Meet Kellye

Author Kellye Garrett

Founding Member / Chick Emerita

Kellye Garrett’s first novel, Hollywood Homicide, was released by Midnight Ink in August 2017. It was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time BookBub’s Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time. In addition to receiving starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, it won the Agatha, Anthony, Lefty, and Independent Publisher “IPPY” awards for best first novel. It was also nominated for the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel and Barry award for Best Paperback Original.

Hollywood Ending, the second book in her Detective by Day mystery series, was chosen a best mystery of 2018 by Suspense Magazine, Book Riot, and CrimeReads, which called it the most fun book of the year. In addition to being featured on the TODAY show’s Best Summer Reads of 2019, it was nominated for an Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original and a Lefty Award for Best Humorous Novel.

After finishing up her series, Kellye moved to writing domestic suspense with Like A Sister, which was released in March 2022.In addition to being featured on the TODAY show, the suspense novel was a Book of the Month April 2022 selection, the Oxygen channel’s July Book Club pick, an Edgar award finalist for Best Novel, Lefty award winner for Best Mystery and Anthony award winner for Best Hardcover.

Her latest, Missing White Woman, was released in April 2024 from Mulholland Books.

Kellye previously spent 8 years working in Hollywood, including a stint writing for the CBS drama Cold Case. People were always surprised to learn what she did for a living—probably because she seemed way too happy to be brainstorming ways to murder people. A former magazine editor, Kellye holds a B.S. in magazine writing from Florida A&M and an MFA in screenwriting from USC’s famed film school. Having moved back to her native New Jersey, she spends her mornings commuting to Manhattan for her job at a leading media company—while still happily brainstorming ways to commit murder.

In addition to writing, she is a co-founder of Crime Writers of Color alongside Walter Mosley and Gigi Pandian.

You can learn more at KellyeGarrett.com.

Missing White Woman

Mulholland Books

A “propulsive page-turner” (Alyssa Cole) and “thriller not to be missed” (Michael Connelly) from the award-winning author of Like a Sister, in which a woman thinks she’s waking up to a romantic vacation—only to find a body in her rental home and her boyfriend gone.

The truth is never skin deep.

It was supposed to be a romantic getaway weekend in New York City. Breanna’s new boyfriend, Ty, took care of everything—the train tickets, the dinner reservations, the rented four-story luxury rowhouse in Jersey City with a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. But when Bree comes downstairs their final morning, she’s shocked. There’s a stranger laying dead in the foyer, and Ty is nowhere to be found.

A Black woman alone in a new city, Bree is stranded and out of her depth—especially when it becomes clear the dead woman is none other than Janelle Beckett, the missing woman the entire Internet has become obsessed with. There’s only one person Bree can turn to: her ex-best friend, a lawyer with whom she shares a very complicated past. As the police and a social media mob close in, all looking for #JusticeForJanelle, Bree realizes that the only way she can help Ty—or herself—is to figure out what really happened that last night.

“Fantastic. Only Garrett could craft a tale so adroitly attuned to our everyday fears.” —S. A. Cosby, New York Times bestselling author of All the Sinners Bleed

“Taut, suspenseful, and packed with heart.” —Meg Gardiner, New York Times bestselling author of Heat 2

“Expertly mixes sorrow and grief, humor and identity, with the chaos of social media.” —Rachel Howzell Hall, New York Times bestselling author of What Never Happened

“Bree is unforgettable . . . you are in for such a ride.” —Rachel Hawkins, New York Times bestselling author of The Villa

Like A Sister

Mulholland Books

In this “tense, twisting mystery” and “absolutely can’t-put-it-down read” (Megan Miranda), no one bats an eye when a Black reality TV star is found dead in the Bronx—except her estranged half-sister, whose refusal to believe the official story leads her on a dangerous search for the truth.

When the body of disgraced reality TV star Desiree Pierce is found on a playground in the Bronx the morning after her 25th birthday party, the police and the media are quick to declare her death an overdose. It’s a tragedy, certainly, but not a crime.

But Desiree’s half-sister Lena Scott knows that can’t be the case. A graduate student at Columbia, Lena has spent the past decade forging her own path far from the spotlight, but some facts about Desiree just couldn’t have changed since their childhood. And Desiree would never travel above 125th Street. So why is no one listening to her?

Despite the bitter truth that the two haven’t spoken in two years, torn apart by Desiree’s partying and by their father, Mel, a wealthy and influential hip-hop mogul, Lena becomes determined to find justice for her sister, even if it means untangling her family’s darkest secrets—or ending up dead herself.

“A riveting, read-through-the-night thriller.” —Liv Constantine

“Equal parts charm and heartbreak, with razor-sharp insights on class, race, and family.” —Laura Lippman

“Smart with twists you never see coming.” —Walter Mosley

“Domestic suspense for the Instagram gen. #lovedit.” —Lori Rader-Day

The Detective by Day Mysteries

Hollywood Homicide (Book 1)

Actress Dayna Anderson takes on the deadliest role of her life: Homicide Detective

Dayna Anderson doesn’t set out to solve a murder. All the semi-famous, mega-broke black actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. After witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she figures pursuing the fifteen-grand reward isn’t the craziest thing a Hollywood actress has done for some cash.

But what starts as simply trying to remember a speeding car soon blossoms into a full-on investigation. As Dayna digs deeper into the victim’s life, she wants more than just reward money. She’s determined to find the poor woman’s killer too. When she connects the accident to a notorious Hollywood crime spree, Dayna chases down leads at paparazzi hot spots, celeb homes and movie premieres. She loves every second—until someone tries to kill her.

And there are no second takes in real life.

Hollywood Ending (Book 2)

Hollywood Ending Self Pub Cover for Site

Tinseltown’s awards season is in full swing, and everyone is obsessed with dressing up, scoring free swag, and getting invited to the biggest awards shows of the year. But when popular Silver Sphere Awards publicist Lyla Davis is killed during a botched ATM robbery, the celebratory mood comes to an abrupt halt.

Dayna Anderson—an actress turned apprentice private investigator—uncovers the killer almost immediately. Unfortunately, what starts as an open-and-shut case turns out to be anything but. Lyla’s murder was no robbery-gone-wrong. Someone hired the gunman to kill her. Diving back into the investigation, Dayna gets a backstage look at the worlds of gossip blogging, Hollywood royalty, and one of entertainment’s most respected awards shows—all while trying to avoid her own Hollywood ending.

One of the TODAY show’s “Best Summer Reads” for 2019
Anthony Award Nominee for Best Paperback Original
Lefty Award Nominee for Best Humorous Novel
One of Suspense Magazine’s “Best of 2018” books in the Cozy Mystery category
One of CrimeReads’ “20 Best Crime Novels of 2018“
One of Book Riot’s “Rioters’ Favorite Mysteries, Thrillers, And True Crime of 2018.”
One of Dru’s Book Musings’ Favorite Books of 2018