Nancy Business is adult crime fiction in the tradition of a whodunit/whydunit murder mystery with amateur detectives on the case. It is a sequel to The Nancys which Ngaio Marsh Awards judges described as an “exuberant small-town murder mystery,” and “hilarious and inventive”.
It has been four months since THE NANCYS — a secret amateur detective club made up of TIPPY CHAN (12) and her babysitters, UNCLE PIKE and his boyfriend DEVON — were last together. Now they are back in Riverstone, a two-pub town in South Otago, New Zealand, for the one year anniversary of Tippy’s father’s death. The next morning Riverstone is rocked by an explosion that kills three people and destroys the town hall. A new case is born and the Nancys re-form.
But their investigation raises more questions than it answers. Is the accused bomber really guilty? Is there a second bomber? And if so, does that mean a threat to destroy Riverstone Bridge is real? And is asparagus a colour? Once again, it is up to the Nancys to go against the flow and police advice.
Problems mount with a lack of leads. The accused bomber died in the blast, police have closed the case and the only eyewitness is the town drunk. Then add in a relationship breakup, and Tippy discovering everyone she trusts – including Uncle Pike and Devon – have been lying to her for a year, and the Nancys are broken.
But with no one else on the case, unless the Nancys can re-form and solve the mystery, more people could die.
Can the Nancys get the band back together again? And when everyone is right, does that make you wrong?
Nancy Business is a book about family, love (bombs) and the courage to stand up for the truth, no matter the cost.
Read an except of Nancy Business here on Scribd.