Fishnet

August 5, 2019
In British author Innes’s gritty, unconventional debut, 20-year-old Rona Leonard vanishes, leaving her infant daughter in the care of her older sister, Fiona. Six years later, Fiona—still a single mother working a dreary job in a failing business in an unnamed Scottish city—attends a hen party in the last place her sister was seen, a touristy Highlands village. There Fiona meets a friend of her sister who forces her to accept that Rona was working as a prostitute when she disappeared. Stunned, Fiona becomes obsessed with the online ads for sex workers, as well as with the women plying their trade near her grim office building as she tries to discover what became of Rona. Fiona’s preconceptions of prostitution and her own dead-end life are shattered as she gets to know women trading sex for cash. Innes tends to take to the soapbox to champion the rights of sex workers, and Fiona’s efforts to get out of her rut at times matter more than her quest to find Rona. Still, this is a captivating mystery with plenty of mainstream appeal. Agent: Charlie Brotherstone, A.M. Heath (U.K.).

August 15, 2019
A judgmental single mother's search for her impetuous younger sibling leads to unexpected self-discovery in Scottish journalist Innes' searing debut. Six years ago, 20-year-old Rona Leonard paid a surprise visit to her older sister, Fiona; during the night, she snuck out of Fiona's flat and vanished. Six years later, her family has largely abandoned their search when one of Fiona's friends books a "hen weekend" in the Scottish Highland village that served as Rona's last known address. A frank conversation with Rona's former roommate, Christina, reveals that the women parted ways after Christina discovered Rona turning tricks in their flat. At her job at a construction company the following Monday, Fiona is told by her boss to call the police on a group of women protesting the replacement of a shelter for homeless sex workers with a leisure complex. She complies, but not before warning the demonstrators and bringing them tea. Fiona begins trolling online listings, forums, and websites, ostensibly looking for Rona but also because she can't stop thinking about the picketers and how little they resembled her preconceived notions about prostitutes. As salacious curiosity becomes single-minded obsession, Fiona starts neglecting her job and young daughter. But the deeper down the rabbit hole Fiona falls, the closer she comes to understanding Rona and her decisions. The mystery of Rona's disappearance takes a back seat to Innes' efforts to pull back the curtain on, reduce stigma for, and promote legalization of sex work. Nuanced characters from all walks of life subvert stereotypes and challenge misconceptions regarding exploitation and agency, and although the plot holds few surprises, Innes' bold, evocative prose never fails to enthrall. An edgy, illuminating march toward an inexorable conclusion.

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September 1, 2019
Originally published in Scotland in 2015, this winner of the Guardian's Not the Booker Prize is a literary thriller that delves into the world of sex workers. Six years ago, Fiona's younger sister, Rona, walked out of Fiona's flat and disappeared. With little to go on, Fiona has mostly given up and moved on, raising her daughter and working a dull office job. When a bachelorette party weekend takes FIona to the small village of Rona's last address, she discovers that her sister had been working as a prostitute. Following her new lead, Fiona sets out to discover everything she can about sex workers in Edinburgh. Innes' novel is eye-opening and her compassionate, compelling writing about sex work is a refreshing take and clearly shows her three years of research. She balances this with the page-turning urgency of Fiona's search and the risks she is willing to take. Though some readers may find the ending somewhat predictable, Innes' debut is one of impressive nuance and flashes of brilliance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2019

In this debut thriller, published in Scotland in 2015 and winner of the Not the Booker Prize, 20-year-old Rona disappears. Sister Fiona doesn't learn until six years later that Rona worked as a prostitute and begins investigating the sex industry. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

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