All around this was an ok book. The story was paced well enough to keep the pages turning, but there were some inconsistencies that did stand out.
An example is when Marley and Katie were drinking in the woods, they were drinking canned beer and suddenly for one line the can turned to a bottle. It’s not a large thing but something I noticed.

The cover art is stellar though and definitely catches the eye. I’m not sure if I’d read this again, but for anyone who loves to try to solve a good mystery I’d recommend this.

Thank you to Kathleen Quinlan from Penguin Random House for sending me this ebook ARC via Net Galley in exchange for my honest review!

A cynical tarot card reader, Katie True, finds herself in the middle of a classic whodonit mystery when a reading reveals the murder of her mysterious friend, Marley, from her job at the mall. All of a sudden she's in the middle of something she never saw coming and she has to use her street smarts and inner strength to solve Marley's murder and protect everything she loves.

This was a fun read! I loved that the mystery was on the more lighthearted side and didn't keep you up at night after reading but was still suspenseful enough to be entertaining. There was also quite a bit of humor woven throughout which was an unexpected touch I enjoyed. I really loved the ending and how the author wrapped everything up nicely and left you feeling fulfilled.

There are two things I felt were missing that kept me from rating this one higher. I felt the character development was a bit lacking. I didn't feel particularly connected to anyone or find myself rooting for them. I was interested to see what happened next but not for any particular reason than finishing the book. I didn't find myself super invested in the characters and what may or may not happen to them. The other thing is I was looking for more tarot! Tarot cards are referenced here and there but only one reading is done at the beginning of the book and I just felt like with the title, cover, etc. I expected the tarot aspect to play more of a role in the book.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend to others as a "light" murder mystery perfect for spooky season or anytime!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Katie True (yes, that's her name) floats through life. She works in her hometown, at an older mall, in a shop that sells knick-knacks. Her only friend is a woman named Marley, who works at a store in the mall and they get lunch together. On a slow Sunday, Katie does a reading for a customer who is out of sorts. Katie quickly realizes this man is out of sorts due to Marley's death. Using Tarot cards, gut instinct, dumb luck, and help from a local cop, Katie discovers what happened to Marley.

I liked this book! I read it quickly, and it kept me entertained. I wish there were a bit more between Katie and Jamie toward the end, but maybe that means there's room for a sequel!

Tarot cards take center stage in this unique mystery novel. Katie, once taught at age six by her grifter Aunt Rosie, now thinks in cards. She sees her brother as the Page of Wands, a detective is the Six of Swords, and her mall friend Marley is slotted into the Major Arcana. When she can’t make a decision, she reaches into a velvet bag and shuffles her ever present deck of cards.

Katie is currently employed in a tchotchke boutique. She’s a delightful and bright young woman, just not living the life she or her family imagined. A distressed man comes into her store and Marley senses an opportunity to to “read” his cards for twenty bucks. He goes to the restroom and leaves an unlocked phone which is irresistible to Katie— might as well see if there are clues about him. More than clues are revealed — there’s a texted photo that looks like her friend Marley’s bullet ridden body by a dumpster. And so the mystery proceeds — Who is this guy? What happened to Marley? Where’s her body? Will the handsome detective believe any of this?

As the story proceeds, the dialogue is quick-witted and fast paced. Katie is tagging along with handsome detective Jamie (brother Owen describes Jamie as “He is not married and has trouble maintaining relationships due to the dangerous and inconstant nature of police work. He has a very symmetrical face.”) and also semi-stalking Marley’s boyfriend (who was about to be dumped and was the guy bumbling around her store).

It’s an interesting mystery that grabs your attention until the very end and is lovingly sprinkled with tarot references. Katie keeps reading cards (it’s her clever way of getting suspects to give up information) but it’s her perception and intelligence that sees clues and assembles the missing parts of the mystery. A great book from a debut author! 5 stars!

Thank you to Bantam Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Just memories of a high school gym teacher who overdid the green eye shadow.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Just the Six of Cups with its magic garden.

I loved it! I really enjoyed the mystery, characters and funny dialogue. Katie doesn't expect tarot cards to give her answers but rather as a helpful tool for looking at a problem from a different angle that's not obvious. She's constantly exercising her mind by applying a card's interpretation to events unfolding around her. And she's adept at reading into people what they aren't saying out loud. She's fascinating! I really like this author a lot!

Play the Fool is an enjoyable mystery of a tarot card reader trying to figure out what happened to her friend. It was slow in the beginning, but picked up quickly once characters were established and well developed. Lots of twists and surprises that you never see coming. Thanks to Random House Publishing and Herbal key for this ARC.

I love a book I want to both finish ASAP and savor. Play the Fool is the kind of book I’d read on vacation (and I did).

