Overview

INTERNATIONAL THRILLER AWARD NOMINEE, BEST STANDALONE NOVEL, 2026. ZIGZAG GIRL is a noir-tinged feminist thriller where The Prestige meets Knives Out in Atlantic City's haunted magic underworld. When magician Lucy Moon finds her best friend murdered inside the infamous sawing box that killed a performer decades ago—a black rose in her mouth, the same signature from Lucy's buried past—she's thrust into a deadly game of deception. To unmask a killer who knows her secrets, Lucy must navigate shadowy criminal networks, confront an unsolved 1940s murder, and perform the most dangerous trick of her life: discovering who she really is.

Full Product Details

9781917788038

Table of Contents

Reviews

Action-packed and thrilling, but it's the extraordinary cast that really make this sing. Pure magic.  --Sarah Hilary, author of BLACK THORN ZIGZAG GIRL is a savvy contemporary urban mystery featuring the Lucy Moon, a talented performing magician with a hidden past. When one of her friends is murdered, she investigates, only to find more death and dangerous suspects. Lucy has to enlist the help of fellow female magicians and mystics to reveal the killer, before she becomes the next disappearing act! A fast-paced investigative saga with a bold, vivacious heroine, ZIGZAG GIRL is a delight for connoisseurs of modern mysteries, highly recommended. --Midwest Book Review Ruth Knafo Setton’s ZIGZAG GIRL is provocative and compelling, a work of fierce imagination. It sweeps the reader up in the uncanny magic of Atlantic City and the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Lucy Moon is a character for the ages.”  --William Boyle, author of SAINT OF VTHE NARROWS STREET Packed with suspense, romance, a wonderful cast of characters and deep, dark family secrets, ZIGZAG GIRL is a truly magical read. I couldn't put it down! -- Alison Gaylin USA Today and International bestselling (or Edgar Award-winning) author of WE ARE WATCHING Ruth Setton's ZIG ZAG GIRL is everything a wonderful book is supposed to be: magical, suspenseful, and completely unpredictable.  Part ghost story, part murder mystery, ZIG ZAG GIRL a breathtaking example of what a fine writer can do with a cast of great characters and a tale more than worthy of them. -- Gar Anthony Haywood, author of IN THINGS UNSEEN ZIGZAG GIRL is a tremendously original and engaging novel, a deft sleight of hand with a main character, Lucy Moon, I fell for hard and fast. — Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of CROOKS

Action-packed and thrilling, but it's the extraordinary cast that really make this sing. Pure magic.  --Sarah Hilary, author of BLACK THORN ZIGZAG GIRL is a savvy contemporary urban mystery featuring the Lucy Moon, a talented performing magician with a hidden past. When one of her friends is murdered, she investigates, only to find more death and dangerous suspects. Lucy has to enlist the help of fellow female magicians and mystics to reveal the killer, before she becomes the next disappearing act! A fast-paced investigative saga with a bold, vivacious heroine, ZIGZAG GIRL is a delight for connoisseurs of modern mysteries, highly recommended. --Midwest Book Review Ruth Knafo Setton’s ZIGZAG GIRL is provocative and compelling, a work of fierce imagination. It sweeps the reader up in the uncanny magic of Atlantic City and the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Lucy Moon is a character for the ages.”  --William Boyle, author of SAINT OF VTHE NARROWS STREET Packed with suspense, romance, a wonderful cast of characters and deep, dark family secrets, ZIGZAG GIRL is a truly magical read. I couldn't put it down! -- Alison Gaylin USA Today and International bestselling (or Edgar Award-winning) author of WE ARE WATCHING Ruth Setton's ZIG ZAG GIRL is everything a wonderful book is supposed to be: magical, suspenseful, and completely unpredictable.  Part ghost story, part murder mystery, ZIG ZAG GIRL a breathtaking example of what a fine writer can do with a cast of great characters and a tale more than worthy of them. -- Gar Anthony Haywood, author of IN THINGS UNSEEN ZIGZAG GIRL is a tremendously original and engaging novel, a deft sleight of hand with a main character, Lucy Moon, I fell for hard and fast. — Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of CROOKS A mystery that understands how easily a performance can become a crime—and how dangerous it is to confuse the two. -- Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

Born in Morocco, Ruth Knafo Setton is the author of The Road to Fez and Zigzag Girl, which is a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Standalone Book of 2026. Zigzag Girl also won Grand Prize in the ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition and First Place in the Daphne du Maurier Awards. Her TV pilot for Zigzag Girl won First Prize at the LA Crime and Horror Film Festival; her screenplays have been recognized by Austin Film Festival, Sundance, and CineStory. An NEA Fellow, she taught creative writing at Lehigh University and with Semester at Sea.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available