Lisa Kleinholz Books

When reporter Zoë Szabo and her rock and roll husband move to a small town in New England, Zoë thinks that her wild and dangerous days are past. As they settle in to their new community, Zoë completes a series of articles on Cambodian refugees and when a young Cambodian woman is murdered Zoë is assigned the story. As she investigates she begins to find out information that immerses her in the dangerous world of the Khmer Rouge and the deadly secrets that members of the Cambodian community have tried to forget. This is a fascinating look at the Cambodian refugee culture and an interesting mystery to boot. Exiles On Main Street is recommended for mystery lovers.

When reporter Zoë Szabo and her rock and roll husband move to a small town in New England, Zoë thinks that her wild and dangerous days are past. As they settle in to their new community, Zoë completes a series of articles on Cambodian refugees and when a young Cambodian woman is murdered Zoë is assigned the story. As she investigates she begins to find out information that immerses her in the dangerous world of the Khmer Rouge and the deadly secrets that members of the Cambodian community have tried to forget. This is a fascinating look at the Cambodian refugee culture and an interesting mystery to boot. Exiles On Main Street is recommended for mystery lovers.

Zoe Szabo and her family have moved away from a rock and roll lifestyle in LA, seeking a normal life in quiet college town Greymont, Massachusetts. She has a couple small children, a boy and a girl, and a rock and roller husband who is struggling to stay clean, so Zoe has to go to work to support her family. In her old life she reported for Rolling Stone Magazine, in this new life she takes a job at the Greymont Evening Eagle, however, she manages to preserve a bit of her old self, sporting platinum hair with a pink streak and wearing clothes that are more appropriate for a wild night on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard than in Greymont, with it's New England Yankees, college students and a growing number of Cambodian immigrants.

While covering a story at the local mall, Zoe stumbles on the body of a young Cambodian woman in a car in the parking lot. She sees that the woman has been brutally murdered, stabbed several times, and begins to gather information. She goes through notes and photos of a Cambodian wedding ceremony she recently covered and figures out who the dead woman is.

As Zoe gathers more information about the victim's last days, both her ethics and her marriage are tested, but the reader's desire to finish the book is not. Lisa Kleinholz has delivered a mystery that both entertains and informs. A story that never gets too bogged down in detail, delivers just the right amount of clues and will maybe open your eyes a little bit about the plight of new immigrants in the good ole' US of A.

Greymont, Massachusetts is the perfect place to raise a couple small children, the perfect place to have a normal life. At least that's what rock journalist Zoe Szabo thought when she'd moved her family to the small New England College town. No more chasing after her musician husband as he toured with his band, plus away from that life would make it easier for him to stay clean.

Once settled, Zoe got a job on the Greymont Evening Eagle and went about the business of making her dream of normalcy come true. She'd been working on a story about the Cambodian immigrant community and how difficult it is for them to fit into the new England lifestyle, when she discovers the body of a Cambodian woman in a snow covered car in the parking lot of the local mall. She may have moved away from the big city, but she still knows a story when she sees one and she knows right of the bat that there is more to this murder than the cops might think.

Her instincts lead her down a trail that soon has her thinking that maybe the safe, small town she'd moved her family to isn't the safest place to raise her children, after all?

EXILES ON MAIN STREET is an engaging mystery filled with the troubling undertones of racial discrimination, stereotyping and a deep awareness of cultural differences. That said, it's a book I stayed awake with till the wee hours of the morn, a book I thoroughly enjoyed and one I think you will too.

Reviewed by Sara Hackett, who just adore's her husband Jack Priest's books Ragged Man, Gecko & Night Witch.

EXILES ON MAIN STREET opens with Zoe Szabo walking up to a snow covered car in the mall parking lot in Greymont, Massachusetts. The Cambodian immigrant woman in it had a little blood frozen on the corner of her mouth. She had been repeatedly stabbed. She was very dead.

