I really enjoyed this book. Not your typical whodunnit though. Katie is a bit reckless in her attempts to find out who killed Marley and Marley is pretty edgy. Detective Jamie is a real nice guy and Katie’s brother is a gem and I loved their relationship with each other. The tarot cards brought in a touch of mystique that I also enjoyed.
The ending is a surprise as I changed my feelings about Marley several times throughout the story. A playful, refreshing mystery.

Katie True is a young woman struggling to get by in the suburbs of Chicago, working low-paying jobs and relying on her tarot deck for guidance. She meets Marley, a charismatic and self-assured woman who becomes her friend and coworker at the mall. When Katie reads tarot cards for a customer at the shop and finds a photo on his phone of Marley with a gunshot wound to the head, she is devastated and sets out to find out who killed her friend. However, her investigation puts her in danger and she must use her wit and determination to solve the murder and protect herself.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. As someone who doesn't typically gravitate towards the mystery genre, I was impressed by the engaging plot and relatable main character. Katie's struggles with finding her place in the world and dealing with overbearing parents will resonate with many readers.

One of the things I loved most about the story was the relationship between Katie and her scientist brother Owen. They didn’t have to speak a lot to understand or be comfortable around each other.

The friendship between Katie and Marley was beautifully crafted, and their strange bond added depth to the novel. However, the mystery surrounding Marley's murder was what really kept me on the edge of my seat, and I was invested in seeing Katie solve the crime. The twists and turns in the story kept me guessing and I couldn't even begin to predict the ending. The incorporation of tarot cards also added an intriguing and unique element to the story.

Overall, I found Play the Fool to be a captivating and enjoyable read. It's definitely a must-read for fans of mystery and coming-of-age stories.

I really enjoyed this book and love reading good ol murder mysteries every once in awhile. It was a fun read and I think if you enjoy fun murder mysteries then this will be one you will want to pick up! I enjoyed the characters and enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll probably pick it up. Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

An enjoyable and occasionally fairly clever novel, Play the Fool is the only “cozy” mystery I enjoyed this year.

The strongest suit this novel has is its main character, Katie True, who’s stuck in a dead end job in a bland mall with no ambition to escape. It’s not that she doesn’t know she can’t do better - it’s that she can’t find the motivation. But then she uncovers a murder by accident while reading tarot cards for a stranger, and in turn she finds something worth doing - solving a crime.

I liked Katie and some of the side characters - her brother, the detective on the case - enough for this story to keep my attention even when some of Katie’s actions were frankly kind of silly and out there. If you don’t mind suspending your disbelief in some places - especially the ending - this is a really fun read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC.

I received an advance copy via NetGalley.

<i>Play the Fool</i> is at the grittier edge of cozy: not full on thriller, but there is profanity and some situations of moral ambiguity. That said, I enjoyed it immensely, even if the end was a touch predictable. Sometimes, that's just what the reader needs. The ride is still twisty-turny fun even if you know the destination.

Katie is a loser. Her family is wealthy and all about success, while she's an aimless college drop-out working at a lousy mall gift shop. The one thing she's good at is tarot cards--and her one friend is a fellow mall worker, Marley. When a bleeding guy staggers into Katie's shop one day, she's laying out her cards. As she starts a reading for him, she snoops on his phone, thinking she'll get a deeper psych profile on the mark--but sees a texted photo of Marley, dead. When she later goes to the dumpster shown in the picture, there's no body. Her only friend is gone. The police don't believe her, but Katie is determined to bring justice to her friend--and hopefully not die trying.

I have a hunch that this book will rub some people wrong because Katie bumbles through her mystery-solving much as she does life. She screws up, a lot. She's not the most brilliant of amateur detectives, but her heart is in the right place. She reminded me of friends I've had. Chern clearly knows her Chicago setting well, too, as the place is a vivid character, fragrant and grimy. There's a romantic subplot that to me developed in a more realistic and natural way than it does in many mysteries where it feels shoe-horned in to meet a trope quota. Also, as an autist, I loved how Chern wrote about Katie's brother who cues autistic in major ways but is never labeled as such, nor did he need to be--he was utterly accepted as he was.

In all, a fun book, and if there are more entries in the series, I'd like to read them!

This was definitely a solid debut. I loved the wit and humor sprinkled throughout the book, and it kept my interest to the very end. The characters were likeable and relatable, especially being from my home state of Illinois. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

"Play the Fool" by Lina Chern was a great read! I love murder mysteries and I am usually very good at figuring out who did it, however, this book had me guessing until the end. I love a good twist at the end and this book did not disappoint. I was intrigued by the beautiful cover and its reference to tarot cards and glad I chose to read this book because it was really good. It reminded me of an episode of law and order which is a good thing because it is my favorite show. All in all, it was a great book! Be sure to pick it up.

The premise of Play the Fool was intriguing, but for me, the execution failed to live up to my expectations.

Katie True is relatable as she struggles to adult and find her place in the world, unsure of who she is and what she's really good at. The tarot/mysticism elements were nice touches, but during the second half of the novel, they sort of disappeared, which was a shame because I expected them to be more prevalent.

This book is more of a woman's fiction type read, with a touch of mystery and a hint of romance. I didn't feel like it delivered where I wanted it to based on the synopsis and proposed genres, and especially after an intriguing first chapter.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*I received a copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review*
I didn't care for this at all. It was pretty scattered to me.

Play the Fool is a fun, light mystery novel set in the Midwest. I liked Katie's down-on-her luck storyline as she attempts to solve Marley's murder.

This story is a fun whodunnit mystery! Think like Knives out, but instead of a lead detective, we have Katie True who is still trying to figure out how to be an adult.

