Hi, y’all! I’m Odessa Dean, a twenty-three year old temporary resident of Williamsburg—the hottest neighborhood in NYC. I serve artisanal sandwiches and cold craft brews with names like Pour Williamsburg at the cutest bookstore-slash-café in Brooklyn. I still can’t believe this is my life.

A year ago, I’d never even had avocado toast, and here I am now, living it up in Brooklyn. If my aunt hadn’t needed someone to cat-sit for her for the summer in a big, bougie apartment in an old converted warehouse, I’d probably still be waiting tables at the Crawdad Shack in Piney Island, Louisiana. You haven’t heard of Piney Island? No worries. Few people have. It’s a blip on the map. A single exit on the highway.

It’s absolutely nothing like Williamsburg.

Here we have stuffed croissants and food trucks and did I mention the wide selection of craft beer? Alright, you caught me. I talk about food—a lot. But it’s not the only thing I love about New York City. It’s not even the best thing. The best thing, hands down, is the people.

I know, I know—growing up, I had the most misguided notion of what New York and New Yorkers are like, but now that I’m here, I’ve gotta tell you, it’s amazeballs. I have met some of the most interesting people on the planet right here in Williamsburg. First and foremost is my friend Izzy. She took me under her wing when I was completely lost and alone. Hashtag besties! And Parker. He’s absolute magic in the kitchen; the heart and soul of the café. Then there’s my fellow waitress Bethany, a rising YouTube star with a gazillion followers on social media.

Or, she was, before she plunged to her death from the elevated walkway in Domino Park.

Bethany’s death was even captured in the background of a surprise flash mob proposal video that went viral on the internet. The problem is that everyone’s so eager to write her death off as an accident but I don’t buy it, not one little bit. Bethany was murdered, and I’m gonna prove it and bring the killer to justice. No matter what.

Killer Content, Brooklyn Murder Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: February 2021
Purchase Link

Bayou transplant Odessa Dean has a lot to learn about life in Brooklyn. So far she’s scored a rent free apartment in one of the nicest neighborhoods around by cat-sitting, and has a new job working at Untapped Books & Café. Hand-selling books and craft beers is easy for Odessa, but making new friends and learning how to ride the subway? Well, that might take her a little extra time.

But things turn more sour than an IPA when the death of a fellow waitress goes viral, caught on camera in the background of a couple’s flash-mob proposal video. Nothing about Bethany’s death feels right to Odessa–neither her sudden departure mid-shift nor the clues that only Odessa seems to catch. As an up-and-coming YouTube star, Bethany had more than one viewer waiting for her to fall from grace.

Determined to prove there’s a killer on the loose, Odessa takes matters into her own hands. But can she pin down Bethany’s killer before they take Odessa offline for good?

Meet the author
Brooklyn Murder Mysteries author Olivia Blacke (OliviaBlacke.com) writes quirky, unconventional, character-driven cozy mysteries. After shuffling around the U.S.A. from Hawaii to Maine, she currently resides with her husband and their roly-poly rescue puggle, but is forever homesick for NYC. In addition to writing, disappearing into a good book, and spending way too much time on social media, she enjoys SCUBA diving, crocheting, collecting tattoos, and baking dog cookies. Her debut cozy mystery, Killer Content, is available from Berkley in bookstores 2/2/21.

All comments are welcomed.