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Murder on Sex Island
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  • Published: 22 July 2025
  • ISBN: 9798217091454
  • Imprint: Bantam Dell
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $35.00
Categories:

Murder on Sex Island

A Luella van Horn Mystery

Formats & editions
EBook
24 June 2025
Audiobook
24 June 2025
Paperback
22 July 2025
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A sexy reality show. A missing contestant. A one-of-a-kind detective.

"Bless Jo Firestone's quiet, mad genius . . . Hilarious and completely brilliant, [a] bloodstained love-letter to reality-dating television." —Vulture

A sexy reality show. A missing contestant. A one-of-a-kind detective.

“Bless Jo Firestone’s quiet, mad genius. . . . Hilarious and completely brilliant, [a] bloodstained love-letter to reality-dating television.”—Vulture

When a cast member goes missing from the hit reality show Sex Island, producers hire detective Luella van Horn to go undercover as a contestant and solve the case. What the producers don’t know is that the enigmatic Luella van Horn is actually a woman named Marie Jones, a divorced ex–social worker from Staten Island attempting to lead a double life as a private eye. The local press couldn’t get enough of Luella . . . until she horribly bungled her last case and a murderer went free.

Unable to resist the opportunity to be a part of her favorite trashy TV show, travel to a remote island, and embark on a journey for redemption, Marie-as-Luella takes the case. But the more she learns about Sex Island’s dark underbelly, the harder it gets to make it out alive. She encounters shady producers, sleazy directors, contestants willing to do whatever it takes to win the $100,000 grand prize—and the dead body of the show’s missing fan-favorite in her bathtub.

Will she find the killer? Will she find herself? Will she find . . . love? 

Find out now, in Sex Island’s most dramatic season yet.
  • Published: 22 July 2025
  • ISBN: 9798217091454
  • Imprint: Bantam Dell
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $35.00
Categories:

About the author

Jo Firestone

Jo Firestone is a comedian whose work can be seen on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Joe Pera Talks With You, High Maintenance, Shrill, and more. She can be heard on Maximum Fun’s Dr. Gameshow, a podcast she co-hosts with Manolo Moreno, and Comedy Central’s Everyday Decisions, a podcast she hosts all alone. Her album, “The Hits” is available on Comedy Central Records, and if you like puns, check out Punderdome: A Card Game for Pun Lovers. Her special, Good Timing with Jo Firestone, featuring 16 senior citizens from her online comedy class, is out now on Peacock.
JF

Also by Jo Firestone

Sex on Murder Island
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Praise for Murder on Sex Island

  • "A clever, broadly funny mystery . . . Fast-paced fun that will appeal to fans of Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan and Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Meddelin Chan." —Library Journal, starred review
  • “Hilariously absurd and over the top . . . Luella is a fantastic and funny narrator . . . This silly and surreal cozy mystery is truly unlike anything else." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
  • “[A] riotous puzzler . . . Firestone’s confidence, well-drawn characters, and an overarching sense of ridiculousness make this sing." —Publishers Weekly, "Summer Reads of 2025"