The story intrigued me as it starts out pretty quick, but then it felt kind of slow paced for me. Katie used tarot cards to help her solve the murder mystery of her best friend and then a romance plot is also added, which did not feel that developed for me.
Overall, it was a good time and a fast read (even though at times it felt kind of slow). If you’re looking for a short read with a murder mystery, look no further!

Mixed feelings about this one. I liked the character of Katie, quirky and cynical and the tarot aspect of it. The mystery started out good, she sees a picture of her best friend shot on a customer's phone. But overall the book couldn't decide what it wanted to be, romance, mystery, coming of age so it fell kind of flat for me

This was a refreshing change from the vintage mysteries I’ve been reading. I adored the main character, Katie True, who is written with such realness that I finished the book feeling like I know her. Katie isn’t good at everything, in fact she’s kind of a fuck-up, and she’s wasting her life away working in a dismal little mall shop when the story begins. One thing that Katie IS is a true friend. She doesn’t have many, so she values the ones she’s got. That leads her smack into the middle of a murder mystery and the life of her friend Marley. The story escalates from there as Katie, who is a skilled tarot-reader, truly learns that things are not always how they appear.

Katie is a relatable character who will appeal to teens and adults who like their mysteries with a little extra “mystery.” I’m hoping there will be other Katie True books in the future.

I enjoyed this book a lot! Sure, Katie is a mess but she’s a fantastic character and it was enjoyable to accompany her as she took on the mystery of her friend’s death. I was also fascinated by the tarot card reading aspect of this book because it was different and fresh! If you like mysteries and interesting characters, this book is for you!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

This one was a bit of a slow read for me. Slow in the sense of pace because it’s actually a short quick read in terms of page numbers. I was super interested in this book based off the summary and did enjoy getting to know the characters, however, it just didn’t pick it up how I would have liked and how most mystery/thrillers do. Towards the end of the book I found myself skimming and disappointed at how unrealistic parts of the story were. I would definitely categorize this as a slow paced whodunit, rather than a thriller/suspense.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an electronic advanced reader’s copy of this title via NetGalley.

Katie ends up back in her hometown after a string of dead-end jobs working at a souvenir store in her local mall. Her real passion is reading tarot cards, a hobby/trait she learned from her aunt. Katie befriends Marley, a loner, who works at a store across the way in the mall. They become friendly enjoying lunch breaks together, until one day, Marley doesn't show up. In a twist and turn whodunit, with tarot cards thrown in, it becomes a cat and mouse game.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

An exciting story packed with twists and turns that complicate the clues to a murder. Written in an interesting manner of depth, the characters appear and mix things up. All along, tarot reader Kate sorts through the clues desperate to solve the mystery of her friend, Marley’s, murder with the help of policeman James.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Net Galley for the Arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. As a tarot reader I was a little concerned this book would do what a lot of pop culture does and pull the death card for a literally character's death, but i appreciated that the writer knew her stuff when it comes to the cards. I loved that our MC was a tarot skeptic even though she worked at a shop where she read. It was so grounded and made the mystery of her friend's death and the hunt for the person responsible even more compelling. Overall it was an entertaining read, though in spots it felt like the backstory slowed down the momentum of the investigation but overall it made for a really enjoyable read.

Thank you to Net Galley, Lina Chern and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Bantam for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

At first, I didn't think I was going to like this book. Then... You get suckered in with the murder mystery and you go on this journey to discover who killed Marley.

An unthinkable pairs together Katie True and detective Jamie. I liked the growth you see Katie going into and she was a fierce character who truly kicked some butt. Katie wasn't afraid to put herself into situations to get answers about her friend.


A great read that left me wanting more.

A tarot card, and people, reader is determined to learn the truth about her friend’s strange and sudden death in Lina Chern’s Play the Fool.

Katie True has a good eye for reading people and is quick-witted, which serves her well when she reads tarot cards, but her life beyond the cards is a bit of a mess; she’s returned to her hometown after a failed attempt to establish herself in Chicago, moving between dead-end jobs while trying to figure things out. She meets Marley, an intriguing older woman who’s extremely comfortable with who she is, while they both take a break from their respective jobs within the mall, and Katie eagerly clings to the new friendship they’ve formed, and Marley’s sage, unjudgmental advice, as a lifeline. During an opportunity to read tarot for someone who stumbled in the store, Katie sneaks a peek at his phone to inform her reading and finds a photo of Marley, with a gunshot wound to the head. Believing Marley dead, Katie begins to question what she knew about her and recklessly investigates what happened from any potential leads she uncovers, drawing the attention of local police, primarily the good looking yet closed off detective Jamie, a family whose business extends beyond what they advertise, and the mysterious killer, bringing her squarely in the crosshairs of something far larger than she could have anticipated.

Quickly moving with events that take place over the course of about a week, with a handful of flashbacks to flesh out backstory, and easy to become wrapped up in, partly due to the narrative adhering to familiar tropes and genre frameworks, the story was generally humorous, providing light entertainment while the various red herrings of the murder mystery unfold. The characters are decently fleshed out, and while not necessarily the easiest to like with her continuous and flagrant disregard for others’ boundaries and questionable gut decisions, Katie’s interactions with her brother Owen were endearing and it was nice to have a representation of neurodiversity that’s just accepted as the standard of who that person is without attempts to change them. The aspect of civilian involvement in a police investigation that didn’t particularly exist was far-fetched (if a common team-up dynamic in other media) and was one area of the narrative that required a significant amount of suspension of disbelief to buy in to but helped to justify the level of Jamie’s continued presence within Katie’s life and the story. While the tarot card aspect is threaded throughout the story and reflected in how Katie processes information around her, there was less of an emphasis on that element of the narrative for the mystery at hand than might be expected, though it did have a role.

Overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.