This procedural thriller really had me guessing to figure out who the villain was (didn’t guess it right). I was shocked by how sad I felt at times - this truly is a character-driven novel. Rutkoski writes from her experiences as a stripper and does write a captivating and authentic novel about the inner workings of a strip club. I think the POVs jumping around so much caused me to not really connect with any of the characters. There was a lot of extraneous information about different characters that had nothing to do with the plot. The ending tied up a lot of loose ends though!

This mystery revolves around a strip club: clients and employees. We all have preconceived ideas about who works in the clubs and this book doesn’t shine any new information on that. It just reinforces that there are good people who are out there in every field of work and those who are desperate, all trying to make ends meet however they can.
   The title of the book: does it mean the work is real easy?, is it a reference about the workers?, a comment on the criminal? ……it just doesn’t fit the book.
   The book has so many levels of sadness: death, infertility, abuse, desperation ……..hard to believe all that heartache keeps the pages turning at such fast pace.

[Thank you to Henry Holt & Co and NetGalley for my gifted e-ARC copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions reflected are my own]

The dark cover and premise of "Real Easy" intrigued me immensely, and I was eager to read this one! The story follows dancers of the Lovely Lady strip club, when two dancers begin a friendship, and one offers another a ride home - things turn deadly. The dual POV between the detective assigned to the case, and the dancer, makes this an interesting mystery. I appreciated the lens the author wrote about the dancers and club through, very pro-sex work and exotic dancing, as the author had worked as a dancer in her personal life.

Penned as a psychological thriller, it's worth noting this leans heavier on the mystery side of things. The pacing is slower, and the details are dense. If you really like to sink your teeth into a mystery and be provided alllll the details, this is the one for you.

Song Pairing: Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan
Star Rating: 3/5 Stars

I will have a soft spot for any book set in the 90s and this is no different. Set in 1999 at a Chicago strip club, Samantha is trying to make it through her days. She does her job, dances and feels the need to help the newest dancer, but her helpfulness comes with a price.
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Multiple povs between the dancers, detectives, patrons and even some of the children I feel like this one could jump right to the screen!
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Thank you so much @henryholt for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars

It’s 1999 and Samantha Lind lives in Fremont, just outside Chicago, with her boyfriend Nick Sullivan and his daughter Rosie. Samantha takes Rosie out for silver dollar pancakes, picks Rosie up from school, helps Rosie with homework, and thinks of Rosie as her own daughter.

Using the stage name Ruby, Samantha also works in a club called the Lovely Lady, where she strips and dances for men who pay her and stuff tips in her garter. Nick is disgruntled about Samantha’s job, saying it makes him feel small, but – since Nick is currently unemployed – Samantha’s work pays the bills.

Samantha and the other dancers at the Lovely Lady, who have different backgrounds and lifestyles, aren’t really friends. However, they talk and gossip in the dressing room while they get ready for work. When a new girl called Jolene comes in for a shift, chitchat about a dead girl found at the side of the road – and jokes about the killer frequenting the Lovely Lady – make her jittery. Samantha tells Jolene it’s just a stripper ghost story, but Samantha is spooked as well, and starts to look at her clients more warily.

After that Samantha takes newbie Jolene under her wing, giving the girl advice about makeup, stripper shoes, and how to make money at the club. Then one night Jolene gets high and can’t finish her shift. This is a firing offense, but Samantha tells the boss, Dale, that someone must have drugged Jolene. Samantha offers to drive Jolene home, and Dale gives Samantha the address. The next morning, Samantha’s car is found in a ditch, Jolene’s body is discovered nearby, and Samantha is missing.

Detective Victor Amador and his partner Detective Holly Meylin catch the case, and proceed to interview Samantha’s boyfriend Nick, relatives of the girls, employees of the Lovely Lady, clientele of the club, etc. The police suspect the perpetrator patronizes the Lucky Lady and Holly asks a stripper called Georgia (stage name Gigi) to be a Confidential Informant and report anything suspicious. Georgia resists the idea but, with the correct incentive, decides to help.

