Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted three historical mystery authors. There will be signed copies of the books by all three authors. Check the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Stephanie Graves is the author of the Olive Bright mysteries, featuring a pigeoneer. Her second book is A Valiant Deceit.

Weaving wartime intrigue, rural village life, and little-known historical facts about the role of carrier pigeons in WWII, Stephanie Graves continues the adventures of Olive Bright, a young pigeoneer who, along with her racing birds, has been conscripted to aid the fight against the Nazis. It’s not the daring role she’d envisioned for herself, but her quiet little English village is not nearly as sheltered as she imagined…

Returning to Pipley following her FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) training, Olive is eager to step up her involvement in the war effort. Her pigeons are being conscripted to aid the Belgian resistance, and it’s up to Olive to choose the best birds for the mission. To protect the secrecy of their work, she must also continue the ruse of being romantically involved with her superior, Captain Jameson Aldridge, a task made more challenging by the fact that she really does have feelings for the gruff Irish intelligence officer.

But perhaps the greatest challenge of all comes when an instructor at Station XVII, the top-secret training school housed at Brickendonbury Manor, is found dead in Balls Wood by a troop of Girl Guides. The police quickly rule Lieutenant Jeremy Beckett’s death an accident, but based on clues she finds at the scene, Olive begins to suspect he might have been a spy. Involving the reluctant Jamie, she is determined to solve the murder and possibly stop a threat to their intelligence efforts which could put the Belgians—not to mention her pigeons—in grave danger.

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Stephanie Graves is the author of the Olive Bright mystery series and four romantic novels, written under the pseudonym Alyssa Goodnight. She lives in Houston with her family. Visit her online at msstephgraves.com.

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Garden of Sins is Laura Joh Rowland’s sixth Victorian mystery.

Award-winning author Laura Joh Rowland is back with the sixth in her critically acclaimed Victorian Mystery series in which Sarah must search for the killer of a woman she found murdered on a train all the while waiting for the verdict of her father’s trial for heinous crimes committed two decades earlier.

London, November 1890. Crime scene photographer Sarah Bain Barrett faces a perfect storm of events. She and her husband Detective Sergeant Barrett are riding on a train that crashes. While rescuing other passengers, they find a woman who’s been strangled to death. Their search for her identity and her killer lead them to Cremorne Gardens, a seedy riverside pleasure park that’s a combination carnival, theater, freak show, and museum of oddities. It’s among the most challenging cases that Sarah, Barrett, and her friends Lord Hugh Staunton and Mick O’Reilly have ever undertaken. The suspects include a dwarf, a female acrobat, and a member of the Royal Family. Due to the royal connection, the police commissioner declares the case top-secret. Sarah and company must investigate on the quiet, keeping the suspects, the press, and the public in the dark. That’s easier said than done. The investigation is complicated by the injury Hugh sustained during their last case, Mick’s romance with a woman who has psychic powers, and Barrett’s old flame.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s father Benjamin Bain goes on trial for a rape and murder that happened more than two decades ago. The victim was a teenage girl named Ellen Casey. Is Benjamin Bain as innocent as he claims? Sarah has serious doubts. The trial is the scandal of the year, a media blitz. The outcome–and the truth about the murder on the train–are beyond Sarah’s wildest imaginings. What dangerous secrets are hidden behind the tawdry glamor of Cremorne Gardens? Is Benjamin Bain wrongly accused, or a guilty sinner who deserves to be hanged?

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Laura Joh Rowland is the award-winning author of the samurai detective Sano Ichiro mystery series set in 17th century Japan, as well as a historical suspense series starring Charlotte Bronte. Her work has been published in 21 countries; nominated for the Anthony Award, the Hammett Prize, and the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award; won RT Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Award; and been included in the Wall Street Journal’s list of the five best historical mystery novels. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan. She is a former aerospace scientist, a painter, and a cartoonist. She lives in New York City with her husband Marty.

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The Dead Cry Justice is Rosemary Simpson’s sixth Gilded Age mystery.

