Zofia Nowak’s Book of Superior Detecting

'If you're looking for irresistible prose, it's here in this book. The protagonists' voices criss-cross in a near impossible harmony of heart, guts, shrewdness and nerve. If it's a story you're after, that's here too' Helen Oyeyemi

Zofia's troubled son, Janek, is missing. She leaves her native Warsaw and arrives in London to investigate whether a famous writer, Steve, had something to do with the disappearance.

To fund the operation, headstrong Zofia has borrowed a lot of money and been forced to take cleaning jobs - a professional trajectory she finds very much beneath her. Zofia's heavy-handed, DIY investigation soon yields some results: Steve does have skeletons in his closet. Two are of particular interest: he stole Janek's novel and published it as his own; and he's now dating Janek's ex-boyfriend...

Steve and Zofia soon join forces to unravel this mystery. There's an unsolved murder, a stolen book, and a missing boyfriend - all that before Zofia and Steve even begin to face the fact that they both played a part in creating this almighty mess.

Just as hilarious as it is thought-provoking, this unputdownable and genuinely one-of-a-kind page-turner is perfect for fans of Jonas Jonasson, Fredrik Backman and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

If you're looking for irresistible prose, it's here in this book. The protagonists' voices criss-cross in a near impossible harmony of heart, guts, shrewdness and nerve. If it's a story you're after, that's here too: I'm in awe Helen Oyeyemi
The star of the story is Zofia Nowak: loud, salty and oh so vulnerable. The tale zips along as briskly as Zofia herself, barging its way through London and Warsaw. At its heart, a maze of dark injustice, as compelling as it is heartbreaking. Zofia is glorious! I want her as my cleaner - no, better still, my friend! J.M. Hall, author of A Brush with Death and A Spoonful of Murder
Funny, deep and unexpected. This is so much more than a murder mystery. It movingly describes the dangers of existing in a society that thrives on prejudice and fear - which makes it sadly relevant to our times. I'll be thinking about this one for a while. S.J. Bennett, author of The Windsor Knot
One of a kind, pitch-perfect novel. The characters leap from the page and you are fully in their world to the last word. The pages keep on turning - the sign not only of an excellent plot but a truly distinct narrative, a heady melange that is pacy mystery and laugh out loud comedy, a queer love story and a celebration of diversity. The character of Zofia rises in all her unforgettable glory - a perfectly flawed, perfectly outrageous, perfectly heart-melting character. She is with me still Helen Paris, author of The Invisible Women’s Club

Piotr Cieplak is an author, academic and award-winning filmmaker. His short stories and poems appeared in Litro Magazine, Lines Underwater and Aesthetica. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and was the recipient of the year-long Harper-Wood Creative Writing Studentship at St. John's College (2010-11).

Piotr is the author of Death, Image, Memory: the genocide in Rwanda and its aftermath in photography and documentary film (Palgrave, 2017) and the editor of Familiar Faces: memory, photography and Argentina's disappeared (Goldsmiths/MIT Press, 2023).

Piotr is the writer and director of Memory Cards (UK, 2015), The Faces We Lost (UK, 2017), Closed Casket (UK, 2020), Do You Remember That Year? (UK, 2021) and To (Dis)Appear (UK, 2023). His films have screened at international festivals around the world, on TV, and received numerous awards.

Piotr's creative work has been supported by grants from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. He lives in London and teaches at the University of Sussex. Not Your Story is Piotr's first novel.

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