Publication Date: October 7, 2025
Private eye One the Gun and his right-hand dame Two the True Blue are on the trail of the killer of Five the No Longer Alive. But as the numbers and the clues stack up, One the Gun realizes that today is exactly like yesterday—in fact maybe actually is yesterday—and he’s pretty sure that at the end of yesterday he was shot to death. It’s a dilly of a pickle as time continues to loop back on itself, one murder case becomes two, and the gumshoe races against the clock to smoke out his own killer—before that killer can stop his clock for keeps. Gigi Little’s noir-soaked and delightfully surreal debut pays homage to the radio classics of the forties and fifties while investigating themes of greed, sexism, and the consequences of unchecked power.
Who Killed One the Gun? by Gigi Little is a cozy noir reminiscent to me of characters from two television shows: Columbo, a homicide detective, and Rockford, a private investigator.
The premise of the story is different from anything I have read before, since One the Gun, a private investigator, is trying to solve a murder case, except he keeps having the feeling of déjà vu and knows what’s going to happen before it does. Everything he’s living through has already happened the day before or earlier, and there’s a significant reason for that since he’s dead, too! The characters are numbered with a rhyming description instead of a name, and many of the chapters are lengthy.
The characters were sometimes confusing, but each had a role. As One the Gun tries to figure out whodunnit, he is always surprised that the events and details had already happened the day before. He’s often confused about the facts and what transpired since today was really yesterday in his eyes, and so is the reader, sometimes bewildered. The time loops made it repetitive, since he’s gathering clues and red herrings, interviewing witnesses, and sifting through motives, and he’s already done so. Since he’s racing against the clock to solve the crimes, even as he oftentimes commits crimes to do so, it’s significant that a clock is on the cover.
With a few twists and turns, some confusion, and even conflict, we’re taken on a merry chase as One tries to find out who murdered Five as well as him. We get to know the characters a little at a time as multiple storylines unfold.
There are many interactions among the characters, which add unexpected layers to the story. One thinks he solves who killed Five, but it isn’t confirmed. There are multiple surprises at the end, including One figuring out who killed him and a “trial” of his misdeeds. The story did end abruptly. The Book Club Questions made you think.
Who Killed One the Gun? is filled with crimes and death, but the time loops make yesterday today.
Gigi Little is a freelance book designer and a longtime bookseller. She’s the editor of the popular anthology City of Weird and the art director of the picture book A Tree of My Own. Her writing can be found in journals and anthologies including Portland Noir, Spent, Dispatches from Anarres, and The Magic We Miss. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, fine artist Stephen O’Donnell.
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Nice review, thanks! So glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for reading and reviewing my book! I’m glad you enjoyed it.