A relatively quick read, Play the Fool nailed several passing interests of mine: Tarot cards, a working knowledge of Chicagoland, and Gayngs’ 2010 self-titled album (the latter of which is heavily inspired by 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love,” itself a major plot point in Play the Fool.) This could have been trope-y, but Chern deftly avoids this! Chern also writes neurodivergency with (IMO) appropriate care/respect.

Anyway, back to the book. Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for the ARC! [The following doesn’t impact my review, however: The Kindle interface for NetGalley is lacking in key features which would have improved the read. Namely, the ability to access highlighted portions of the book. I had to go back, page-by-page, to find all of my highlights/notes for this book.] While I’m going page-by-page anyway, I’ll leave my review in bullet points!

- Katie True, our main character, is definitely imperfect. This starts when she messes with Nico by looking through his phone.
- I definitely don’t think Katie should have considered “reading tarot professionally” pretentious! But that’s just me.
- The line “Am I still here? Am I still me?” got a chuckle out of me. It took me back to my early-to-mid-20s, a time when being drunk still felt magical. (I also noted this is the first time I’ve read about “the spins” in literature.)
- The repeated references to the tarot suit energy characters give off (“Swords energy”) didn’t feel overdone. I’m not sure why, maybe because I appreciate tarot? I usually dislike themed references.
- The “Girl-Scout-gone-wrong” reference didn’t land with me. But…I worked in a GS council for years, ran programming for girls, and am a Lifetime Girl Scout, so my knowledge of and experience with Girl Scouts is deep enough that this style of trope will probably never land with me.
- I only had mild trouble suspending disbelief that Jamie and Marley/Gina would spill so much case/investigation info to Katie. I noticed, but barely. And I got over it quickly.
- I find myself highkighting (on Kindle) the parts of books that make me laugh out loud. There were many points in this book. (“…his face wants a brick,” “…reinstall Windows…,” “…World War II soldier…,” to call out a few.) Additionally, that Marley/Gina was wearing a Sturgis tee absolutely killed me.
- Some of these anecdotes *got me*. “…you can’t run away from yourself.” gave me immediate Seneca vibes.
- I do like that this book is neatly and not-so-neatly wrapped up. Like, will Jamie and Katie get together? I almost don’t care because the whole plot was so satisfying!

And, finally, this deserves its own paragraph. I am the type of reader who reads the Acknowledgements because I love to learn how authors work and by whom they’re inspired. The last paragraph of Chern’s Acknowledgements 1) Made me tear up; and 2) Convinced me that I should recommend her work to my spouse, who loves all things sci-fi and space. Our Venn diagram of book interests is *so thin* that it’s immensely satisfying when our interests do line up!

If this is Chern’s debut, I can’t wait to read whatever comes next.

This was an interesting read. Katie wants answer of why her friend died and who did it. Things getting interesting the more Katie investigates with a cop named James. Good read that had me reading in one go.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I loved this. I have read many books with Tarot card readers and I didn’t know what I was missing until now. This was a great mystery to me. I could not put it down until I finished it.

Katie True is having a tough time. Not fully launched, she lives near her parents and works at dead end jobs relying on her tarot card readings to guide her and for some extra cash. When her new best friend dies, she is pulled into a very strange mess of a mystery as she attempts to find out what happened to her friend. This cozy mystery is like having a friend tell you their story and I really enjoyed it. I especially loved how the tarot readings were harbingers to what to come and added unique information that I enjoyed learning about.
If you are interested in Tarot, like a cozy mystery or just want to follow a new writer, Play the Fool is for you!

I will admit, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book or not. I’m really glad I gave it a chance! Definitely intense and has a thrill to it. Excellent writing!

Amazing! Well developed characters, well placed bits of humor and toe curling plot twists. If you like Finlay Donnovan and A Tidy Ending, this is going to be your next favorite read

Play the Fool creates a fun mystery with a magic twist and splash of humor to create a very different type of mystery.

Lina Chern creates a cast of characters that are a mix of humorous and wacky and give this book an identity that sets itself apart from other mystery books and makes me think of stories such as Inherent Vice and even Fletch with the blend of suspense and humor. The characters have dry wit or wacky identities and this brings us into the world of Play the Fool and helps us set it apart from other books in the genre.

If I can say any negative part of the book it would be the characters because while Chern creates some great characters that stick with you throughout, others either fall flat or are second thoughts. I love the characterization of Katie and Marley as well as Max and Jamie but other characters just didn't stick with me or make that impression.

Overall I really enjoyed Play the Fool and am excited to see where Linda Chern goes next, I just seem to see some great books in her future.

Short synopsis: Katie True is barely getting by, working one dead end job after another. While working in a mail gift shop Nico stops in to have his cards read, when she sneaks a glance at his phone she sees a photo of Marley dead by the mall dumpster. Now Katie is determined to find out what happened to Marley while keeping herself safe.

My thoughts: This was described as a witchy book, which it definitely was not. The clairvoyance was a fun add in to a Murder mystery and seriously kept me guessing throughout.

