All posts tagged: mystery

WHAT IF YOU WERE DRIVEN BY REVENGE but also trauma? ANDROMEDA ROMANO-lax talks about this, the early days of psychoanalysis, & so much more in a genre-bending new book, ANNIE AND THE WOLVES

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By Leslie Lindsay A modern-day historian finds herself enmeshed with the life of Annie Oakley, in a dual-timeline novel exploring the concept of revenge and changing one’s past/path. ~WRITERS INTERVIEWING WRITERS|ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ “2020 Best & Most Anticipated Historical Fiction” Oprah Magazine “Most Anticipated Books of 2021” by Buzzfeed  Several years ago, I read and loved Andromeda Romano-Lax’s BEHAVE, about Behaviorist John Watson and his wife, Rosalie Raynor Watson, their inhumane ‘experiments’ on children and parenting, done in what they believed was what was ‘best’ for the children (withholding affection, etc.). When I discovered her forthcoming ANNIE AND THE WOLVES (Soho Press, Feb 2, 2021), I knew I had to get my hands on it. Ruth McClintock is a historian in her early thirties and completely obsessed with Annie Oakley. For nearly a decade, she has been studying the show-stopping sharpshooter, convinced a tragic past is what elevated her status as one of the best shots in the land. But Ruth sort of loses it all–her book deal, her finance, her dissertation because her own mental health gets in …

COMING SOON IN PAPERBACK–THE SUNDOWN MOTEL, set in the 1980s and today, a run-down roadside motel teeming with ghosts, mysteries of the past, more

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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.  NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK!  ~WEEKEND READING | ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ THRILLER SPOTLIGHT 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 Bestseller USA Today Bestseller  NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK 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 …

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 …

Twists, turns, and toxicity: THE END OF HER is wicked good, a dark escape into brilliantly actualized characters, plus who Shari Lapena would cast *if* it were adapted into a movie

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By Leslie Lindsay Deliciously dark and deceptive, the most awry characters, set in a bucolic suburban setting in Shari Lapena’s new thriller, THE END OF HER.  ~WEDNESDAYS WITH WRITERS| ALWAYS WITH A BOOK~ #1 Internationally Bestselling Author Shari Lapena, the author of last summer’s propulsive thriller, SOMEONE WE KNOW returns to the bucolic town of Aylesford, nestled in New York’s Hudson Valley. Here, in THE END OF HER (Penguin/Pamela Dorman Books, July 28 2020),  we meet Stephanie Kilgour, a young woman who seemingly has it all: A beautiful home; a loving architect husband, and twin baby girls. But she’s exhausted. The babies are only four months old and colicky. Stephanie is unraveling. Fatigue and new motherhood is taking it’s toll. Her husband, Patrick, does what he can, but work is intense. And then, a woman from his past shows up unexpectedly. He’s flabbergasted and terrified. Secrets surface. The woman, Erika, is insidious, weaving her way into Stephanie’s life, Patrick’s partner’s bed, and more. THE END OF HER is deliciously deceptive, full of twists and turns, …

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 …

Carol Goodman’s newest THE SEA OF LOST GIRLS about deception, moody teens, a mysterious death, and so much more, set against the backdrop of an elite prep school

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By Leslie Lindsay  ~Weekend Reading Spotlight|Always with a Book~ CAROL GOODMAN is the 2018 recipient of the Mary Higgins Clark Award from the Mystery Writers of America for The Widow’s House.  She’s nominated for the award again in 2020 for her most recent novel, The Night Visitors. And years ago, I was completely enamored with boarding schools thanks to THE LAKE OF DEAD LANGUAGES. Now, THE SEA OF LOST GIRLS (WilliamMorrow, March 3, 2020; Trade Paperback Original) Goodman uses her adroit storytelling to bring a simmering new work of psychological suspense, in which one woman’s carefully hidden past might destroy her future—all set against the backdrop of a prestigious prep school with its own dark secrets hidden among the ivy.     “Carol Goodman is a superb writer, and she explores family and small-town dynamics in a way that’s both suspenseful and touchingly real. THE SEA OF LOST GIRLS features a fascinating cast of characters, intriguing setting—and enough shocking twists to leave you breathless. I loved it.” — Alison Gaylin, Edgar Award-winning author of Never Look Back Tess has worked hard to keep her …

