Stiletto is a timely, fast-paced, feminine mystery told in two diverse voices—a tense, erotic duet between the sharp, intuitive Detective Anna Crane and her prime suspect, the brilliant biochemist Eleanor Kiernan. Both women are haunted by the tragic loss of a sibling, but Kiernan’s twin brother died of an overdose of the opiate she helped to create.

When a Big Pharma exec, Leo Cushman, is fatally stabbed, there are many other suspects: Obliterate Opiates activists, a disinherited ex-wife and stepson, a secret lover, an addict vowing vengeance. But Detective Crane prioritizes investigating Kiernan in her first high-profile case, even as she is unexpectedly drawn to her suspect. Can an antagonist also be an ally? Can a young detective be seduced by a murderer?

A cinematic, stylish psychological thriller, Stiletto is a suspenseful cross between the sensual obsessions of Killing Eve and the compelling drama of the award-winning TV series Dopesick that exposes the greed of Big Pharma and its guilt in marketing an opiate that kills over 100,000 a year. But the real mystery in Stiletto is what its two protagonists discover as its twisting plot unfolds—about the real crime and about themselves.

Brenda Peterson is the critically acclaimed author of more than twenty-three books, including five novels—one of which, Duck and Cover (Harper Collins), was a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year” and hailed as a “wicked, black comedy.” Her recent memoir, I Want to Be Left Behind, was selected as a “Top Ten Best Non-Fiction” book by the Christian Science Monitor and an Indie Next “Great Read,” by Independent Booksellers. Her latest nonfiction book, Wolf Nation: The Life, Death, and Return of Wild American Wolves, was chosen as a “Best Conservation Book of the Year” by Forbes magazine. Her children’s books include Wild Orca, Catastrophe by the Sea, and the art book, Crane Maiden. Her commentaries have appeared on NPR and in The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Tikkun, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, and Oprah magazine. She resides in Seattle, Washington.