Other Typist

"Take a dollop of Alfred Hitchcock, a dollop of Patricia Highsmith, throw in some Great Gatsby flourishes, and the result is Rindells debut, a pitch-black comedy about a police stenographer accused of murder in 1920s Manhattan.... A deliciously addictive, cinematically influenced page-turner, both comic and provocative." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

For fans of The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Great Gatsby comes one of the most memorable unreliable narrators in years.

Rose Baker seals mens fates. With a few strokes of the keys that sit before her, she can send a person away for life in prison. A typist in a New York City Police Department precinct, Rose is like a high priestess. Confessions are her job. It is 1923, and while she may hear every detail about shootings, knifings, and murders, as soon as she leaves the interrogation room she is once again the weaker sex, best suited for filing and making coffee.

This is a new era for women, and New York is a confusing place for Rose. Gone are the Victorian standards of what is acceptable. All around her women bob their hair, they smoke, they go to speakeasies. Yet prudish Rose is stuck in the fading light of yesteryear, searching for the nurturing companionship that eluded her childhood. When glamorous Odalie, a new girl, joins the typing pool, despite her best intentions Rose falls under Odalies spell. As the two women navigate between the sparkling underworld of speakeasies by night and their work at the station by day, Rose is drawn fully into Odalies high-stakes world. And soon her fascination with Odalie turns into an obsession from which she may never recover.

"Rindell's debut is a cinematic page-turner." and#8212;Publishers Weekly

and#160; and#8220;It'sand#160;The Great Gatsbyand#160;meetsand#160;The Talented Mr. Ripleyand#160;in this psychological thriller by first-time author Rindell.and#8221;and#8212;Los Angeles Public Library's Best Fiction of 2013

and#160; and#8220;With hints toward The Great Gatsby, Rindelland#8217;s novel aspires to recreate Prohibition-era New York City, both its opulence and its squalid underbelly. She captures it quite well, while at the same time spinning a delicate and suspenseful narrative about false friendship, obsession, and life for single women in New York during Prohibition.and#8221; and#8212;Booklist

and#8220;If you liked Gone Girl, you might enjoy [The Other Typist]and#8230;The best book Iand#8217;ve read so far this summer.and#8221;and#8212;Greenwich Time

and#8220;Totally addictive.and#8221;and#8212;The Atlantic Wire

and#8220;This eerie and compelling debut is a riveting page-turner, narrated by a strangely hypnotic yet dubious young woman who works as a typist for the NYPD in the 1920s. Donand#8217;t start this novel at night if you need your beauty sleepand#8212;youand#8217;ll stay up to all hours devouring its pages.and#8221; and#8212;Alice LaPlante, New York Times bestselling author of Turn of Mind

and#8220;As you read this remarkable first novel you will feel the room temperature drop. Itand#8217;s chilling till the very end.and#8221; and#8212;Rita Mae Brown, MFH, Author

and#8220;You could make a one-sitting read of The Other Typist: it maintains the riveting dance of question-provoking answers that earn page-turners their name, and Suzanne Rindelland#8217;s Jazz Age NYC is gritty, glamorous, and utterly absorbing. . . . youand#8217;ll want to talk about The Other Typist.and#8221; and#8212;Alison Atlee, author of The Typewriter Girl

and#8220;Suzanne Rindell messes with your head. The Other Typist pretends to be the story of a nice young woman entering the cutthroat world of police work in 1920s New York. But itand#8217;s New York, not the nice young woman, who should be trembling. I had a blast reading this and had my nerves scrambled by the end.and#8221; and#8212;Victor LaValle, author of The Devil in Silver

and#8220;Best for those who canand#8217;t get enough of The Great Gatsby and the Roaring Twenties. . . . This thrilling page-turner cinematically captures the opulenceand#8212;and sordidnessand#8212;of the Prohibition Era in New York.and#8221; and#8212;Shape.com

and#8220;A story of glamour, prohibition, obsession and corruption, with a fantastic Hitchcockian twist, The Other Typist is a great way to kick off a summer of reading.and#8221;and#8212;KMUW 89.1, Wichita Public Radio

and#8220;A thrilling riff on the classic noir and an impressive first novel.and#8221;and#8212;Christian Science Monitor

and#8220;[A]and#160;perfect social comedy: A plain young typist working for the New York Police Department in the 1920s becomes obsessed with a glamorous co-worker. Revealing that there is a murderous twist in Suzanne Rindelland#8217;s spellbinder isnand#8217;t a spoiler but an essential for enjoying the exhilarating buildup.and#8221;and#8212;Daily Candy

and#8220;With Rose as its sly and slightly unreliable narrator, this suspenseful story will keep you guessing.and#8221;and#8212;Bookpage

and#8220;Rindell is a fine writer, and sheand#8217;s written a suspenseful and well executed novel. The Other Typist is an elegant debut.and#8221;and#8212;The Millions

"Best for those who can't get enough of The Great Gatsby and the Roaring Twenties. . . . This thrilling page-turner cinematically captures the opulence—and sordidness—of the Prohibition Era in New York." —Shape.com

“Take a dollop of Alfred Hitchcock, a dollop of Patricia Highsmith, throw in some Great Gatsby flourishes, and the result is Rindells debut, a pitch-black comedy about a police stenographer accused of murder in 1920s Manhattan. . . . A deliciously addictive, cinematically influenced page-turner, both comic and provocative.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Read The Other Typist. Set in the jazzy 1920s, this super-eerie page-turner about obsession is a striking debut for author Suzanne Rindell." —ELLE (Canada)

