Wakefield acquires second YA novel in Olivia Grace mystery series by author Lisa Walker

We're delighted to officially announce the acquisition of world rights to Trouble is My Business, the second Olivia Grace mystery by author Lisa Walker, acquired from the Jane Novak agency. The young adult fiction novel will be published by Wakefield Press in September 2021.

Trouble is my Business follows Lisa's previous instalment in her mystery series about Gold Coast teen PI Olivia Grace. The first book, The Girl with the Gold Bikini, was published by Wakefield Press in February 2019.

YA Publisher Jo Case, who was already an Olivia Grace fan, says she can't wait to publish this new novel. 'In Trouble is my Business, Lisa Walker returns to this sunshine noir teen-detective world, and to the iconic Olivia, with her inherent smarts and stash of disguises, with a new mystery to solve and another plot to lose yourself in.'

 

Author Lisa Walker says, ‘Olivia is a character I could revisit over and over. She’s her own person, she always surprises me, and she has way too much energy to down tools after one book. I had a ball writing Trouble is my Business and I hope readers enjoy her new exploits.’

Trouble is my Business is already a big hit with several Wakefield staff, with events and editorial staff member Maddy saying 'I devoured it at my desk between phone calls and other general duties – absolutely desperate to get all the way through it and tell everyone about it!'

She goes on to say, 'Olivia Grace is back, and just as fun, clever, and well-disguised as ever! I’m so excited to see Lisa’s character grow into her detective boots in Trouble is my Business, with a few spills and thrills on the way.'

 
Marketing and publicity staff member Poppy agrees. 'I absolutely adored the first novel in the series, The Girl with the Gold Bikini, and have been hanging out to read Lisa's new book since I first heard she was writing it. I'm happy to say it did not disappoint! I am so excited for it to be published so everyone can read this LoveOzYA gem.'

Trouble is my Business: An Olivia Grace mystery by Lisa Walker

Olivia Grace, recently retired teen PI, has her priorities sorted. Pass first-year law, look after her little sister, and persuade her parents to come back from a Nepali monastery to resume … well, parenting. But after Olivia’s friend Abbey goes missing in Byron Bay, she can’t sit back and study Torts. It’s time to go undercover as hippy-chick Nansea, in hippy-chic Byron Bay: hub of influencers and international tourism, and home of yoga, surfing and wellness culture, against a breathtaking backdrop, a short drive from Olivia’s Gold Coast home.
Olivia’s looking for answers, with the help of her stash of disguises, the PI skills her irresistible ex-boss Rosco taught her … and a nose for trouble. Her suspects include a hard-core surfer who often argued with Abbey in the surf, a charismatic cult leader and an acrobatic botany student. And then there’s Rosco, officially assigned to the case, and proving impossible to avoid.
Lisa Walker’s second Olivia Grace novel is another rip-roaring excursion into madcap sunshine noir, with nods to Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes, and a flavour of Veronica Mars meets Elmore Leonard.
'I’m so excited to be publishing a second Olivia Grace novel,' Jo Case says. 'When I read the manuscript for the first, The Girl with the Gold Bikini, for (then YA publisher) Margot Lloyd, I remember texting Margot from the airport, where I was devouring it on my iPhone (always a sign I am totally absorbed, if I read more than a page on my phone) to rave about the way Lisa imbues the girl-detective genre with madcap humour, rapid-fire pop culture references (Star Wars, Veronica Mars, Nancy Drew), a quippy rom-com element, and feminist themes and values – vividly set against the cheap glitz of the Gold Coast and the glossy hippy chic of Byron Bay.