Zoe, who had been working for Rolling Stone Magazine and had moved from the Rock scene in LA to get away from the fast and wild life, is seeking a small town normal existence, because her musician husband had a drug problem. Hopefully she could raise her kids quietly and her husband could stay clean in New England.

But the killing takes over her life, as she's first and foremost a reporter. She'd done some stories on the Cambodian community in Greymont and that gives her an edge in her investigation into the crime. And there are several theories. Was the woman killed by the boyfriend who broke off their engagement? Or had she been the victim of a hate crime? Was she murdered by someone in her family for breaking with the old Cambodian ways? Or was she killed by a Khmer Rouge assassin?

Zoe uses her contacts in the Cambodian community to chase what she believes is the story of a lifetime. However she's got plenty of other stuff to worry about besides a story. She has to find time for her kids and her husband, who wants to form a band and jump back in to the rock and roll lifestyle. And all the while she's getting closer and closer to the killer.

This is an excellent book that will both open your eyes to how hard it is for many immigrants to assimulate into their new country and entertain you as you race through the pages to its exciting climax.

Reviewed by Stephanie Sane

Lisa Kleinholz uses her phrases to paint vivid pictures across the canvas of my imagination. The people and places come alive in her words. I care for her characters. I can't wait for her next book!

Having read the previous excellent reviews, I really can't add much; but this is a great follow-up to Lisa's much acclaimed debut novel EXILES ON MAIN STREET. It has a little something for everyone - murder, intrigue, drugs, murder, music, money laundering, murder, environment, romance; oh, did I mention murder? And of course Zoe, the punk rock journalist/sleuth is right in the midst of it all. Highly recommended. Put it on your Xmas list!

Lisa Kleinholz has done it again! Zoe, the Punk-mom sleuth who burst on the scene in her debut mystery, Exiles on Main Street, is back. This time she must unravel the complex trail of events leading to the murder of an environmental fanatic while her own marriage also unravels.

The puzzle Zoe must solve to find the murderer is again cleverly constructed. But this time the characters are even more real. The love story between Zoe and her husband comes to dominate the book's mood. The emotional undertow grows stronger as the story unfolds, and I found my own emotions deeply affected by Zoe's predicament. Once again, my first thought as I finished the books was "Where is the NEXT one!"

Zoe Szabo and Billy Harp once shared the perfect marriage with her working as a reporter for Rolling Stone and he being a major rock and roller. That changed when Billy got heavily into drugs, which nearly led to his death. Billy entered rehab and upon release persuaded Zoe to take him back. The couple moved to Greymont a small New England town where she became an investigative reporter and he became a songwriter.

Billy has an opportunity to make a comeback, which Zoe supports, but prays he stays off the drugs. While he records an album in Vermont, Zoe investigates the murder of a rabid environmentalist. While Zoe visits Billy, one of his musicians, who had been in Greymont on the night of the murder, accidentally "drowns." Zoe sees a link between the two deaths. Her inquiries lead her to a money laundering scheme, land fraud, and extortion. However, no solid evidence exists that would hold up in court.

DANCING WITH MR. D has a double theme: a marriage in crisis and a murder investigation both within the backdrop of a small New England town. The punk-looking Zoe is a disinterested outsider with no stake in the outcome of events since she constantly shows that Greymont is not home. The mystery is a winner because there is a host of viable suspects with different motives. Though Zoe concentrates on one path, readers never know until the end whether that direction is a giant red herring. This series has the potential for a long run because the audience becomes involved with the lives of the cast. ...

I read a lot of mysteries, and every once in a while, one will "break through the clutter" and REALLY grip me. Both of Lisa Kleinholz's novels, "Exiles on Main Street" and now "Dancing with Mr. D," have held my attention from the first page to the last. Not only is this a thrilling mystery, but the emotional core of the novel -- reporter/sleuth Zoe's relationship with her husband, a musician and former drug addict who isn't quite able to leave his troubled past behind -- brought a tear to my eye. Lisa Kleinholz deserves to be recognized as one of the most promising new mystery authors in the business.