Most of the story is told from the rotating points of view of the main protagonists, including Samantha; Georgia; Detective Victor Amador; Detective Holly Meylin; Samantha’s boyfriend Nick; Nick’s daughter Rosie; and the killer. There are also snippets from other dancers and a bouncer, who provide a sense of what it’s like to work in a strip club. At the Lucky Lady, after every shift, a stripper has to pay sixty dollars to the house, forty to the bouncers, twenty to the deejay, and twenty to the house mom – all of which provides incentive to coax lots of money from the customers. The customers, in turn, range from men out for a little entertainment to perverts.

As the narrative unfolds we learn that Samantha has a genetic condition that precludes childbirth; Detective Victor Amador knows a superior officer is corrupt; Detective Holly Meylin is mourning the death of her baby son; Georgia planned to attend college until her mother got dementia; Dale assiduously keeps the club running and on the right side of the law; and more.

The strip club provides an intriguing background to this thriller, which has unexpected twists and a dramatic climax.

The author, Marie Rutkoski, worked as a stripper to pay off student loans, and her first-hand knowledge of the job is evident in the story.

Thanks to Netgalley, Marie Rutkoski, and Henry Holt & Company for a copy of the book.

This was a stellar debut! LOVED it! Thanks to this book, I now have the definition of "skunking" and can never again look at a jelly jar without laughing. But enough about that. The inside look (or at least to me) of what goes on in a strip club was fascinating. The rules, rivalries and just the day-to-day routines and customer interactions were enough to keep me hooked. But WAIT! Throw in a murder mystery told from more POV's than I could count??! Oh, Dear Lord, I could not put this one down! I did end up being right about the culprit, but there were enough red herrings to keep me not completely sure. Characters are well fleshed out, especially Georgia, Holly and Amador. I don't want to give too much away, but ya gotta read this one!! Thank you to Marie Rutkoski for this amazing debut!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Marie Rutkoski and Henry Holt & Company for this copy!

A notably well-constructed, enjoyable, and character-driven mystery.

Marie Rutkoski’s Real Easy reminds me a bit of Tana French’s work. Maybe not quite as bleak and slightly less detail-oriented, but equally character focused and relying on thoughtfulness and subtle sweet moments to take the edge off of a particularly nasty type of crime.

Serial killer lit is generally not my thing, but this story was worth making an exception for, even if I didn’t love some of the elements connected to that, particularly the rape and torture aspects of the murders. This element of the book is largely off page when it happens, but we’re not spared the details of it altogether. I found it depressing and gross but not unmanageable, but felt I should warn readers who are bothered by this type of murder mystery.

Part of what made this a good read for me, despite being someone who doesn’t love reading about these types of crimes and murders, was that Rutkoski did such a brilliant job with her characters. Even the lesser players in the story feel alive and fleshed out in a manner that most mysteries (even good ones) tend to miss on.

It’s an interesting portrait of strippers and the day to day of a strip club, largely interesting if a bit disheartening when you read that these women put up with, well, pretty much exactly what you worry they have to. (Author Rutkoski worked in the industry and thus has what I would venture to guess is a particularly accurate perspective on the subject). In some ways this makes the murders a bit harder to take than others because this always feels like a somewhat vulnerable segment of the population.

Still, the good heartedness of many of the characters and the propulsive and evocative writing make it well worth a read. An impressive debut in Adult Literature for Rutkoski, who has written some solid fiction for younger readers previously.

I wanted to love this so badly! The premise is great, the character development is actually better than I was expecting it to be, but the structure was a deal-breaker in my eyes! I am very down to sort of go with the flow, too. I knew going in there would be a ton of perspective shifts, and braced myself to approach it as a series of vignettes or interconnected short stories, but paired with the linear storytelling, it was rough even for me. Even trimming down a few characters would have made a major difference! Excited to see what Rutkoski does next, though!

QUICK TAKE: completely blown away by this story about the dancers at a Chicago men's night club and the man stalking them. The writing is electric and powerful, the characters each fully-developed, and the back half is perfectly paced and thrilling. For sure one of the best books I've read so far this year. I can't recommend it enough!

I really wanted to love this book. I absolutely loved the premise- the strip club setting is very intriguing and I love murder mystery in general, but I think there was a few too many characters to really allow me to connect to the book. Had the story been told from 3-4 POV's, I think I would have enjoyed it much more. There were times that I turned to the next chapter only to have no idea who the character of the new POV was.

