Read An Excerpt From 'The Mortal Enemy Murder Club' by Gloria Chao

The Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club is back with a twist in this smart, hilarious mystery by USA TODAY bestselling author Gloria Chao.

Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt from The Mortal Enemy Murder Club by Gloria Chao, which releases on July 28th 2026.

Kathryn Hu is not getting into the business of solving murders. Yes, she and her friends Olivia and Elle figured out who killed their cheating ex-boyfriend. But now Kat can get back to her usual, murder-free existence.

Then she gets an unexpected plea for help. Mandy Thorne has ruined countless lives through her revenge podcast. She also did her best to frame the girls. Now, she claims, someone is trying to kill her. And the girls are the only ones who can save her.

But can the trio and Mandy put aside their mutual contempt long enough to prevent a murder and solve this case? Can they become…the Mortal Enemy Murder Club?

Filled with humor and shenanigans, The Mortal Enemy Murder Club is a romp of an adventure by USA TODAY bestselling author Gloria Chao, perfect for fans of Dial A for Aunties and Finlay Donovan Is Killing It.

EXCERPT

“You’re heeeeere!” Olivia ran up to me and squeezed me for so long I started to understand the appeal of a weighted blanket. “Thanks for coming.”

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it!”

When I first discovered that my ex, Tucker Jones, had been cheating on me—when I walked in, half naked, on him proposing to Olivia—I never would have guessed that we’d become the closest of friends. But now, I couldn’t imagine my life without Olivia Valentina McCarthy, whose full name I first heard from Tucker’s lips following the words will you marry me. (Not to mention, less than ten minutes later, I’d heard those very same words followed by Kathryn Yushan Hu.)

Olivia let go of me and promptly grabbed my hand, leading me into the theater. “Come sit at my table.”

“It’s your first night! Don’t you want to try your act out on a stranger?”

“Of course not! That’s terrifying. You’ll clap and love me no matter what, right?”

“Do you even have to ask?”

We shared a smile as she pulled a chair out for me.

The Magic Lounge was aptly named, being more cozy lounge than theater, with tables throughout at different levels so that everyone could see the stage. The event began with appetizers and private shows for each table, followed by two headliner performances on the main stage. Tonight was Olivia’s first table show after training for months.

When we—the Ex-Girlfriend Murder Club—had been trying to clear our names by figuring out who murdered our shared ex-boyfriend, we had called Olivia Double-Oh-livia for her 007 skills in picking locks, breaking into safes and laptops, and just being a badass in general. Skills she had learned from the private investigator she often worked with at her law firm, and maybe also from YouTube. “You never know when you might need to save your own ass,” Olivia liked to say, and she had certainly saved my ass plenty of times. Sleight of hand was something she’d always wanted to add to her arsenal, and of course, if she was going to do it, she was going to go all out and become a full-blown paid magician, even if it was just a few nights a month. This exact personality trait was what made her so good at so many things, including her chosen expertise as a criminal defense attorney. I, on the other hand, would never be able to do what she was about to, mostly because I hated being the center of attention. I preferred hiding behind my chemicals and glassware.

A plate of sliders appeared on my table like magic—though not really, the waiter was just quiet and my eyes were on Olivia. But I was definitely in the right mood for tonight.

Olivia opened a new deck of cards and fanned them in front of me like a pro, which, after tonight, she technically was. “Pick a card.”

Even though the line felt cliché, I’d never heard it from someone one-on-one. The excitement bubbled through me like carbon dioxide.

I grabbed a card from the middle.

“Look at it,” she instructed. “You can show me. Okay, three of clubs. Do you want to keep this or switch?”

“Um . . . keep.”

“Okay.” She turned the card over, then gestured for me to open my hands, which I did. She placed the card face down in my left palm and instructed, “Hold that tight between your hands. Don’t let anyone get to it.”

“Who’s coming for it?” I joked, but I of course clamped my right hand on top.

“Okay, so . . .” She squared the rest of the deck in her hands, then began to slowly flip the top card over.

“No! Is that the three of clubs?” I asked

She finished the movement quicker to reveal a king of hearts. “No. That would have been cool, though. But here we have the king of hearts, which is symbolic. I don’t currently have a king of hearts in my life. But you do.”

I blushed thinking about Adrian, who was meeting me here soon, though he was running late due to a work emergency.

“Because of that, this”—Olivia flicked the king of hearts—“should be yours.”

She turned the card face down, then waved it over my hand.

“No . . .” I said, the word just an exhale.

She grinned mischievously—the same grin right before she broke into a safe or laptop or condo—and then she pressed the card she was holding, the king of hearts, into the back of my hand that was clamped on top of the protected card. A second later, she turned her card face up to reveal it was now the three of clubs.

“That means . . .” She gestured for me to open my palms, and when I turned the card in between over, my mind was blown that it was the king of hearts. As my mouth dropped open, Olivia didn’t seem to think much of it as she asked calmly, “Things still going well with McHottie, I assume?”

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“Olivia!”

“What?”

“That was amazing! Like, just—holy shit.”

“Okay, you don’t have to patronize me.”

“No, seriously, how’d you do that?” My fingers flipped the king of hearts back and forth, examining it for Hu (doesn’t) know what.

Olivia smiled—wide, unabashed, and real—and my heart soared that I not only knew this smile but that it appeared often when we were together. Then she leaned close to me and whispered, “If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.” But she couldn’t even get through the whole sentence without giggling. “Just kidding, I’ll teach you later—it’s easy!”

She’d also been teaching me to pick locks, which I hadn’t used in any other setting, but I felt cooler just being able to do it.

Olivia leaned back and shuffled the cards. “Now, for my next trick—”

Someone slipped into the seat beside me. I turned, ready to greet Adrian with a kiss on the cheek, but thank god I didn’t because it was a stranger wearing a trench coat, a giant hat, and sunglasses.

“Oh, fun!” I exclaimed, turning so I was half facing Olivia and half facing the new arrival. “Another magician? Or your assistant?”

The newcomer’s head was tilted down so I couldn’t see their face beneath the hat. “Olivia McCarthy and Kathryn Hu?” a woman’s voice whispered.

“Yeah?” I responded automatically before asking myself, Why did she ask about Olivia’s name? And then I turned to see the confused look on Olivia’s face.

Before I could scoot backward or run off, the person whipped their disguise off. The woman before me looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place her.

“Mandy?” Olivia said, her voice hesitant. “Mandy Thorne?”

“I need your help,” Mandy said, her voice desperate. “Someone’s trying to kill me.”