Shoot the Moon: A Rainey Hall Mystery

(Hardback)

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Description

Private investigator Rainey Hall stumbles into a dark mystery from her past that embroils her with an underground society of artists,a dangerous new drug,and a string of violent deaths.

While in high school, Rainey spent a summer taking advantage of the wildfires near Los Angeles to break into the empty houses of the rich and famous with her best friends, Alice and Spencer, committing small acts of larceny. These acts of rebellion culminated in a big theft from a powerful, well-connected musician with underworld ties. Days later, Alice went missing.

Nownine years laterRainey is a private detective chasing a missing person case. Chloe, a young vulnerable artist with a history of substance abuse, disappeared from her parents' house without a trace. As she digs into the case, Rainey not only discovers a string of missing artists, but connections to Alice, a case that had gone cold years ago. Diving back into her own past and Alices disappearance, the investigation quickly becomes more twisted and dangerous than Rainey'd ever anticipated. She unearths a mysterious society steeped in drugs, art, and some of the most influential people in Los Angeles.

Powerful forces begin to close in on Rainey as she finds herself in a race against time to save Chloeand finally reveal the truth of what happened to Alice all those years ago.

Reviews

"Ava Barry showcases the grit of modern Los Angeles while drawing on the glamour and glitz of old Hollywoodand its fetid underbelly. Creepy plants, a hotel with a dark history, and an investigator with a dark past fuel this evocative novel.Shoot the Moonsimmers withsuspense." -- Ashley Kalagian Blunt, bestselling author ofDark Mode
"InShoot The Moon, Ava Barrys electrifying new Rainey Hall Mystery, a missing artist pulls the PI deep into LAs gritty, enigmatic art worldand back into a haunting missing person case from her past. Barry captures LA with stunning, atmospheric precision, making the city a vivid character, much like in the works of Chandler and Macdonald. With each page, the tension intensifies, the shadows deepen, and the suspense becomes utterly addictive. Immersive and thrilling, this is a novel you wont be able to put down!" -- John Copenhaver, Lambda and Macavity award-winning author ofHall of Mirrors
Praise for the Rainey Hall Mysteries:

"I was absorbed in the world Ava Barry concocted inDouble Exposureto the point where I found myself irritated when I had to do other tasks that took me away from reading.The writing is evocative." -- Sara Weinman * The New York Times Book Review *
"Years after the murder of her parents, heiress Melia van Aust hires P.I. Rainey Hall to find the culprit and the root out Melia's stalker. But Rainey has a dark history of her own. Chilling." * People Magazine, Best Books Fall 2022 *
Double Exposurecontains many evocative passages on Hollywood old and newon the culture and personalities of a region whose mix of fact and contrivance creates a unique atmosphere." -- Tom Nolan,The Wall Street Journal
The plot of this exhilarating and intricate novel ebbs and flows between fast-paced action and relaxed moments of narrative exposition. * Booklist *
This provocative, character-driven drama manages to keep its surprising twists in focus while also giving readers a lyrical look at Los Angeles. A stupendous turn adds an intense level of terror toDouble Exposure. * Shelf Awareness *
[A] seductive neo-noirThis evocative novel demonstrates that both the city [Los Angeles] and its magic remain very much alive. * Publishers Weekly (starred) *
Praise for Ava Barry:

"Barrys prose is precise, vivid, and seductive....It's a gorgeous, bedeviling, and compulsively readable debut not to be missed fans of historical mysteries and Hollywood lore. -- John Copenhaver, award-winning author ofThe Savage Kind
"Windhallis Barrys first novel, and it is one heck of a debut. She nails her protagonists first-person voice and vividly channels the Hollywood vernacular and vibe both past and present." * BookPage(starred) *

Author Bio

Ava Barrywas a script reader for Bold Films and Intrigue Entertainment, and an editorial assistant forZoetrope: All-Story, Francis Ford Coppolas literary magazine. She is the author ofWindhall and Double Exposure,also available from Pegasus Books. She lives in Australia.