The plot was interesting, but I thought it was pretty easy to guess who the killer was and I wanted there to be an unexpected twist. I appreciated the insight into strip club culture and thought some of the character backgrounds were well done and insightful, but overall, I thought it fell a bit flat.

I coild not get into this book. I felt the story of a missing stripper was too raw for me
I think I was the wrong audience (middle aged mom) for this book.

I was so excited for this book and so pleased to receive a Net Galley Review. I don't quite know how to categorize this book. Two women who happen to work together at the local strip joint disappear after a late night shift. One woman is found dead at the scene and the other woman is missing.

While the mystery plays in the background, we get into the characters of the women and how much depth they have. We also see a bit of the seedy underbelly of this work and the people who control it.

Fast paced story of murder and kidnapping set in a strip club in the late 90’s. Told from many points of view including the victims and the police who tried to solve this multiple crimes. Well written mystery that will keep you guessing.

Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski is a thriller/procedural about some of the characters at the Lovely Lady strip club. When Samantha takes Lady Jade home one night, terrible things happen to both of them. Rutkoski does a great job with making each character stand out, and the reader is completely drawn in to the story as a result of this character development. The police procedural part of this story was extremely well done too. I definitely enjoyed this story and would highly recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Wow, this is an amazing debut novel! Marie Rutkoski knocked it out of the park. This book has a lot of topics that may be triggering for some but it was done so well and I loved it! The stipper storyline is what drew me to this book because I was honestly curious snd it sounded so interesting. You do learn about the world of stripping and all the ins and outs of strip clubs in this book which fascinated me. There is so much more to this book though. The suspense draws you in and keeps you turning the pages. The multiple POVs in the book was done perfectly! All the characters were very well developed and well rounded. Overall, this was an intriguing read! It definitely exceeded my expectations. I will be reading any other future books by this author.

Thank you Net Galley and Henry Holt Publishing for a gifted copy in return for my honest review.

Loved this book. If you are a fan of SVU I highly recommend Real Easy! It kept me guessing the whole time and really made me care for the dancers!

actual rating: 4.5 stars

this book was so much fun to read and went almost nothing like i expected it to. it's less ~suspense thriller~ and more character-based multi pov mystery with slight murder and side sapphics. a combo that i was very much a fan of.

i really loved the way the povs were done - it made for a fast-paced and entertaining read that felt like i was watching a really good crime drama. and i really liked how we got to see from the perspectives of several people from inside the club. i was so invested in each of their stories and would not have been mad if there had been a few more of those chapters sprinkled in.

like i said, this was an entertaining and gripping read, but i almost wish it had been more suspenseful at parts? i feel like marie rutkoski could've pushed the creepiness just a wee bit further - made us doubt some characters' intentions for just a little longer - and it would've been *chef's kiss*. that said, i do hope we get more adult projects from her because i am enamoured with this side of her writing and wish i had a backlist of books exactly like this to devour at will.

This gripping mystery novel is set in 1999 and Samantha is a dancer at the Lovely Lady strip club.

We get into the heads of dancers, club patrons, detectives, the criminal himself, and the missing woman - the book feels like a character study that just so happens to include a mystery.

If one of your favorite parts of reading is getting in the head of other people, this is the novel for you! Alternating viewpoints lets you into the world of people who are compelling and strong. The ripples of violent crime radiate throughout communities, and challenge our beliefs and prejudices.

Marie Rutkoski is a must-read for me. I have read all of her books, and they are engrossing, What was true about her others is true about this one: the character development is fascinating. Everyone is multi-dimensional. You find yourself upset with, drawn to, invested in everyone Rutkoski invites you to meet, which is especially important in a book like this one with so many different perspectives. I am not a huge fan of thrillers or crime, but that plot really took a backseat to getting to know each new character. This book writes about the world of dance and strippers, sex work, and really, what it means to be a woman. There are relationships beyond the heteronormative ones, and there is an intersex character. I love that Rutkoski's worlds are always as diverse as the real world. I highly recommend it.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book.