CMash Reads

THE HISTORY WE CARRY by Margaret Whitford

GHott — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 09:48:48 +0000

THE HISTORY WE CARRY

A Daughter’s Memoir

by Margaret Whitford

July 27 – August 21, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

For fans of Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died, a memoir for daughters who recognize that to truly understand themselves and the patterns of their lives, they must first understand their mothers and the forces that shaped these women.

When Margaret Whitford’s mother was dying, she told those present that her daughter “had her history.” This was true; Margaret had conducted interviews with her mother during the last decade of her life. But this didn’t end their estrangement, and Margaret chose not to return to her mother’s side during her final days.

In this memoir, Margaret confronts this decision by unearthing in her mother’s traumatic history the roots of the emotional distance between them. She explores how a history marked by the devastation of World War II in Europe, a violent childhood home, and sexual assault accumulated into complex PTSD that shaped her mother and the way she parented Margaret as her firstborn and as a daughter—and, in turn, how Margaret carried her mother’s trauma forward in her sense of self, in her relationships to others, and in the ways she navigated her world. Indeed, Margaret not only had her mother’s history—she embodied it.

Ultimately, The History We Carry confronts the legacy of intergenerational trauma with wisdom and compassion, revealing how familial history shapes each of us but need not be wholly determinative of whom we become and how we choose to live.

Praise for The History We Carry:

“An unflinching, well-rendered memoir that generously encompasses love, trauma, and the fraught relationship between a mother and daughter.”
~ Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Margaret Whitford’s compelling memoir—a reflection on her family history, her relationship with her mother, and trauma that spans generations—is clear-eyed, compassionate, and often startling in its insight and originality. I was engrossed from beginning to end.”
~ Clifford Thompson, author of Jazz June: A Self-Portrait in Essays

“Rarely have I finished a memoir understanding how our histories, both personal and generational, live and breathe within us in the present. By unearthing the complicated and poignant relationship she has with her mother, Margaret Whitford also powerfully speaks to the collective soul-searching so vitally necessary during these trying times. Written in elegant, luminous prose, this is a memoir that will stay with you long after the story is told.”
~ Ken Harvey, author of The Book of Casey Adair

“Despite Tolstoy’s famous quote—families are generally neither happy nor unhappy—they are complicated, like Whitford’s. This important memoir delves into sibling conflict, parental infidelity, and substance abuse. Overlying these familial tensions is geopolitical upheaval and the effects of successive world wars, almost unwanted family members themselves. The History We Carry seats them together at its literary table and gives each their due in courageous, precise, and ultimately both urgent and forgiving prose.”
~ Sue William Silverman, author of Selected Misdemeanors: Essays at the Mercy of the Reader

“An exhilarating mix of memoir and deep personal research, The History We Carry explores a mother’s complex history and a daughter’s lifelong struggle to understand and connect with her mother. In clear prose that never presents simple answers but rather digs to discover unknown truths and questions even her own long-held narratives, Margaret Whitford has written a robust story of love and trauma.”
~ Sheryl St. Germain, author of 50 Miles

“All our parents live lives before we arrive, lives that come to bear on our own. In this new memoir, Margaret Whitford bravely ventures into her mother’s past to better understand her own present and future. The History We Carry is a gorgeously written book about generational trauma and the intersections of love and grief. It’s a stunning debut.”
~ Lee Martin, author of Pulitzer Prize finalist The Bright Forever

Book Details:

Genre: Dysfunctional Families, Motherhood, Bereavement
Published by: She Writes Press
Publication Date: June 2, 2026
Number of Pages: 256
ISBN: 9798896363224
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | She Writes Press | Simon & Schuster

Read an excerpt:

A World of Two

I picture my mother lying on her hospital bed, the same one she has occupied for the last twelve days. The space is in shadow, the only light coming from the hallway. The room smells empty. No flowers or scented candles—she wouldn’t have wanted those. The sound of retreating footfalls in the corridor or a muffled voice from another part of the hospital occasionally interrupts the silence. Her breathing is shallow, until the moment it stops altogether. It happens so quietly, no one notices at first.

When my mother died in Concord, I was an ocean away, in a Paris hotel. Another day had already started. That remove feels familiar—geography and time following an established pattern.

In the morning’s early hours, I lay next to my husband, Tom, on a king-sized bed in a room of marble-inlaid tables and still-life paintings in gilded frames, the walls covered in red-and-gold-striped paper. I heard only the sounds of the night, a faint breeze moving through the magnolia trees in the courtyard and an occasional car gliding along the boulevard. While Tom slept, I lay awake, thinking about my mother. I had started to understand that we wouldn’t make it back in time. My mother would either be dead or so unresponsive that there could be no last words between us.

Tom read my brother Billy’s email while I was taking a shower. I knew from the way he walked into the bathroom, but he still had to say the words: “Your mother is dead.” Years from now, I thought, I will be able to replay this moment in my mind. He stood there, naked, looking both vulnerable and strong, his hand on the shower wall ready to reach for me.

My brothers and sister wanted to touch our mother after she died because she had not welcomed that while living. She would allow a hug or a kiss in greeting or farewell but shrugged you off if you lingered in the embrace.

