All posts tagged: murder

B.A. Paris talks about her new domestic suspense, THE THERAPIST, about a London community, how her formative years in the U.K. has shaped her storytelling, hitting a wall, self-doubt, how ideas come best in that liminal state between wake and sleep, more

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By Leslie Lindsay  An unsettling tale of a London couple who move into a gated community rife with dark secrets—a murder and more. WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS ALWAYS WITH A BOOK B.A. Paris & Leslie Lindsay in conversation With an absolutely gripping central mystery, U.K. author by way of France, B.A. Paris delivers a hit readers will surely devour as quickly as Behind Closed Doors, and joins a cadre of authors who’ve produced unforgettable books, like An Anonymous Girl, The Silent Patient, and You Should Have Known, about tortured and mysterious therapists. B.A. Paris burst on the scene in 2016 with her break-out bestseller, BEHIND CLOSED DOORS, which had me racing through the pages. She’s back now with THE THERAPIST, (St. Martin’s Press, July 13), about a close-knit suburban community where everyone is a little on-edge, and with good reason: there’s been a murder and everyone is still reeling, and grieving, and more. Plus, there are newcomers, a therapist, a private investigator, and so much more. Alice feels compelled to get to the bottom of this …

Julia Heaberlin on how obsessions start early and never leave, the horrific experience of a woman’s found body parts, ‘evil passing through,’ her mother’s box of terrifying nature, reading poetry to unlock flat descriptions, plus prosthetics in WE ARE ALL THE SAME IN THE DARK

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By Leslie Lindsay  Portrait of modern Texas, in which tradition, family, secrets, and redemption run wild, this is a slow-burn mystery rooted in gorgeous writing. It’s been a decade since Trumanell Branson vanished from her family farm, leaving only a bloody handprint behind. She was the town’s beauty queen, beloved daughter, but now she’s gone. Was it a serial killer? Her brother? Her disappearance and murder haunts the town. Now, in WE ARE ALL THE SAME IN THE DARK (Ballantine/PRH, August 11 2020), another girl has turned up. She’s not dead, but badly injured. She’s missing an eye, she’s mute. Odette Tucker, the town’s youngest cop (and hiding a perceived disability herself) is the one to find this injured girl amidst a field of dandelions. She believes the two instances may somehow be linked. The writing in WE ARE ALL THE SAME IN THE DARK is delicately charged and searing, exploding with atmosphere. But it is a slow-burning literary thriller told from the POV of several traumatized characters carrying plenty of their own baggage. WE ARE ALL THE SAME IN THE DARK is …

Samantha Downing is back with a dark, twisted new thriller, HE STARTED IT, about sibling rivalry, money, and more

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By Leslie Lindsay  Three siblings, in a race to win their grandfather’s inheritance, embark on a cross-country roadtrip, but dark, twisted things–and places–keep tracking them.  ~PUBDAY PREVIEW|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ BETCHES BEACH READ OF THE MONTH A most anticipated book by Betches ∙ Hello Giggles ∙ She Reads ∙ Book Page  AVAILABLE LATE JULY~ORDER NOW! In HE STARTED IT (Berkley, July 28 2020), Beth, Portia, and Eddie Morgan are together again after years of being apart, but this is no happy reunion. Their wealthy grandfather has died, leaving behind an enormous inheritance and a cryptic final message: in order to secure their cut of the money, the siblings must reunite for a cross-country road trip. They must stick to the itinerary of the trip they once took as children with their grandfather—no exceptions. Anyone who ends up in jail along the way or doesn’t complete the journey will lose their inheritance. “Wholly original. Scarily clever. Completely mesmerizing. You will never look at family road trips the same way again.” —Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author Time with family can be …

Scott Carson dives into the chilly waters of the fictional–but inspired by an actual reservoir–in upstate New York, the fall-out, plus the murky depth of the supernatural in this eco-thriller THE CHILL and so much more

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By Leslie Lindsay  A literary thriller based on actual small upstate NY towns flooded in effort to create drinking water for the residents of NYC, with a supernatural twist. ~WEDNESDAYS WITH WRITERS|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ Far upstate, in New York’s ancient forests, a drowned village lies beneath the deep, still waters of the (fictional) Chilewaukee Reservoir. THE CHILL (Atria/Emily Bestler Books, Feb 2020) is about that drowned town, Galesburg, once home to many. It wasn’t a booming metropolis, but people were happy. Early in the twentieth century (1910-1928), many towns like Galesburg were destroyed for greater good: bringing water to the millions in downstate NYC. The local folks settled there many years prior to America’s founding (some say the town dates back to 1682), and they didn’t leave without a fight…some didn’t leave at all. Now, a century later, the repercussions of human arrogance are finally making themselves known. An inspector notes problems on the dam, a man decides to swim in in and uncovers a corpse…or does he? He suffers from addiction so maybe he’s just strung out? Others …

Simone St. James returns with a dank and creepy roadside motel in upstate New York, a cold case, and dual timelines, plus its loose connection to Bates Motel, murder, ghosts, and serial killers

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By Leslie Lindsay  An atmospheric and troubling mystery set in upstate New York at a run-down roadside motel teeming with ghosts–both literal and figurative.  ~FICTION FRIDAY | ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ Something hasn’t been right at the roadside Sun Down Motel for a very long time, and Carly Kirk is about to find out why in this chilling new novel from the national bestselling and award-winning author of THE BROKEN GIRLS.  New York Times  USA Today Bestseller  Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, NY. But something isn’t right at the motel, something haunting and scary. Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and to visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she …

Mary Kubica is back with her most twisty and disturbing tale yet–THE OTHER MRS., plus backstory and character development and Maine as the backdrop