Heiress-turned-sleuth Prudence MacKenzie and ex-Pinkerton Geoffrey Hunter step out of the elite society of Gilded Age New York as they venture into the city’s crime ridden streets and most dangerous neighborhoods to search for two missing children…
 

May 1890: As NYU Law School finally agrees to admit female law students, Judge MacKenzie’s daughter Prudence weighs her choices carefully. Chief among her concerns is how her decision would affect the Hunter and MacKenzie Investigative Law agency and her professional and personal relationship with the partner who is currently recuperating from a near fatal shooting.

But an even more pressing issue presents itself in the form of a street urchin, whose act of petty theft inadvertently leads Prudence to a badly beaten girl he is protecting. Fearing for the girl’s life, Prudence rushes her to the Friends Refuge for the Sick Poor, run by the compassionate Charity Sloan. When the boy and girl slip out of their care and run away, Prudence suspects they are fleeing a dangerous predator and is desperate to find them.

Aided by the photographer and social reformer Jacob Riis and the famous journalist Nellie Bly, Prudence and Geoffrey scour the tenements and brothels of Five Points. Their only clue is a mysterious doll with an odd resemblance to the missing girl. But as the destitute orphans they encounter whisper the nickname of the killer who stalks them—Il diavolo—Prudence and Geoffrey must race against time to find the missing children before their merciless enemies do…

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Rosemary Simpson is the author of the Gilded Age Mystery Series, as well as The Seven Hills of Paradise and Dreams and Shadows. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the Historical Novel Society. Educated in France and the United States, she now lives near Tucson, Arizona and can be found online at RosemarySimpsonBooks.com.

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Enjoy the conversation about various time periods and historical mysteries.

Eva Jurczyk’s debut novel is The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. Jurczyk relates her background, and how it relates to her first book. You can order copies of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/35mB9lg

Here’s the description of The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.

“With its countless revelations about the dusty realms of rare books, a likable librarian sleuth who has just the right balance of compassion and wit, and a library setting that is teeming with secrets, The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a rare treat for readers. I loved this book!”—Matthew Sullivan, author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

Anxious People meets the delights of bookish fiction in a stunning debut following a librarian whose quiet life is turned upside down when a priceless manuscript goes missing. Soon she has to ask: what holds more secrets in the library—the ancient books shelved in the stacks, or the people who preserve them?

Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she’s left to run things, she discovers that the library’s most prized manuscript is missing.

Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues’ pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft. What Liesl discovers about the dusty manuscripts she has worked among for so long—and about the people who care for and revere them—shakes the very foundation on which she has built her life.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a sparkling book-club read about a woman struggling to step out from behind the shadows of powerful and unreliable men, and reveals the dark edge of obsession running through the most devoted bookworms.

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EVA JURCZYK is a writer and librarian living in Toronto. She has written for Jezebel, The Awl, The Rumpus, and Publishers Weekly. This is her first novel.

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Here’s Barbara Peters’ conversation with debut author Eva Jurczyk.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently hosted authors Joanna Schaffhausen and PJ Tracy for a virtual event. Schaffhausen’s Last Seen Alive is the fifth in the Ellery Hathaway series. Tracy, the author of the Monkeewrench series, is also the author of the Detective Margaret Nolan books. Desolation Canyon is the second in that series. Signed copies of both books are available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here is the summary of Last Seen Alive.

Last Seen Alive is the fifth book in Joanna Schaffhausen’s heartpounding Ellery Hathaway mystery series.

Boston detective Ellery Hathaway met FBI agent Reed Markham when he pried open a serial killer’s closet to rescue her. Years on, their relationship remains defined by that moment and by Francis Coben’s horrific crimes. To free herself from Coben’s legacy, Ellery had to walk away from Reed, too. But Coben is not letting go so easily. He has an impossible proposition: Coben will finally give up the location of the remaining bodies, on one condition—Reed must bring him Ellery.

