Make a Killing: A Billie Levine Mystery, by Kimberly G. Giarratano
18 Jun 2025The Book
Synopsis:
Billie Levine is back with a new corporate adventure in this sharp and witty take on the classic P.I. novel, a must-read for fans of Veronica Mars and Sugar.
Private Investigator Billie Levine should be ecstatic. She’s finally getting the cheating spouse cases she’s always wanted. Nothing to do but sit back, snap incriminating photos, and get paid. Except Jeremy Yang is competing for work with his own P.I. firm. Advertising himself as “the man to get the job done” (insert eyeroll), he keeps swooping in and stealing prospective clients. Not to be outmaneuvered, Billie has offered her services to scorned women everywhere.
Their rivalry escalates when Billie and Jeremy are hired by an ultra wealthy couple on opposite sides of a corporate takeover. When the bodies start dropping, Billie and Jeremy will have to join forces if they are to come out unscathed; they can kill each other later.
My Review
Make A Killing is the third novel (can be read as standalone, but it's more enjoyable with the previous context) in the Billie Levine Mysteries series, written by Kimbely G. Giarratano, and published by Datura Books. A noir thriller with our favourite PI, Billie Levine, having to accept a case in a corporate setup to continue paying her bills, while a totally unrelated case (or it seems) about the death of an investigative reporter also takes the attention of Billie and her grandpa.
Billie is hired by Katherine Von Holm to investigate if her husband, Heath, is having an affair; nothing really different from the cases she's been doing for a time, as cheating husbands are paying the bills. However, all becomes more complicated when she discovers that Heath has hired her long-time rival Jeremy Yang; both are disguised as employees of the company, so they need to avoid revealing the identity of the other. Separately, Billie and her grandpa are investigating a case of harassment of a girl in a local college, and to add more, the death of a reporter dismissed as an accident; three apparently unrelated cases until a death in the office leads Billie towards a larger conspiracy, whose pieces she will need to put together.
The dynamic between Billie and Jeremy is one of the highlights of the book: from being staunch enemies to reluctantly collaborate in the bigger case, especially when the corpses start to pile up. Billie continues being that smart and independent character, a bit cynical, but really competent; and honestly, part of the big selling point of the book is alternating her moments with the subplot involving her grandpa investigating what she can't due to her job.
As you might imagine, while the plots seem to be unrelated, it's the task of the reader trying to put all together; the dynamic between the characters works well, and the pacing is agile, making this a quick book to devour.
Make A Killing is another great instalment of the Billie Levine series, continuing with that homage to the golden age of detective stories, a fun story that makes the perfect beach read. I really hope Giarratano continues writing those kinds of stories, as they are a blast!
The Author/s
Kimberly G. Giarratano
Kimberly Giarratano is an author of mysteries for teens and adults. Her debut novel, Grunge Gods and Graveyards, won the 2015 Silver Falchion Award for Best YA at Killer Nashville. A former librarian, she is currently an instructor at a SUNY Orange County Community College and a reviewer for BookPage. She is also the chapter liaison for Sisters in Crime. Born in New York and raised in New Jersey, Kim and her husband moved to the Poconos to raise their three kids amid black bears and wild turkeys. While she doesn’t miss the Jersey traffic, she does miss a good bagel and lox.