Mix the sly, coming-of-age elements of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians with the noir and edge of Jessica Jones, shake well, and serve over ice to get Magic for Liars, the debut novel from Hugo Award nominee and debut author Sarah Gailey.

Magic for Liars channels the flushed, youthful intensity of Megan Abbott’s You Will Know Me with a school for mages, hidden in the hills of southern California, as its backdrop. Ivy Gamble, a disagreeable and non-magical private investigator with a slight drinking problem, works to solve a murder at a school for mages where her estranged (and very magically talented) sister teaches. The dark and fantastic secrets she uncovers not only shed a stark light on her case, but on her own family history and the life she could have had.

Gailey is in conversation with Mallory O'Meara, bestselling author of The Lady from the Black Lagoon, among with being a screenwriter and film producer.

Sarah Gailey, "MAGIC FOR LIARS" w/ Mallory O'Meara