Now the families of the missing victims are crying out for justice that only Ellery can deliver. The media hungers for a sequel and Coben is their camera-ready star. He claims he is sorry and wants to make amends. But Ellery is the one living person who has seen the monster behind the mask and she doesn’t believe he can be redeemed. Not after everything he’s done. Not after what she’s been through. And certainly not after a fresh body turns up with Coben’s signature all over it.

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Joanna Schaffhausen wields a mean scalpel, skills developed in her years studying neuroscience. She has a doctorate in psychology, which reflects her long-standing interest in the brain—how it develops and the many ways it can go wrong. Previously, she worked for ABC News, writing for programs such as World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and 20/20. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and daughter. The Vanishing Season is her first novel.

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Here’s the description of Desolation Canyon.

P.J. Tracy “seems to have found her literary sweet spot” (New York Times Book Review) with her dazzling new series, and in Desolation Canyon, fans get a deeper look into the complex characters who call Los Angeles home.

LAPD Detective Margaret Nolan is struggling to move forward after the death of her brother in Afghanistan and taking a life in the line of duty. Her stoic parents offer little support ““ they refuse to address anything difficult, and she’s afraid their relationship is eroding beyond the point of recovery.

The days off are the hardest, because they give Margaret time to think. A moment of weakness leads to cocktails with a colleague—an attraction she knows could be dangerous —at the luxurious Hotel Bel-Air bar. A stroll through the grounds leads to a grim discovery beneath the surface of Swan Lake: the body of a successful attorney who made his fortune in international trade.

It initially appears to be death by misadventure, but the case is anything but straightforward. As a series of shocking revelations emerge, Nolan finds herself confronting a sinister cabal that just might destroy her and everyone she loves.

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P. J. Tracy is the pseudonym of Traci Lambrecht, bestselling and award winning author of the Monkeewrench series. Lambrecht and her mother, P. J., wrote eight novels together as P. J. Tracy before P. J. passed away in 2016. Lambrecht has since continued the Monkeewrench series solo. She spent most of her childhood painting and showing Arabian horses, and graduated with a Russian Studies major from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she also studied voice. She now lives outside Minneapolis.

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Barbara Peters always avoids spoilers in her discussions. Although, they’ll mention the books, Peters led a conversation that included discussion of serial killers.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed authors Jayne Ann Krentz and Rachel Grant. Krentz’ latest book is Lightning in a Mirror, the final installment in the Fogg Lake trilogy. Krentz wanted to talk with both Peters and Grant so she could hear their stories about author Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Mertz/Barbara Michaels. Rachel Grant’s new book is Crash Site. There are signed copies of the books available through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the description of Lightning in a Mirror.

The final installment in the chilling Fogg Lake trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Jayne Ann Krentz.
 
Olivia LeClair’s experiment with speed dating is not going well. First there was the nasty encounter with the date from hell who tried to murder her and now the mysterious Harlan Rancourt—long believed dead—sits down at her table and tells her she’s the only one who can help him locate the legendary Vortex lab.
 
This is not what Olivia had in mind when she signed up for the Four Event Success Guaranteed package offered by the dating agency.  She doesn’t have much choice, though, because her psychic investigation firm works for the mysterious Foundation and Victor Arganbright, the director, is adamant that she assist Harlan. There’s just one problem—no one knows Harlan’s real agenda. His father once ran the Foundation like a mob organization, and Harlan was destined to be his heir.  There’s a real possibility Harlan has returned to claim his inheritance. 
 
For now, however, it’s a case of the enemy of my enemy is my friend because others are after the secrets of the long-lost lab. Unfortunately for Olivia, the one thing friend and foe have in common is that everyone is convinced she is the key. Her unique psychic talent is required to defuse the ticking time bomb that is Vortex.
 
Neither trusts the other but Olivia and Harlan soon realize they must work together to survive and unlock the Bluestone Project’s most dangerous secrets before more innocent people die.

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Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name and futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively.

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Here’s the summary of Rachel Grant’s Crash Site.

