Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
April 23, 2024| Young Adult Historical Fiction
ISBN 9780593532041
Kill Her Twice
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl comes a YA murder mystery noir set in 1930s Los Angeles’s Chinatown.
Los Angeles, 1932: Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen and the pride of Chinatown, has a face known to practically anyone, especially to the Chow sisters—May, Gemma, and Peony—Lulu’s former classmates and neighbors. So the girls instantly know it’s Lulu whose body they discover one morning in an out-of-the-way stable, far from the Beverly Hills mansion where she moved once her fame skyrocketed.
The sisters suspect Lulu’s death is the result of foul play, but the LAPD—known for being corrupt to the core—doesn’t seem motivated to investigate. Even worse, there are signs that point to the possibility of a police cover-up, and powerful forces in the city want to frame the killing as evidence that Chinatown is a den of iniquity and crime, even more reason it should be demolished to make room for the construction of a new railway depot, Union Station.
Worried that neither the police nor the papers will treat a Chinese girl fairly—no matter how famous and wealthy—the sisters set out to solve their friend’s murder themselves, and maybe save their neighborhood in the bargain. But with Lulu’s killer still on the loose, the girls’ investigation just might put them square in the crosshairs of a coldblooded murderer.
School Library Journal
“Takes readers on a wild ride. Woven into the mystery are elements of grief, romance, family dynamics, struggle, prejudice, and deceit. Lee skillfully introduces actual history into this fictional story, leading readers to learn what the residents of LA’s Old Chinatown faced. The story contains intriguing characters, but not everyone is who or what they appear—these twists will delight readers… Whether teens enjoy mysteries, historical fiction, or both, this is one to get into their hands.”
A Discussion Guide to the Works of Stacey Lee
Discussion questions for all of Stacey Lee’s historical fiction from Penguin Random House.
Publishers Weekly Q & A with Stacey Lee
I don't want people to think of Chinatown as this evil, mysterious place. I wanted to show people that there were young girls there, and they were doing some remarkable things.
Stacey Lee