At the end of the first practice session for the iconic Indianapolis 500 race, Kate Reilly is stunned to discover she was the fastest driver on the track. She's even more surprised to learn she wasn't the first woman to top the speed charts in the race's 106-year history. That feat was accomplished in 1987 by PJ Rodriguez, who shocked the racing world and the wider one by committing suicide 10 days later.

When the press, bloggers, and social media go crazy over the connection between PJ and Kate, Kate begins to lose her identity - suddenly, everyone's comparing Kate and PJ, calling Kate PJ, and wondering if Kate will kill herself, too. Under siege from various trolls live and digital, Kate feels PJ's story deeply. So she's impelled to listen to PJ's family - which claims PJ did not jump, but was murdered. And she agrees to help them find PJ's killer and restore her reputation...30 years after the fact.

PJ's death was a great tragedy; Kate feels it in her bones and believes she is the best person, perhaps, the only person, to investigate PJ's story.

But Kate is at the Indy to run the biggest race of her career. To prepare, she fills her days with driving on the track for practice, fulfilling sponsor obligations, promoting the IndyCar Series, and, as ever, playing peacemaker between the warring sides of her maternal and paternal families.

Before long, one suspect in PJ's death turns up dead, all but confirming PJ was killed. So as Kate prepares to run the biggest race of her life, she must narrow down the clues to not one but two murders, all while fighting for her own voice and identity through the storm of media attention. Will the past stay buried? Or will history repeat itself and leave Kate dead?

Kiss the Bricks is the fifth Kate Reilly mystery and takes its title from the Indy winner's tradition of kissing the track's yard of bricks in tribute to its legendary history.