The Red Chameleon: A Novel - Softcover

Kathleen Stone is a private investigator well versed in the art of disguise. Her wigs, costumes and varied personae come in handy in the fight against a revenge-minded villain from her days in the NYPD.

A complex tale filled with humor and sharply drawn characters, Erica Wright takes the reader on a thrilling ride where confronting evil can scare you into hiding or help you come out of the shadows.--Melodie Johnson Howe, author of City of Mirrors

At the start of this riveting crime novel from poet Wright, PI Kat Stone, a former NYPD undercover detective, discovers the dead body of Stephen Kramer, the unfaithful husband she's been tailing, in the men's room of an Upper East Side bar. When Kat begins to look like the most likely suspect in Kramer's shooting murder, Det. Ellis Dekker, who's in charge of the case and a friend of Kat's, vouches for her innocence and brings her unofficially into the investigation. After someone breaks into both her home and office, Kat begins to think that her former undercover activities might be catching up with her. Painful repressed memories start to surface that touch on the reason she resigned from the police force at age 25. A possible romance with Ellis adds to the intrigue, as does the appearance of a past lover. Readers will want to see more of the humorous, thoroughly engaging Kat.--Publishers Weekly

The Red Chameleon introduces us to a thrilling new hardboiled world. Wright has created a rich and nuanced protagonist, as well as a gripping plot, and she writes in a style agile enough to veer into surprising pockets of emotion.--Justin Kramon, author of Finny and The Preservationist

The Red Chameleon is a fast, exciting read that mystery lovers will consume in huge gulps.--Carolyn Haines, author of The Darkling and The Seeker

As a private investigator, Kathleen Stone relies on her ability to blend into the background. With a little help from the best wigmaker on the Atlantic seaboard, Kathleen can take on a variety of personas, from a posh real estate agent to a petulant teenage boy. She was once a valuable undercover cop for the New York City Police Department, but since her early retirement following a botched case, she has gone a little soft. These days, with the assistance of a street-smart drag queen, she mostly catches cheating spouses in flagrante. When one husband ends up not so much adulterous as dead, Kat must tune up her rusty skills to catch a killer.She begins investigating the upper echelons of New York, a city that can swing from glamorous to lethal in an instant. She soon finds herself stepping on the toes of her former best friend, Detective Ellis Dekker, as well as a sadistic kingpin she hoped to never see again. Not only do memories of Salvatore Magrelli’s knife-friendly tendencies give her the heebie-jeebies, but his connection to the case makes Kat a possible suspect, too. She needs to move fast...if she is to avoid becoming the next victim.