Rubdown

Simone Kirsch and her best friend Chloe, celebrity stripper, return in Simone's first official case as a private investigator. Sexy, witty and a great read.

Simone Kirsch, P.I. has given up stripping and is trying to be straight. But she can never stay straight for long.

Simone is hired by prominent lawyer Emery Wade, to follow his wayward daughter Tamara. She's been taking drugs and working in the sex industry and Daddy fears a scandal that will affect not just his reputation, but that of her AFL-hotshot brother and his high-profile soap-star fiancee.

When Simone finds Tamara dead the coroner says suicide. But Lulu, Tammy's best friend from the parlour, is convinced it's murder. Tangling with a drug dealer, a sleazy brothel owner and a bizarre love quadrangle with three coppers, time is running out for Simone to get to the bottom of it all before someone tries to keep her quiet too.

First encountered in her brilliant debut Peepshow, Kirsch, one-time stripper turned A1 Agency shamus, returns in Rubdown, this time trying to go straight. Kirsch is as cool as a frost-free fridge. As she says, in their novels Phillip Marlowe or Kinsey Milhorne never had to deal with guys coming at them with erections. The Australian

'The best Australian crime novel this year has been Leigh Redhead's Rubdown.'
— Weekend Australian

'Leigh Redhead offers a flute of refreshing bubbles in Rubdown.'
— Spectrum

'Rubdown is a criminally witty rompy on the sexy side of the mean streets.'
— Australian Book Review

'Redhead announces herself as the bright new kid on the crime block, less shabby chic, than tart noir.'
— Sydney Morning Herald

'Robust, good natured and enjoyable thriller. Who needs imports like Evanovich when there's a Redhead in St Kilda?'
— The Age Review