The Princess of Las Vegas

Description

THE PRINCESS IS FAKE. THE MURDERS ARE REAL • From the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant and The Lioness, a Princess Diana impersonator and her estranged sister find themselves drawn into a dangerous game of money and murder in this twisting tale of organized crime, cryptocurrency, and family secrets on the Las Vegas strip.

Crissy Dowling has created a world that suits her perfectly. She passes her days by the pool in a private cabana, she splurges on ice cream but never gains an ounce, and each evening she transforms into a Princess, performing her musical cabaret inspired by the life of the late Diana Spencer. Some might find her strange or even delusional, an American speaking with a British accent, hair feathered into a style thirty years old, living and working in a casino that has become a dated trash heap. On top of that, Crissy’s daily diet of Adderall and Valium leaves her more than a little tipsy, her Senator boyfriend has gone back to his wife, and her entire career rests on resembling a dead woman. And yet, fans see her for the gifted chameleon she is, showering her with gifts, letters, and standing ovations night after night. But when Crissy’s sister, Betsy, arrives in town with a new boyfriend and a teenage daughter, and when Richie Morley, the owner of the Buckingham Palace Casino, is savagely murdered, Crissy’s carefully constructed kingdom comes crashing down all around her. A riveting tale of identity, obsession, fintech, and high-tech mobsters, The Princess of Las Vegas is an addictive, wildly original thriller from one of our most extraordinary storytellers.”Subsisting on Adderall and Valium, a slim, beautiful Princess Diana impersonator makes a good living in Vegas until the day her estranged sister shows up, setting in motion a thriller that involves organized crime, unscrupulous cryptocurrency bros and shady politicians.” 
—New York Times

“This literary thriller…is about many things, including cryptocurrency, organized crime and family secrets….Bohjalian’s books [are] juicy but literary at the same time. They’re so smart but feel like candy.”
—WBEZ Chicago, “A Nerdette Pick for 2024”

“A wonderful book….I absolutely could not put it down.”
—Anne Lamott, New York Times best-selling author of Bird by Bird

“The perfect balance of sophisticated characterization and wild, rollicking plot.”
—CrimeReads

“Entertaining…The untimely deaths keep coming…Bohjalian is very good at capturing both the dark underside of Las Vegas and the weird surface on which fake Arethas, Sinatras, and Michael Jacksons cavort. Diana goes Vegas…in Bohjalian’s latest lively romp.”
—Kirkus

“Bohjalian’s lightning-speed page-turner delivers a dishy, twisty tale of suspense tempered with intriguing insights into the nature of ego, fame, and family. . . Bohjalian offers a full deck of irresistible elements in this novel of endangered Vegas royalty.” 
—Carol Haggas, Booklist

“[A] well-calibrated satire of cryptocurrency culture. . .[and] a blazing, Tarantino-esque climax.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Crissy makes a living as a Princess Diana impersonator in Las Vegas, a glamorous one-woman act that masks the more unsavory aspects of her life. But when her boss at the Buckingham Palace Casino is murdered, Crissy finds herself in very real danger. Appealing both to readers obsessed with the British royals and to fans of mysteries and thrillers.”
—BookBub

“For fans of estranged sisters, obsession, and organized crime! Crissy Dowling is living a strange and downward spiraling life: she has a one-woman show in Las Vegas playing Diana Spencer. While the fans may adore her, her addiction and life-blurring identity aren’t the healthiest. It’s only about to get worse when one of the owners of the casino is murdered, her estranged sister shows up with a boyfriend and teenage kid, her boyfriend—a separated-from-his-wife Senator— goes back to his wife, and she’s asked by the other casino owner to do a dangerous favor.”
—Jamie Canaves, BookRiotChris Bohjalian is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-four books, including The Lioness, Hour of the Witch, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, which has been made into a MAX limited series starring Kaley Cuoco. His other books include The Red Lotus, The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls; Skeletons at the Feast; and The Double Bind. His novels Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers were made into movies, and his work has been translated into more than thirty- five languages. He is also a playwright (Wingspan and Midwives). He lives in Vermont and can be found at chrisbohjalian.com or on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, Litsy, and Goodreads.A Las Vegas star is lured into a dangerous game of identity, dirty politics, and organized crime in this cleverly plotted and atmospheric novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian.
 
Crissy Dowling is a Princess Diana impersonator with a residency at a ragged Las Vegas casino called Buckingham Palace. With her feathered hair, her resemblance to the late princess is uncanny, and fans flock to her shows to hear her flawless British accent and soaring renditions of Petula Clark songs. Sure, the casino is down at the heels and Crissy’s love life is in shambles after an affair with a married senator, but Crissy spends her days drinking Bloody Marys in a poolside cabana, and overall, it’s not a bad life.
 
But this is Las Vegas, where luck can change in heartbeat.
 
When Crissy’s estranged sister, Betsy, arrives in Vegas with a bounder of a boyfriend, an adopted foster child, and risky cryptocurrency ambitions, shortly after Buckingham Palace’s CFO is found with a bullet in his head, murder, politics, gaming, invisible money, and family secrets collide, and Crissy’s desert kingdom crashes down.
 
When you join your book club’s discussion, we hope that sharing these questions with the group will enhance the reading experience of this electrifying Sin City thriller by the acclaimed author of The Flight Attendant.

1. There’s a lot of talk about chance in the novel. To what extent has chance played a part in Crissy’s and Betsy’s lives, and to what extent have their choices driven them to this point?

2. Has a bad choice you’ve made led to something good? Or has a good choice—as the British would say—gone to pot?

3. Why do you think Crissy finds it easy to let down her guard in a public performance but so difficult to do the same in her personal life?

4. On page 12, Crissy scoffs at the trope of the “unreliable narrator,” saying all narrators in fiction are unreliable. Can that also be applied to us in real life and the stories we tell ourselves and others?

5. The novel explores the public’s obsession with the royals. Apart from Chrissy’s uncanny resemblance, what else do you think draws her to Princess Diana’s persona, both public and private? Can you relate at all to celebrity fixations?

6. In addition to their mother’s death, what other issues do you think are at the root of Crissy and Betsy’s estrangement? In what ways did their paths in life diverge? In what ways are they coming together?

7. On page 80, the senator quotes Princess Diana: “I lead from the heart. Not the head.” In what ways is that true of him and of Crissy?

8. As a social worker, Betsy adopting Marisa is paramount in turning the girl’s life around. How do you think Marisa has the same impact on Betsy’s life?

9. As young as Marisa is, she’s adept at reading her elders and sees that Crissy is living in a state of denial. What is it about Crissy that tips her off? And in what ways does her denial become a threat to Marisa and to Betsy?

10. In what ways is Las Vegas, a city of “smoke and mirrors” as Crissy says on page 182,  the perfect place in which to lay the foundation for Betsy’s bitcoin outfit, Futurium? Or for that matter, Crissy’s current life and career?

11. When talking about the odds against the house on page 188, Marisa says, “The longer you play, the more you lose.” Is that also true when applied to the real-life games that Betsy and Crissy are playing? If so, what are the unexpected advantages of those losses in the long run?

12. As Crissy gets more deeply—and dangerously—involved with saving Buckingham Palace and, in turn, her career, do you think she is more fearless and determined, or heedless?

13. In the beginning of the novel, Crissy admits that both she and her sister were naive. In what ways is that true? And considering the events that followed, which sister was more so?

14. In hindsight, Crissy says that if she had to take the same risks and the same chances, she would do it all over again. Considering the danger she put herself, Betsy, and Marisa in, do you understand the sentiment?

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