I liked Kate’s perseverance and unwillingness to give up her search for answers even when her life was at risk. And I loved how in the end she found her true passion and was upfront with her sister about it.

Read if you love:
* Murder mystery
* Tarot reading
* Who done it
* Hidden identities

Play the Fool by Lina Chen
Someone Katie True liked who she met working in a rundown mall is murdered. Katie is shocked and hurt by how little she knew about Marley but she still wants to find out what happened - she considered Marley her best friend. She recklessly puts herself in harm’s way. Katie has always felt like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole especially where her family is concerned. Her parents and sister are very successful, her brother is a genius with a personality disorder. But Katie feels that she has never stuck to a task or a job or a person which makes her more determined to find out who killed Marley.
Katie thinks in images of tarot cards. She has an old deck her Aunt Rosie gave her as a child. When she meets someone or gets ideas, images of Tarot cards pop in her head - her gut/ intuition working in a very unique way. The book started slowly but I really liked Katie so I stuck with it and I am very glad I did. A very clever mystery.

What a fun mystery! Loved the characters and the vibe of the whole book. Wish there was a bit more with the tarot cards but I still enjoyed it! Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!

This truly complex novel was both hard to read and also felt like a breath of fresh air. Go into this one with nuance, and enjoy.

First off, thank you so much to #Netgalley, the publisher and especially the author for this ARC!

I loved that this book had pretty original aspects for a mystery book… I enjoyed the elements of tarot reading in the book and this book actually made me chuckle a few times ☺️ I will say that this book gets a little slow in the middle, nothing terrible, but boy does it pick back up for the ending and it’s worth it! I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future!

A fascinating and engrossing story! Katie True has kind of given up on life. She thinks there is one thing she is good at - reading people (and tarot cards). Kind of a loner, Katie is surprised to make a friend at the mall where she works. Marley is enigmatic and non-judgmental. When Katie sees a photo in a client's phone of Marley, dead with a gunshot wound to the head, she is shocked and determined to figure out what happened and who killed her.

This is a well-crafted, emotional, suspenseful, and satisfying read. Despite not being interested in tarot cards, I was completely drawn into Katie's world and read this in one sitting. I made the mistake of starting to read Play the Fool in the evening and had to stay up late to find out how the story ended. Katie's brother, Owen, is a delight. As a bonus, there is great chemistry between Katie and police officer Jamie as they collaborate to solve Marley's death.

Highly recommend Play the Fool to anyone looking for their next great mystery/thriller read.

Thank you very much to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

PLAY THE FOOL
BY: LINA CHERN

This is being marketed as a mystery-thriller, but I am going out on a limb, and after finishing it; saying it felt more like a cozy mystery throughout reading it. I am no prude, but it had a lot of course language in it, that lowered the bar for me. So if you are looking for beautiful prose here--look elsewhere. Otherwise, this has a really comfortable vibe to it, that keeps your interest and makes you want to keep reading, and not want to set this one down, once you start it.

It takes place in Lake Terrace, Chicago in a small suburb town. Katie True works at an old mall selling Russian baubles, and she has self admitted going from one dead end job to the next. In a store close by she meets Marley, whom the two of them start to hang out together. Marley is also disappointed to have moved back to the small town of Lake Terrace. What Katie likes about Marley is that Marley accepts Katie for who she is and where she is at in life. Unlike Katie's sister Jessie who works in Real Estate and often tries to encourage Katie to move up in her station of life and want more for herself.

Katie was taught to read tarot cards from her Aunt Rosie and Katie has been reading them since she was six years old. One day when Katie is working in walks a guy by the name of Nico, who Katie does a reading for him. She sneaks while he is not looking and peeks a look at his cellphone and she is shocked to see a picture of Marley dead. This becomes a quest for Katie to try to solve Marley's murder with the help of a kind detective named Jamie.

Why does Nico have a picture of a dead Marley on his cellphone? What could have happened to lead up to this tragedy? Is Nico the boyfriend that Marley was last talking of breaking up with? Katie soon finds out when she gets swept up in a situation that starts to spiral out of control, that everything is not what it appears to be. Katie quickly learns that she needs the help of Jamie, the nice police detective to help her solve Marley's murder. And that her tarot cards aren't enough to keep her out of danger.

I enjoyed reading this cozy mystery immensely. I had found myself thinking about it, when life interrupted my reading, because I happened to be busy the day I started reading this. I kept wanting to know the same answers that Katie did pertaining to Marley's sudden disappearance. I got contacted by the publisher to read this, and for that I am grateful, because this wonderful novel had not appeared on my radar. I would recommend this to those who love cozy mysteries with strong female protagonists. Katie is truly fearless, much to her detriment sometimes! This was a strong debut and I wish Lina Chern, my very best wishes for as wide an audience as this deserves.

Publication Date: 03/28/2023

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

#PlaytheFool #LinaChern #RandomHousePublishingGroupBallantineBantam #NetGalley