When a billionaire’s birthday bash turns deadly, L.S. Stratton turns the chaos of a toxic workplace into a fast, funny, and genuinely twisty mystery. In Deadly Company doesn’t just skewer overbearing bosses and corporate burnout.
It gives us Nicole, an EA who’s competent, complicated, and quietly running her own play while the stakes keep rising.
We recently had the pleasure of talking to the author of In Deadly Company, L.S. Stratton. We dig into what sparked the story’s candid look at executive-assistant life, how Stratton juggles multiple points of view and a past-and-present timeline without tipping her hand too early, and which scene or character refused to behave on the page.
We also ask for a peek at what she’s writing next. Big thanks to Union Square & Co. for the advance review copy.
Let’s get into it.
In Deadly Company is such a fun and fast-paced mystery! I particularly enjoyed the look into a toxic corporate culture and the exploration of overbearing, demanding bosses. It was a candid but unfortunately realistic look into the world that executive assistants experience regularly. I’m wondering if there was anything in particular that inspired the story?
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The inspiration for the book was mixed. I’d always wanted to tackle a locked-room mystery. Since I was a kid, I’ve loved the cult classic film, Clue, and I’m a big fan of the Knives Out mysteries. I knew that if I finally did a locked room-like novel that I wanted to take a similar comedic approach as those films.
I had also finished binge-watching the TV show, Succession, which was about the infighting, machinations, and double dealings of the fictional Roy family, who are in charge of a global media empire. I knew I wanted to write a book that could blend all those elements together.
The multiple pov’s throughout the story – as well as the past and present realities that Nicole is dealing with – are really effective at dropping small hints and clues for the reader to follow. Do you find it to be a more effective way of writing a mystery, or is it more difficult to keep from giving too much away to the readers too early on?
Switching perspectives and shifting between past and present is much more complicated than writing a straightforward, linear narrative, but I find that I can have more control with story pacing and seeding those important hints along the way. It adds to the twists and turns, and the readers find it even more rewarding when it all comes together at the end.
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Was there a specific scene, character, or portion of In Deadly Company that was difficult to write?
The hardest scene to write was probably when Nicole was at the hospital, dealing with the aftermath of all the carnage that took place that weekend at the Maple Grove mansion. This scene has less to do with adding to the mystery or moving the plot forward, but what the character was going through emotionally.
I tried to imagine the level of trauma and guilt she would be experiencing at that moment, and how to convey that to the reader realistically while still maintaining the dark comedy tone of the novel.
Enjoying this article?
Subscribe to our weekly newsletterCan I ask what’s next in terms of stories that you’re working on? Any hints about future projects that you’re able to share?
Sure! My next novel is my first YA, and it will be published in January 2026. It’s a paranormal thriller called the Sundown Girls.
It’s about a 16-year-old girl called Naomi who goes on vacation to the fictional town of Sparksburg, Virginia, with her family as a way to reconnect with them after being kidnapped and separated from them for almost 15 years. But their family vacation is far from tranquil, especially when Naomi learns about the complicated history of Sparkburg, a former sundown town, and that two girls in town have gone missing.
As she tries to solve the mystery of the missing girls, she realizes she’s also putting herself in harm’s way.
I also just submitted the manuscript for my next adult thriller, another dual-timeline narrative, to my editor this week.
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Big thanks to L.S. Stratton for pulling back the curtain on In Deadly Company, from the Clue/Knives Out/Succession spark to the careful choreography of POVs, timelines, and that gut-punch hospital scene.
If you’re craving a sharp mystery that laughs in the face of corporate nonsense while still landing the emotional beats, add this one to your stack. Keep an eye out for Stratton’s YA paranormal thriller Sundown Girls (January 2026) and her next adult dual-timeline thriller, now with the editor. If you liked this conversation, share it with a fellow mystery fan, and tell us which locked-room twist you’d cast in the movie version.