Stunning debut from Raymond Fleishmann, HOW QUICKLY SHE DISAPPEARS set in the Alaskan wilderness, plus lonliness, grief, isolation, obsession, writing from a parent’s perspective

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By Leslie Lindsay  Impressive literary debut from Raymond Fleischmann centered on a lonely mother in the Alaskan wilderness. ~WEDNESDAY’S With Writers|Always with a Book~ I was immediately intrigued in the premise of HOW QUICKLY SHE DISAPPEARS (Jan 14, Berkley) by Raymond Fleischmann. It’s been twenty years since Elisabeth watched her twin sister, Jacqueline disappear without a trace. Now, in 1941 and Elisabeth Pfautz is living temporarily in Alaska with her husband John, and their twelve-year old daughter, Margaret. The marriage is stale, the environment dark and gray, along with it being so remote, we truly feel the isolation. Elisabeth clings to the idea that her sister is still alive—but where? And will they ever be reunited? A German bush pilot—Alfred—lands unexpectedly on Tanacross’s tiny gravel airstrip. After befriending Elisabeth, he commits an inexplicable act of violence, followed by a startling revelation: he knows what happened to Elisabeth’s sister. But he will tell her only if she fulfills three requests. I found the prose gorgeous and intriguing, but HOW QUICKLY SHE DISAPPEARS is a a slow burn. Still, …

Marriages in the 1950s–and before–might have been more about the wedding, not the relationship, plus drawing inspiration from Reno, an abandoned house, Sofia Grant talks about LIES IN WHITE DRESSES

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By Leslie Lindsay  Historical women’s fiction set in the early 1950s when women were expected to fall in love, slip into a white dress and live happily-ever-after…but what if they don’t? I’ve heard of the ‘Reno Cure’ before–that is, back in the 1940s and 1950s, women requiring a speedy divorce headed to ‘ranches’ where they were await the six-week residency requirement to file for a divorce. That’s exactly what transpires in Sofia Grant’s LIES IN WHITE DRESSES (William Morrow, September 2019). It’s 1952 and San Francisco society matrons, Vi Carothers and Francine Meeker board a train for Reno, NV, where they will spend six weeks at the plush Holiday Ranch to contemplate their future. On the train, the bump into another woman, June Samples, traveling with her 4 year old daughter, Patty, also en route to Reno. “More than a skillfully woven novel, Lies in White Dresses reads like a black-and-white film that pulls you in from the very first scene…A memorable, atmospheric tale to savor with a friend and a rum-ginger fizz.” – Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of The Edge …

Eerie and atmospheric, BEFORE THE DEVIL FELL, is a study of violence, buried secrets, and mysterious happenings–witchcraft–in New England

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By Leslie Lindsay  The critically acclaimed author of THE BLACK PAINTING returns with a deliciously dark and atmopheric suspense for fans of Dennis Lehane and Gillian Flynn’s SHARP OBJECTS.  SPOTLIGHT! Eerily hypnotic and atmospheric, BEFORE THE DEVIL FELL (Hanover Square Press, October 8, 2019) absolutely calls, ‘October,’ with its skepticism, small New England town, spirituality, and the history of witchcraft.  Just take a look at some of the praise:  “Equal parts engaging and creepy, this twisty tale deftly examines how secrets and regret can continue to reverberate through generations.” —Kirkus “The paranormal elements are subtle, gradually creeping in around the edges with unsettling effect. Both mystery and weird fiction fans will be pleased.” —Publishers Weekly “An appealing, atmospheric yarn.” —Booklist A bit about the story: A reformed flower child, thirty-three-year-old Will Connor’s long-held skepticism has distanced him from his mother and her eccentric collection of friends. While his mother embraced the hippie generation’s exploration of spirituality and withcraft, Will dismissed their fascination with New Age as arcane. But now he must return home to care for his aging …