SO GOOD TO BE HOME!
As much as I enjoy living in Uruguay in the winter (when it’s summertime there), I also love coming home to the U.S. in April. It means not only having the chance to see my kids (though they do like to come to Uruguay for visits) but also getting back into the wonderful rhythm of New York City and catching up with the fantastic tribe of people I’ve come to know as a mystery and thriller author. People in this world are—overall—so interesting, smart, fun, and generous. And guess what? They don’t think you’re weird because you watch documentaries about Ted Bundy.
Since I returned, I had a long ZOOM chat with thriller author Wendy Walker, interviewed my amazing pal Lisa Unger at Sleuthfest in Tampa, and had lunch with the incredible Barbara Butcher, the former death investigator for the NYC Medical Examiner’s office whose new series, “The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher,” will premier in September. (Barbara has helped me with every single novel I’ve written, and I’m in awe of her!) The cherry on the cake? Lunch a week later with A.J Finn (author of The Woman in the Window) and his precious dog Ike.
Author Lisa Unger and I had so much fun hanging in Tampa.
I can’t wait for Barbara Butcher’s new show this fall: “The Death Investigator.”
Lunch a week later with A.J Finn and his precious dog Ike.
I’M OVER HALFWAY THERE!
One thing that’s a shock when you first start publishing books is that there is generally a whole year between the day you turn in the manuscript and the publication date. Long time, right? But somewhere around the six-month mark things start to speed up and you feel yourself on a thrilling ride.
I’m at that point now with my next psychological thriller, I CAME BACK FOR YOU, which comes out in January. I’ll be signing off on a cover soon and I’ve just read the copyedited version and some of the promotional copy.
I loved the description Thomas & Mercer came up with:
I CAME BACK FOR YOU Ten years after her daughter, Melanie, was murdered, Bree Winter is finally moving on with a new love, a new home, and a new beginning. Then a deathbed confession from the imprisoned killer throws Bree’s life into a tailspin all over again. He readily confesses to murdering four girls. But not Melanie.
At first, Bree and her ex-husband don’t buy a word of it. Until inconsistencies about the crime emerge. So does the dreadful feeling that the monster who shattered Bree’s family isn’t lying. The only way she can get to the truth is to power through the trauma and return to the town in upstate New York where Melanie’s life came to a brutal end.
Bree will do anything to find justice for her daughter and finish this nightmare forever. Instead, it’s just beginning. Not only could the real killer still be in the midst, but as Bree begins to dig through Melanie’s past, what she discovers calls into question everything she has believed—about the crime and about Melanie herself.
WHAT I’M READING/WATCHING
She Didn’t See It Coming By Shari Lapena
I’ve been asked to interview the extraordinarily successful suspense author Shari Lapena at the Doylestown Bookshop in Doylestown PA on August 1, and so I was sent an advance reader copy of her new book (I know, lucky me!). Well, all I can say is Wow, what a page turner. This book is part police procedural, part whodunit, and part domestic suspense. I was so riveted that I brought the book to the kitchen with me while I was cooking dinner and read it in between flipping the chicken cutlets. The pub day is still weeks away, but nonetheless in plenty of time to be your antidote to the dog days of August!!
I, Jack Wright (Prime Video)
Who doesn’t love a good British whodunit, especially one centered around a dysfunctional family with plenty of devious members. And this one also features lots of upscale homes and restaurants that make for good eye candy. Even before I got the chance to watch this limited series, some of you were posting about it on my Facebook page, recommending I check it out! Thank you!!!
WHAT I’M MAKING
Ever since I feasted on a terrific deconstructed Salad Niçoise at the amazing Canal House Station restaurant in Milford, NJ, I’ve loved making and eating them this way. Not exactly sure WHY, though. Maybe because they’re just plain prettier when they’re not tossed? And less mushy to eat? Lately, when I’m eating alone, I’ve also started making other salads this way, too. Somehow they’re more inviting, and I kind of feel I’m in Barcelona eating tapas. Do you agree—or am I crazy?
All the best and until next time,
