What is your whole life worth, to the nearest dollar?
A bag of cash. No owner. Do you take it?
Emily Scott was the first girl Chloe Medina ever kissed. Back before she was ready to talk about that kind of thing. Now, two decades later, Chloe is a bounty hunter in Arizona, and a local crime boss hires her track down a criminal who has stolen a bag of cash. The fugitive’s name? Emily Scott.
Emily Scott is a stand-up comedian and one-time bank robber who came into possession of knowledge that could get her killed. She knows the identity of Big Wheel. When presented with a chance to run away with a bag full of cash, she didn’t hesitate. But now pout on the road she’s stuck between two worlds. After spending twenty years getting good at one thing, and building her identity around it, can she abandon all that work and become someone new? And what happens when she finds out Chloe Medina is on her tail, the hot girl who broke her nose at high school after one kiss?
Chloe isn't the only person chasing Scott down. Deputy U.S. Marshal Treat Tyler is on the case. Scott had been in Tyler’s custody when she escaped, and his reputation is on the line. What self-respecting lawman lets a comedian get away? Tyler has another personal stake in the story. He used to work with Medina, back when she was a Marshal. They were rivals. They had identical test scores and identical success rates. Tyler enjoys wearing the badge just as much as Medina did. He’s obsessed with being the cowboy, and despite the years between, can’t stop wondering if Medina may have been just a bit better at it. Whenever their paths cross, he finds a way to bring conversation round to the idea of a contest—to settle the issue once and for all. Medina always declines. She has nothing to prove. But Tyler does, and finding out that Medina is tracking the same fugitive? Game on. Again. And, of course, Tyler is hiding his own secrets about Big Wheel.
“Compelling and unexpected with layered characters, crisp and clever dialogue, and inventive twists. Stringer has created a highly entertaining novel with an unforeseen sense of justice.” – Kendra Elliot.
"Reads like Elmore Leonard and Joe R. Lansdale got together to tell the world’s greatest road story. Packed full of wildly wonderful characters and dialogue that whips like hairpin turns from hilarious to heartbreaking." – Josh Stallings.
Louisa doesn’t feel capable of murder. But her husband has been missing for six months.
Did she kill him? Why can’t she remember?
David Ash, an indie rock star, has been missing for six months. Everyone in New York assumes his wife, former reality TV star Louisa Mantalos, has killed him. A popular true crime podcast is covering the case, and asking intrusive questions about Louisa’s past.
Louisa is struggling to hold her life together and protect her two young sons from the news. Worst of all, an illness is changing her memories, and she can’t recall what happened on the night David disappeared. Did she kill him? Did he leave her? She doesn’t know.
Running out of options, she hires Constantin McGarry, an ex-con private eye from Queens. He’s down on his luck and buries his heart beneath layers of irony and jokes, but he’s the only person left in town willing to take Louisa’s case. And it doesn’t take long for Con to realise Louisa’s story doesn’t add up.
Gone Girl meets The Rockford Files in this dark, funny, and sexy thriller from award-nominated crime writer Jay Stringer.
Also available in a Dyslexic Reader paperback edition, formatted for reluctant readers (Dyslexic Reader ISBN 9781916892323)
'Slick, sexy and suffused with cool, a psychological thriller cut up with the keenest of edges.' – Eva Dolan.
‘One of the best books I’ve read this year, a great PI novel.’ – James Oswald.
‘Jay Stringer is a crime writer at the top of his game, I loved every page of this book.” – Jess Lourey.
'Smart, sharp, and sinister...an edge-of-your-seat thriller that sinks under your skin.' - Hilary Davidson.
The Miller Trilogy
A series of mystery novels set in the Black County, in England. Eoin Miller is a Romani detective who lives somewhere between right and wrong. He might not be the most reliable of narrators, but he’s got some great lines. The books explore social issues, and have been described as “Peaky Blinders in the modern day.“
-Old Gold (2012, Thomas & Mercer)
The Sam Ireland Mysteries
Jay moved his writing to Glasgow and found the voice and humour of the Dear Mean Place to be a perfect fit. The books mark a turn to a more comedic style for Jay’s writing. Sam Ireland is a young, initially reluctant PI. She only took over the family business when her dad fell ill. So far, Sam has managed to get in over her head in two punk rock crime comedies. Will there be more?
-Ways To Die In Glasgow (2015, Thomas & Mercer)
-How To Kill Friends And Implicate People (2016, Thomas & Mercer)