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By Leslie Lindsay  Soon to be a Netflix film, THE OTHER MRS. is a twisty, spine-tingling read chocked full of twists, turns, and deception. Mary Kubica has won me over countless times since her debut, THE GOOD GIRL in 2015. Perhaps its her down-to-earth approach, the fact that she resides in the Midwest and writes about family and geography of which I am familiar, yet with a twisted jaw-dropping jolt. THE OTHER MRS. (Park Row, February 18 2020) is no exception. Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved their family–two boys, 14-year-old Otto and younger Tate–from Chicago to small-town Maine following the death of Will’s sister. They’ve inherited Alice’s old, creaky home along with her 16-year old daughter, Imogene. Sadie is working as a one of the only two physicians at the small island clinic. Will is a part-time professor at a small college. Shortly after moving in, there’s a murder of a female neighbor. Suspicions rise. Will is known to be a philanderer and Sadie the jealous wife. Could they be involved? What about Imogene? She’s struggling with her mother’s suicide. Or maybe …

Queen of romantic thrillers, Erica Spindler is here chatting about her new book, THE LOOK-ALIKE, set in small-town Wisconsin with a flair of mental illness

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By Leslie Lindsay  A young woman returning to her hometown in Wisconsin learns a brutal murder case she witnessed is being re-opened in this romantic thriller. ~WeekEND Reading~ A most anticipated book of 2020 according to: CrimeReads BookRiot The Nerd Daily Erica Spindler weaves a fast-paced tale of an unsolved murder in THE LOOK-ALIKE (St. Martin’s Press, Jan 28 2020). Trudging back to her door room late one night at Frederick College ten years ago, Sienna Scott stumbles upon a murdered classmate, her white coat and snow-covered ground stained crimson. The case is never fully solved, but closed. Sienna is shipped off to London to live with her grandmother. For ten years, she attends school there, becomes a chef. She’s back now, because her mother, who suffers from a paranoid delusional disorder is requiring more assistance. Others have always said Sienna looks just like her mother and Sienna’s biggest fear is that she will inherit her mother’s mental illness. What’s more, Sienna realizes there were some similarities between she and the girl who was murdered: they both had the same white coat. Could …

Deceitful, Dark, & Twisted THE NANNY is about villians, the art world, the slippery nature of memory; plus Gilly Macmillan talks about her ideal writing day, her next book, and more

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By Leslie Lindsay NYT Bestselling author, Gilly Macmillan is back with this dark, original, and diabolically clever tale of family secrets, set in a U.K. manor home. I’ve read all of Gilly Macmillan’s books and I think THE NANNY (September 10 William Morrow) must be her darkest, most sinister tale yet. Each one just gets better and better. Years ago, in 1988, 7-year old Jo’s (Jocelyn) nanny, Hannah, left without a trace. Jo was devastated. No one spoke of her again. Jo grew up bitter and distanced from her family; there was very little relationship between she and her mother Virginia (Ginny). Eventually, Jo leaves her aristocratic family and home–Lake Hall–behind for California. She marries and works in the art world–until her husband unexpectedly dies. It’s been thirty years, and Jo must return home to Lake Hall. She’s dreading this. She and her mother are estranged and there’s a stuffiness to this upper class life she desperately wishes to avoid. While she and her daughter, Ruby, are kayaking in the lake, they discover a human skull. This couldn’t be her long-lost nanny, could it? And then there’s …

Astonishingly Gripping, Hugely compelling, and so good–Shari Lapena is back with a new thriller set in an upper middle class neighborhood about teenage boys breaking into homes, plus the rhythm of writing, not plotting, more

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By Leslie Lindsay  Suburban noir, paranoia, and murder. No one does it better than Shari Lapena in her fourth book, SOMEONE WE KNOW. INSTANT UK SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER NOTABLE BARNES & NOBLE JULY 2019 PICK Shari Lapena is among a rare breed of prolific women thriller writers. Each book is fabulous, hitting the New York Times bestseller list. In fact, her first thriller, THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR (2015) was on the list for twenty-three consecutive weeks. Her second book, A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE, sealed her fate. She knows what readers want. And last year’s summer hit, AN UNWANTED GUEST was a nod to Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, which had me re-thinking whether I should bring that book with me to a little inn on the coast of Michigan. I did, anyway. Clear your calendar for about 18-24 hours, because this book will be wholly consuming. It could easily be read in one sitting, but those of us who feel obligated to sleep or let the dog out, go to work, or …

Bad neighbors, domestic agony and protecting lives in THOSE PEOPLE; plus Louise Candlish chats about her new puppy, the next book, and more

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By Leslie Lindsay  Could your neighbor make you angry enough to kill? That’s what Louise Candlish sets out to discover in her new domestic thriller, THOSE PEOPLE.  Last year’s critically acclaimed OUR HOUSE had me on my toes wondering ‘who did it and why;’ I was flipping the pages uber-fast. And I love that Louise is focused on middle class suburbia, and those lingering ‘what-if’ questions. In THOSE PEOPLE (June 2019), she is acidly wry with sharp insights about human nature. For the families on Lowland Way, everything is pretty darn idyllic. The homes are stately and the neighborhood is sought-after by homeowners, the children attend good schools, and there’s that new ‘Play Out Sunday’ initiative in which a local homeowner has organized raising good press. But things on Lowland way take a nose dive when Darren and Jodie move in. Here, we meet several groups of neighbors–the married brothers who share a back garden, the couple with the new baby, the B&B owner, and well, Darren and Jodie who play loud music at all hours, are in constant …