As Martin struggles to hold onto his sobriety, Valerie becomes increasingly obsessed with their dead client.Biographical NoteLIBBY CUDMORE is a Shamus and Black Orchid award winner and the author of the acclaimed The Big Rewind. Her Wade and Jacks stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Tough and the Anthony-nominated anthology Lawyers, Guns & Money: Crime Fiction Inspired by The Music of Warren Zevon (co-edited with Art Taylor). Her other publications include The Dark, Smokelong Quarterly, MonkeyBicycle, HAD and others. She lives in Upstate NY with her husband and cats.