Chance Kirby isn’t new to detective work, but starting over in Hopeful, Texas, is a big step. Determined to leave behind her father and stepmother’s shadow and carve out a future of her own, she opens a small PI agency, expecting missing heirlooms and marital disputes. But when the cold case of a murdered teenage girl is dropped on her doorstep, Chance finds herself in the middle of an investigation with no leads.
With her adopted sister Tia, her loyal dog Sissy, and the town’s newly arrived police chief Isabella Lopez at her side, Chance soon begins to suspect this murder may be only one piece of a much bigger, and more disturbing, pattern.
To stop a predator who, it seems, has managed to evade authorities for decades, Chance must stay one step ahead … or risk becoming the next target.
“An absolute winner! It’s rare that a thriller offers up a tale with such a page-turning, edge-of-the-seat plot that also grips your heart so tightly, but First Chance does just that, and then some! There’re thrills, laughs, and even a few tears. (And who doesn’t just love a German shepherd named Sissy?) Bravo!”
— Jeffery Deaver, internationally bestselling author of The Bone Collector
“A gripping, emotionally charged thriller that seamlessly blends Southern noir, coming-of-age fiction, and gritty crime drama… A good addition to the contemporary Southern crime genre.”
— Library Journal
“Lansdale writes with an evocative sense of place and admirably nuanced view of justice…”
— Publishers Weekly
“The hardscrabble world the author creates is well worth visiting and revisiting.”
— Kirkus Reviews
