“Darkly inventive and full of grit and suspense . . . a deliciously sinister take on ‘he said/she said,’ sexual politics, and what we do for what – or whom – we love. Truly, film noir on the page”

“A sense of foreboding builds from the first page until the shocking conclusion . . . Block out time for this one – you won’t be able to put it down”

“Clea Simon delivers a cautionary and dark tale . . . you won’t be disappointed”

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Fast-paced and deeply satisfying . . . Simon is at the height of her considerable powers . . .
The prose here is propulsive, stylish, and pleasingly spare, with narrating crime reporter Emily Kelton’s voice sliding often into noir territory. Bad Boy Beat is a top-notch read, securing Simon’s position as one of the sharpest voices working in crime fiction today

“Simon’s staccato prose sets a tense mood that keeps readers on the edge . . . New territory for Simon that’s definitely worth another chapter”

“Readers will quickly find that the twists and turns of the plot more than satisfy – with a particularly stellar final act that is guaranteed to please even the harshest critic of crime fiction”

“If you want a swift mystery with plenty of clues, you’ll enjoy this”

“The plot is tightly written with several twists and turns to keep it interesting”

“Simon draws on her career as a journalist, in particular her reporting on Boston’s music scene in the 1990s, for the setting, concert scenes, and flashbacks, bringing a gritty reality to this dark suspense tale”

“For Fans of Alexander McCall and Janet Evanovich”