For archaeologist Fiona Carver, the Caribbean glistens with untold menace in a heart-racing novel by Rachel Grant, USA Today bestselling author of Dangerous Ground.

Fiona Carver has landed a dream assignment: conducting an archaeological inventory of Ruby Island, a privately owned, pristine gem in the Caribbean. Two months in paradise exploring and mapping a lush rainforest, vast caves, and a seventeenth-century star fort and following up on legends of hidden Spanish gold. Add a simmering reunion with wildlife photographer Dean Slater and it’s enough to take Fiona’s breath away. But the sparkle fades when Dean’s arrival is met with sudden, terrifying danger.

Reunited and determined to see the project through, Fiona and Dean find themselves in a swirl of intrigue as they delve into the complex history of the unspoiled refuge, now a tropical haven for billionaires and their secrets. But the work isn’t easy, as someone appears determined to kill the project—by any means necessary.

As betrayal casts tropical storm clouds over Ruby Island and treasured friendships dissolve into distrust, one thing becomes clear: Fiona and Dean are trapped in a dangerous paradise.

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USA Today bestselling author Rachel Grant worked for over a decade as a professional archaeologist and mines her experiences for story lines and settings, which are as diverse as excavating a cemetery underneath an historic art museum in San Francisco, surveying an economically depressed coal-mining town in Kentucky, and mapping a seventeenth-century Spanish and Dutch fort on the island of Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. In all her travels and adventures as an archaeologist, Rachel has found many sites and artifacts, but she’s only found one true treasure: her husband, David. Rachel Grant lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and children. For more information visit www.rachel-grant.net.

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This is a fascinating conversation with Jayne Ann Krentz and Rachel Grant. You’ll want to check it out.

Lars Kepler recently appeared for The Poisoned Pen, talking about the eighth book in the Killer Instinct series, The Mirror Man. Brad Thor acted as guest host, leading the discussion with the two authors who write as Lars Kepler. There are copies of The Mirror Man available through the Web Store. But, you don’t have to have read any of the previous books to read The Mirror Man. https://bit.ly/3u94qKM

Here is the description of The Mirror Man.

#1 INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER “¢ Detective Joona Linna is on the trail of a kidnapper who targets teenage girls and makes their worst nightmares a reality.
 
“Dark, disturbing, and chillingly relentless. Picture Hannibal Lecter sitting down to channel Stieg Larsson and then dial it way, way up!” —Brad Thor, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Black Ice

Sixteen-year-old Jenny Lind is kidnapped in broad daylight on her way home from school and thrown into the back of a truck. She’s taken to a dilapidated house, where she and other girls face horrors far beyond their worst nightmares. Though they’re desperate to escape, their captor foils everyone of their attempts.

Five years later, Jenny’s body is found hanging in a playground, strung up with a winch on a rainy night. As the police are scrambling to find a lead in the scant evidence, Detective Joona Linna recognizes an eerie connection between Jenny’s murder and a death declared a suicide years before. And when another teenage girl goes missing, it becomes clear to Joona that they’re dealing with a serial killer—and his murderous rampage may have just begun.

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LARS KEPLER is the pseudonym of the critically acclaimed husband-and-wife team Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril. Their number one internationally best-selling Killer Instinct series has sold more than 15 million copies in forty languages. The Ahndorils were both established writers before they adopted the pen name Lars Kepler and have each published several acclaimed novels. They live in Stockholm, Sweden. Translated by Alice Menzies.

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Brad Thor says he’s going to try not to give spoilers. Enjoy the conversation with Lars Kepler.

Of course, Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, is happy that Dean Koontz’ latest book, Quicksilver, is entirely set in Arizona. Koontz introduces his character, Quinn Quicksilver, in conversation with Peters. There are signed copies of Quicksilver available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/32I8Fla

Here’s the description of Quicksilver.

#1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz takes a surprising and exhilarating road trip with a man in pursuit of his strange past—mile by frightening mile.

