The Slate by new to me author M. FitzSimmons, published by Thomas & Mercer, is a thrilling, suspenseful, unputdownable pageturner.
Blurb: In another life, Agatha Cardiff was Congressman Paul Paxton’s chief of staff, a fixer who made all his problems disappear. At Paxton’s behest, she covered up a shocking scandal that would have ruined a powerful senator’s career. It was one moral compromise too far and Agatha vowed, Never again.
After twenty years in exile, Agatha’s life in the margins of Washington, DC, is about to become much more difficult. The rules have changed in her absence—that senator is now president, and Paxton, number three in the House, expects a nomination to the Supreme Court.
At the same time, Agatha’s quiet life on Capitol Hill shatters when her tenant vanishes. She is drawn back into a mire of corruption, blackmail, and deception precisely when she can least afford it. Any hope of redemption won’t come easy, because the true cost of Agatha’s deeds is finally coming to light, and it is not certain who will pay.

I've really enjoyed Matthew FitzSimmon's "Gibson Vaughn" series so I was very excited to receive an advance copy of his new standalone, "The Slate".

Once again, the writing is tight and engaging and spins a story of conspiracy and lies that is almost too outrageous to be true.

Agatha Cross was at the top of her game two decades ago as a young chief of staff to a rising Congressman, Paul Paxton. But when she was ordered to do some extracurriculars to cover up a potential scandal for another Congressman she decided enough was enough and she left the game entirely.

Now that Congressman is President of the United States and her former boss is his shocking nominee for an open Supreme Court seat. Agatha thinks she knows exactly how that nomination was secured and she wants absolutely nothing to do with it -- until her young and ambitious tenant stumbles into a situation she needs help getting out of and pulls Agatha right back into the game and into the media spotlight.

This story spanning twenty years is told from perspectives of Agatha, a WH political op, and a rising young journalist who are all on a collision course -- they just don't know it yet.

Filled with lots of shady men in power but told through the lens of the people who have the ability to take them down I loved the characters we got so much -- especially Agatha. Her growth and acknowledgement of her past mistakes as she re-entered the fray made the whole thing SO good. The actions of the power players were never surprising but always disappointing -- I only wish we had gotten a little bit more at the end!