Review: What You Want To See by Kristen Lepionka

This is the second book in a series that features private investigator Roxane Weary. It follows on directly from the first book in the series The Last Place You Look where the main character was established as an up and coming PI who is fierce and capable and prepared to throw herself into danger whenever necessary.

The book won the Shamus Award for the Best PI Novel of 2019

Book Details

Title: What You Want To See
Author: Kristen Lepionka
Pages: 304
Published Date: 2018
Publisher: Minotaur
Series Details: 2nd book in the Roxane Weary series

Publisher's Synopsis

The thrilling follow up to The Last Place You Look, starring troubled and determined private investigator, Roxane Weary

Marin Strasser has a secret. Her fiancé thinks her secret is that she’s having an affair, and he hires P.I. Roxane Weary to prove it. Then, just days into the case, Marin is shot to death on a side street in an apparent mugging. But soon enough the police begin to focus on Roxane's client for Marin’s death, so she starts to dig deeper into Marin’s life—discovering that the elegant woman she’s been following has a past and a half, including two previous marriages, an adult son fresh out of prison, and a criminal record of her own. The trail leads to a crew of con artists, an ugly real estate scam that defrauds unsuspecting elderly homeowners out of their property, and the suspicious accident of a wealthy older woman who lives just down the street from where Marin was killed.

With Roxane’s client facing a murder indictment, the scammers hit close to home to force Roxane to drop the case, and it becomes clear that the stakes are as high as the secrets run deep.

Other Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

This book doesn't have the dark creepiness that made Lepionka's series opener successful, but her characterization of her heroine’s interpersonal relationships remains spot-on...Read Full Review

Thriller Books Journal

‘What You Want To See’ by Kristen Lepionka is the second instalment in the saga of Roxane Weary, a private investigator from Columbus, Ohio. Like Roxane herself, the story is bursting with energy, alive with wit and sharp as a whiplash. Above all, ‘What You Want To See’ is a first-rate crime novel...Read Full Review

Criminal Element

What You Want to See is a satisfying PI mystery by Kristen Lepionka and a follow up to the first Roxane Weary novel, The Last Place You Look—which, full disclosure, I hadn’t read but just added to my to-read list. Overall, the book is a standard PI mystery—which is hardly an insult. The story unfolds much as you would expect, yet it still manages to avoid being utterly predictable...Read Full Review

Mystery People

With two books Kristen Lepionka has established herself as one of the major new voices of private eye fiction. She created a character that we root for not only to find the culprit, but to get a clue about what a decent person she really is. I can’t wait for the next step of her journey...Read Full Review

Read a Latte

What You Want to See takes place months after the events of book one, and could easily be read as a standalone (but i recommend reading the first book first, it’s so good!) Roxane is hired at the beginning of the book to follow a woman named Marin, because her fiance believes she might be cheating on him...Read Full Review

GoodReads Reviews

"Roxane Weary is down on her luck. The buzz over her last case has died down, and she is once again struggling to make a living as a PI. Therefore, she is back to taking on small, easy cases like following a woman who appears to be cheating on her fiance. But this case has depth, and when the woman is murdered, Roxane digs for answers.."

At the time of writing there are 306 reviews posted to the GoodReads website as well as 1,485 ratings for an average of 3.9/5 stars. You can read these reviews by visiting the GoodReads website

Amazon Reviews

"I never thought I'd read a crime fiction novel in which the principal character is a bi-sexual private investigator and, even more surprisingly, one in which the action is set in Columbus, Ohio! This is an excellent book, well-written, with snappy (and, at times, poignant) dialogue, and a plot that keeps one engaged..."

At the time of writing there are 55 reviews posted to the Amazon website for an average of 4.6/5 stars. You can read these reviews by visiting the Amazon website

Other Shamus Best PI Novel nominees - 2019