Quinn Quicksilver was born a mystery—abandoned at three days old on a desert highway in Arizona. Raised in an orphanage, never knowing his parents, Quinn had a happy if unexceptional life. Until the day of “strange magnetism.” It compelled him to drive out to the middle of nowhere. It helped him find a coin worth a lot of money. And it practically saved his life when two government agents showed up in the diner in pursuit of him. Now Quinn is on the run from those agents and who knows what else, fleeing for his life.

During a shoot-out at a forlorn dude ranch, he finally meets his destined companions: Bridget Rainking, a beauty as gifted in foresight as she is with firearms, and her grandpa Sparky, a romance novelist with an unusual past. Bridget knows what it’s like to be Quinn. She’s hunted, too. The only way to stay alive is to keep moving.

Barreling through the Sonoran Desert, the formidable trio is impelled by that same inexplicable magnetism toward the inevitable. With every deeply disturbing mile, something sinister is in the rearview—an enemy that is more than a match for Quinn. Even as he discovers within himself resources that are every bit as scary.

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Internationally bestselling author Dean Koontz was only a senior in college when he won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition. He has never stopped writing since. Koontz is the author of seventy-nine New York Times bestsellers, fourteen of which rose to #1, including One Door Away from Heaven, From the Corner of His Eye, Midnight, Cold Fire, The Bad Place, Hideaway, Dragon Tears, Intensity, Sole Survivor, The Husband, Odd Hours, Relentless, What the Night Knows, and 77 Shadow Street. He’s been hailed by Rolling Stone as “America’s most popular suspense novelist,” and his books have been published in thirty-eight languages and have sold over five hundred million copies worldwide. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, he now lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirits of their goldens Trixie and Anna. For more information, visit his website at www.deankoontz.com.

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Enjoy the conversation with Dean Koontz and Barbara Peters.

It seems as if the mystery award nominees are announced every day at the end of January. This just means more books for readers. Malice Domestic recently announced the nominees for the 2021 Agatha Awards. These are “2021” awards because they’re for books published in 2021. Check the Web Store for the nominees. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Congratulations to all of the Agatha Award nominees!

“‹The 2021 Agatha Award Nominees

Best Contemporary Novel

Cajun Kiss of Death by Ellen Byron (Crooked Lane Books)
Watch Her by Edwin Hill (Kensington)
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)
Symphony Road by Gabriel Valjan (Level Best Books)

Best Historical Novel

Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge (Kensington)
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime)
Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day (HarperCollins)
The Devil’s Music by Gabriel Valjan (Winter Goose Publishing)

Best First Novel

The Turncoat’s Widow by Mally Becker (Level Best Books)
A Dead Man’s Eyes by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best Books)
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
Murder in the Master by Judy L. Murray (Level Best Books)
Mango, Mambo, and Murder by Raquel V. Reyes (Crooked Lane Books)

Best Short Story

“A Family Matter” by Barb Goffman (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine Jan/Feb 2021)
“A Tale of Two Sisters” by Barb Goffman in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)
“Doc’s at Midnight” by Richie Narvaez in Midnight Hour (Crooked Lane Books)
“The Locked Room Library” by Gigi Pandian (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine July/Aug 2021)
“Bay of Reckoning” by Shawn Reilly Simmons in Murder on the Beach (Destination Murders)

Best Non-Fiction

The Combat Zone: Murder, Race, and Boston’s Struggle for Justice by Jan Brogan (Bright Leaf Press)
Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter by Chris Chan (Level Best Books)
The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England by Julie Kavanaugh (Atlantic Monthly Press)
How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America by MWA with editors Lee Child and Laurie R. King (Simon & Schuster)

Best Children’s/YA Mystery

“‹Cold-Blooded Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Algonquin Young Readers)
The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (Fiewel and Friends/Macmillan)
I Play One on TV by Alan Orloff (Down & Out Books)
Leisha’s Song by Lynn Slaughter (Fire and Ice/Melange Books)
Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer (Wednesday Books)

George Easter of Deadly Pleasures magazine recently announced the nominees for the 2022 Barry Awards. Check the Web Store for the nominated books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

“All readers of Deadly Pleasures,” says Easter, “are qualified to vote. Please submit votes to george@deadlypleasures.com by August 1.” Winners will be named during the opening ceremonies of this year’s Bouchercon, to be held in Minneapolis from September 8 to 11.

