The Divide

“A wild ride of a novel. . . . Richter , an industry veteran and pop culture critic, writes with the energy of a freshly charged battery, full of bright sparks, quick wit and vivid color.” —Sarah Weinman, The New York Times

“Ms. Richter’s novel starts as an offbeat mystery and turns into an emotional tour de force. The redoubtable Jenny strives to redeem her disappointing life by accomplishing something exceptional. Darned if she doesn’t do just that.”
—Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

“A riveting neo-noir thriller about mistaken identity and what it means to live and die in LA. Weird and wonderfully addictive—reads like Agatha Christie on acid, or maybe Raymond Chandler adapted by the Coen Brothers.”
—Ernest Cline, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Ready Player One

“In the utterly refreshing THE DIVIDE, a slightly grifty ‘intuitive’ life coach finds herself at the center of this devilishly clever mystery. Morgan Richter uses her fresh voice and a modern noir vibe to bring Jenny St. John and Los Angeles to life. A slow burn you won’t be able to put down.”
—Alafair Burke, New York Times best-selling author of Find Me

“Richter’s novel moves and reads quickly without feeling rushed, paced like a brisk ninety-minute film noir that focuses more on character than convoluted plots. . . . The Divide has echoes of Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled novels mixed with the humor and warmness of Psych—with a touch of Otto Preminger’s Laura to keep things interesting. . . . A soul-searching novel, using its “whodunit” plot to probe about the “what-ifs” in life that define a person’s trajectory.”
—Las Vegas Review of Books

“An ingenious tale of intrigue, deception and doppelgängers, Morgan Richter’s The Divide is utterly absorbing and completely original. This deviously sharp, sublimely strange modern-day noir took me hostage and wouldn’t let me go until I’d devoured every last delicious word!”
—Katherine Wood, author of Ladykiller

“[In] The Divide a murder mystery mixes with an enthralling tangle of identity, trauma, and an exploration of art versus commerce. . . . More than a simple whodunit. Richter wraps the mystery in a cat-and-mouse game of memory versus truth, and readers won’t be sure they’ve uncovered who is who until the very end.”
—Nina Semczuk, Shelf Awareness

“Absorbing. . . pure LA noir.”
—Booklist

“An actor turned psychic stumbles into the center of an LAPD murder investigation in Richter’s winningly offbeat debut…Richter comes through with sparkling prose, a consistently surprising mystery, and an engrossing portrait of contemporary Los Angeles. Fans of Hollywood neo-noir will relish this fresh update on an old formula.”
—Publishers Weekly

“It’s so unusual to find a murder mystery novel that grapples so thoughtfully with these questions of fate, identity, and the paths not taken. . . . A gripping tale of LA noir . . . [and] a surprisingly wistful examination of the way that certain decisions can cause our life paths to diverge.”
—Doreen Sheridan, Criminal Element