"[A] superb debut novel . . . the more we read, the closer we are drawn to the edge of our seat, such is the pull of this fiendishly crafty psychological thriller. . . . The period detail is excellent. . . . Rindell handles the suspense with aplomb. . . . It is not every first novel that can successfully evoke a lost era or recall the cruel machinations and tortuous entanglements of Patricia Highsmith's fiction. But Rindell has done just that. . . . We find ourselves not recoiling but succumbing, even more entranced, and hang on rapt all the way until her last dramatic act." —Minneapolis Star Tribune

"[F]rom the first page [I] was absorbed: I haven't been able to put it down . . . reminds me at points of Notes on a Scandal and Patricia Highsmith, but has creepy charms all its own." —Sadie Stein, The Paris Review

"[A] thrilling story set in glamorous, Prohibition-era Manhattan." —Reader's Digest

"Rindell's debut is a cinematic page-turner." —Publishers Weekly

"It's a riveting ride."—NPR.org

“The suspenseful story will keep you guessing.” —Bookpage

"Revealing that there is a murderous twist in Suzanne Rindell's spellbinder isn't a spoiler but an essential for enjoying the exhilirating buildup." —Daily Candy

“With hints toward The Great Gatsby, Rindells novel aspires to recreate Prohibition-era New York City, both its opulence and its squalid underbelly. She captures it quite well, while at the same time spinning a delicate and suspenseful narrative about false friendship, obsession, and life for single women in New York during Prohibition.” —Booklist

"Fans of Patricia Highsmiths The Talented Mr. Ripley are sure to love Rindells debut novel." —Library Journal

"The Other Typist is a thrilling riff on the classic noir and an impressive first novel." —The Christian Science Monitor

"Suzanne Rindell's debut novel is a lush, evocative, darkly comic noir . . . a novel that keeps you turning the pages (and then turning them back again to see if you missed a clue or two). The author is a vivid storyteller; nearly every scene is expertly detailed without being overdone. Rindell brings the Jazz era to life effortlessly. . . . The Other Typist is an easy read and perfect book to start the summer with." —Examiner.com

“This eerie and compelling debut is a riveting page-turner, narrated by a strangely hypnotic yet dubious young woman who works as a typist for the NYPD in the 1920s. Dont start this novel at night if you need your beauty sleep—youll stay up to all hours devouring its pages.” —Alice LaPlante, New York Times-bestselling author of Turn of Mind

“As you read this remarkable first novel you will feel the room temperature drop. Its chilling till the very end.” —Rita Mae Brown, MFH, Author

“You could make a one-sitting read of The Other Typist: it maintains the riveting dance of question-provoking answers that earn page-turners their name, and Suzanne Rindells Jazz Age NYC is gritty, glamorous, and utterly absorbing. . . .Whenever you close the covers, have a book friend handy—youll want to talk about The Other Typist.” —Alison Atlee, author of The Typewriter Girl

“The Other Typist is a twisty yarn that drives the reader through the story in a frenzied quest to discover whats real and what isnt. Rose, the unreliable narrator, tells the tale of an even more unreliable woman, and Suzanne Rindell plays them both to perfection.” —B.A. Shapiro, New York Times-bestselling author of The Art Forger

“Suzanne Rindell messes with your head. The Other Typist pretends to be the story of a nice young woman entering the cutthroat world of police work in 1920s New York. But its New York, not the nice young woman, who should be trembling. I had a blast reading this and had my nerves scrambled by the end.” —Victor LaValle, author of The Devil in Silver

A haunting debut novel set against the background of New York City in the 1920sand#133;

and#147;From the first page [I] was absorbedand#133;Suzanne Rindelland#8217;s story of a 1920s police stenographer who becomes increasingly obsessed with a glamorous new typist reminds me at points of Notes on a Scandal and Patricia Highsmith, but has creepy charms all its own.and#8221;and#151;The Paris Review

Confessions are Rose Bakerand#8217;s job. A typist for the New York City Police Department, she sits in judgment like a high priestess. Criminals come before her to admit their transgressions, and, with a few strokes of the keys before her, she seals their fate. But while she may hear about shootings, knifings, and crimes of passion, as soon as she leaves the room, she reverts to a dignified and proper lady. Until Odalie joins the typing pool.

As Rose quickly falls under the stylish, coquettish Odalieand#8217;s spell, she is lured into a sparkling underworld of speakeasies and jazz. And what starts as simple fascination turns into an obsession from which she may never recover.

A haunting debut novel set against the background of New York City in the 1920sand#133;

and#147;From the first page [I] was absorbedand#133;Suzanne Rindelland#8217;s story of a 1920s police stenographer who becomes increasingly obsessed with a glamorous new typist reminds me at points of Notes on a Scandal and Patricia Highsmith, but has creepy charms all its own.and#8221;and#151;The Paris Review

Confessions are Rose Bakerand#8217;s job. A typist for the New York City Police Department, she sits in judgment like a high priestess. Criminals come before her to admit their transgressions, and, with a few strokes of the keys before her, she seals their fate. But while she may hear about shootings, knifings, and crimes of passion, as soon as she leaves the room, she reverts to a dignified and proper lady. Until Odalie joins the typing pool.

As Rose quickly falls under the stylish, coquettish Odalieand#8217;s spell, she is lured into a sparkling underworld of speakeasies and jazz. And what starts as simple fascination turns into an obsession from which she may never recover.