The Barry Awards are named in honor of Barry W. Gardner, a longtime crime-fiction fan and book reviewer, who passed away in 1996.

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

Best Mystery/Crime Novel

THE DARK HOURS, Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
RAZORBLADE TEARS, S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books)
LAST REDEMPTION, Matt Coyle (Oceanview)
CLARK AND DIVISION, Naomi Hirahara (Soho Crime)
BILLY SUMMERS, Stephen King (Scribner)
WE BEGIN AT THE END, Chris Whitaker (Henry Holt)

Best First Mystery/Crime Novel

WHO IS MAUDE DIXON?, Alexandra Andrews (Little, Brown)
GIRL A, Abigail Dean (Viking)
DOWN RANGE, Taylor Moore (William Morrow)
FALLING, T. J. Newman (Simon & Schuster)
SLEEPING BEAR, Connor Sullivan (Emily Bestler/Atria)
STEEL FEAR, Brandon Webb & John David Mann (Bantam)

Best Paperback Original

THE HUNTED, Gabriel Bergmoser (HarperCollins)
ARSENIC AND ADOBO, Mia P. Manansala (Berkley)
BLACK CORAL, Andrew Mayne (Thomas & Mercer)
THE GOOD TURN, Dervla McTiernan (Blackstone)
SEARCH FOR HER, Rick Mofina (MIRA)
BOUND, Vanda Symon (Orenda Books)

Best Thriller

THE DEVIL’S HAND, Jack Carr (Emily Bestler/Atria)
THE NAMELESS ONES, John Connolly (Emily Bestler/Atria)
DEAD BY DAWN, Paul Doiron (Minotaur)
RELENTLESS, Mark Greaney (Berkley)
SLOUGH HOUSE, Mick Herron (Soho Crime)
FIVE DECEMBERS, James Kestrel (HardCase Crime)

Lisa Lutz has appeared at The Poisoned Pen for all of her books, until now with The Accomplice. She and Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, discussed that book, and elements of it. You can order signed copies of The Accomplice through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3HdQPW0

Here’s the description of The Accomplice.

Everyone has the same questions about best friends Owen and Luna: What binds them together so tightly? Why weren’t they ever a couple? And why do people around them keep turning up dead? In this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Passenger, every answer raises a new, more chilling question.
 
“Masterfully plotted, The Accomplice is both a keep-you-guessing mystery and a keenly and tenderly observed character study.”—Attica Locke, author of Bluebird, Bluebird and Heaven, My Home

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022—PopSugar, CrimeReads

Owen Mann is charming, privileged, and chronically dissatisfied. Luna Grey is secretive, cautious, and pragmatic. Despite their differences, they form a bond the moment they meet in college. Their names soon become indivisible—Owen and Luna, Luna and Owen—and stay that way even after an unexplained death rocks their social circle.

They’re still best friends years later, when Luna finds Owen’s wife brutally murdered. The police investigation sheds light on some long-hidden secrets, but it can’t penetrate the wall of mystery that surrounds Owen. To get to the heart of what happened and why, Luna has to dig up the one secret she’s spent her whole life burying.

The Accomplice brilliantly examines the bonds of shared history, what it costs to break them, and what happens when you start wondering how well you know the one person who truly knows you.

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Lisa Lutz is the New York Times bestselling, Alex Award”“winning author of the Spellman Files series and The Swallows, as well as the novels How to Start a Fire and The Passenger. She has also written for film and TV, including The Deuce for HBO and Dare Me on USA. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.

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Enjoy the discussion with Lisa Lutz.