Halley Sutton is a writer and editor who lives in Los Angeles. She is a Pitch Wars mentor and holds a bachelor's degree in creative writing from the University of California Santa Cruz, and a master's degree in writing from Otis College of Art and Design. The Lady Upstairs is her debut novel.

FANTASTIC EARLY PRAISE: Fellow authors and bloggers have fallen in love with The Lady Upstairs, with nearly a dozen early blurbs from names like Elizabeth Little, Kathleen Barber, and Alex Segura, and inclusion on CrimeReads list of most anticipated books of 2020.STRONG WOMAN'S UNFORGETTABLE VOICE: The Lady Upstairs is built upon Jo's sharp, sly, and brutally honest voice-think Lisbeth Salander meets Raymond Chandler. The first-person narration contains a mixture of wit and humor with dark sensibilities.READERS LOVE FIERCE AND FEMINIST STORIES: As we have seen with the success of movies like Hustlers and novels like My Sister, The Serial Killer, villainous women are more popular then ever. Readers will love Jo, Lou, and The Lady Upstairs and their brilliantly devious crimes.TIMELY THEMES: The Lady Upstairs is a perfect fit for our cultural moment, exploring female revenge and relationships. Though not heavy-handed, it contains nods to the #metoo movement, with the takedown of a lecherous Hollywood producer and the reclamation of female power against abusers.FRESH SPIN ON A CLASSIC GENRE: With hard-boiled characters, sharp prose, and a chilling cat and mouse game, The Lady Upstairs is an homage to the noir genre, and Halley Sutton's confidence with this genre shines on the page. The novel turns the classic James Ellroy L.A. noir on its head with bold feminism and a modern voice.TELEVISION BUZZ: Tolmach productions at Sony TV has optioned the novel for television.

A modern-day noir featuring a twisty cat-and-mouse chase, this dark debut thriller tells the story of a woman who makes a living taking down terrible men...then finds herself in over her head and with blood on her hands. The only way out? Pull off one final con.Jo's job is blackmailing the most lecherous men in Los Angeles--handsy Hollywood producers, adulterous actors, corrupt cops. Sure, she likes the money she's making, which comes in handy for the debt she is paying off, but it's also a chance to take back power for the women of the city. Eager to prove herself to her coworker Lou and their enigmatic boss, known only as the Lady Upstairs, Jo takes on bigger and riskier jobs. When one of her targets is murdered, both the Lady Upstairs and the LAPD have Jo in their sights. Desperate to escape the consequences of her failed job, she decides to take on just one more sting--bringing down a rising political star. It's her biggest con yet--and she will do it behind the Lady's back, freeing both herself and Lou. But Jo soon learns that Lou and the Lady have secrets of their own, and that no woman is safe when there is a life-changing payout on the line.A delicious debut thriller crackling with wit and an unforgettable feminist voice, The Lady Upstairs is a chilling and endlessly surprising take on female revenge.