Henry would have stroked her sparse hair, cut short after she could no longer shape it into a twist. He might have teased her about finally being able to touch her hair, something she loathed. Lydia might have rubbed her feet, those odd feet, with such high arches her toes curled to reach the ground. Her feet shaped by childhood polio and old age, missing the little toe on one foot, removed because of frostbite suffered during the Second World War. She could never find comfortable shoes, so she wore Birkenstock sandals year-round, donning socks with them in winter.

Billy would have rested his hand on her shoulder, let his fingers travel the length of her arm. He might have held her hand, bent at strange angles by arthritis and with the bones loose under the skin. Had I been there, I would also have been drawn to her hands, so small that they reminded me of a child’s. She kept her nails short and immaculate, a habit she’d adopted in medical school, and one I try to emulate. I might have traced the line of her aquiline nose and the contour of her jaw, fondled her cheek and pressed my fingers to her high cheekbones, a sign of her Slavic heritage, she once told me.

Her sandals and the pair of socks she last wore with them are mine now, safeguarded in a box in the back of my closet. Those Birkenstocks, the insoles shaped over time by the pressure of her feet, her navy-blue socks. I wanted the last of her clothing, something that had touched her. I run my hands over the smooth cork, hold the socks to my cheek, the much-washed cotton soft. I thought the socks might retain the cool, dry scent of her.

Our plane to Massachusetts departed in the afternoon, so Tom and I filled the morning with small errands—the purchase of a journal of good paper with a red ribbon to mark my place—and one last view of Notre-Dame. Each gesture, every step I made, accompanied by a voice in my head repeating, Your mother is dead.

The air smelled of diesel fuel and wet earth. My left arm entwined with Tom’s right, I rested my hand on his steady forearm, eavesdropped on the conversations around me, catching only phrases. I thought how these strangers knew nothing of my grief and I nothing of theirs. A rare winter’s morning, fresh with rain-washed skies, and sunlight bathing the bone-colored stone of centuries-old buildings. I noticed the quality of the light, its unusual clarity. Tom and I had introduced my mother to Paris on a trip years before. She will never see it again, I thought, trying to absorb its beauty on her behalf.

***

Author Bio:

Margaret Whitford served in leadership positions within the nonprofit world for twenty years, including ten years in the social justice field, before turning to writing. She is fascinated by the ways in which we all seek to create places of refuge for ourselves, both in a metaphorical and a physical sense. The History We Carry is her first memoir. An avid Francophile, Margaret, with her husband, divides her time between a small village in the South of France and her home in Concord, Massachusetts.

Catch Up With Margaret Whitford:

MargaretWhitford.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
Instagram – @margaretwhitfordwriter
Bluesky – @margaretwhitford.bsky.social
Facebook

Q&A with MARGARET WHITFORD

What was the inspiration for this book?
When my mother died, I was in Paris, an ocean separating us. In the aftermath of her death, I realized that the distance between us involved far more than geography. It fit a familiar pattern. Understanding the origins of that pattern proved to be the inspiration for the memoir. That led me to an exploration of my mother’s past and its influence on our relationship.

What has been the biggest challenge in your writing career?
I do not think of my writing in terms of a career, though I continue to be ambitious about my craft. And because I can always get better at the craft of writing, the challenges continue to evolve. That said, one challenge I continue to encounter relates to my discomfort with uncertainty. I sometimes impose conclusions prematurely, rather than waiting for the narrative to reveal them. I need to allow the material I am exploring to surprise me.

What do you absolutely need while writing?
I need uninterrupted time, solitude, and quiet.

Do you adhere to a strict routine when writing or write when the ideas are flowing?
I do not have a specific writing routine, other than to write on a daily basis in a journal. That effort is as much for my own peace of mind as anything else. When I am working on a specific writing project, I engage with it on a daily basis as much as possible to keep the ideas fresh and to allow my subconscious to work even when I am not.

Who is your favorite character from your book and why?
My husband, Tom, is my favorite character, though he makes rare appearances in the book. Writing about him and our relationship introduced an element of joy. I also hope his presence on the page revealed that the narrator avoided some of the destructive patterns of her parents’ marriage.

Tell us why we should read your book.
You should read the book as a reminder that your family’s story is your story, regardless of whether or not you wish that to be true. Understanding your familial legacy helps you understand your own life with greater clarity. And that clarity enhances your ability to live as fully as you can.

Give us an interesting fun fact or a few about your book?
A reader recently commented that though she thought she understood the history of WWII, she had never considered what the war meant for civilians living under armies of occupation. My book gives the reader a sense of that world, as my mother’s native Latvia was occupied first by Soviet Russia and then Nazi Germany. She had personal experience of what it meant to live under two totalitarian regimes.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
First, thank you for taking the time to read the book. I hope that my story encourages you to explore your own, however you choose to do so.

Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I served in leadership positions within the nonprofit world for twenty years, including ten years in the social justice field, before turning to writing. At age fifty, I went back to graduate school for an MFA. Writing is, for me, a way of making myself more present in my own life. I write regardless of whether or not my work is published.
I started studying French at age twelve and went to France for the first time when I was sixteen. That experience transformed me into a dedicated Francophile. With my husband, Tom, we divide our time between our homes in Concord, Massachusetts and in France.

What’s next that we can look forward to?
I am in the early stages of a book exploring my husband’s and my misadventures with the United States Peace Corps in Kenya.

Tour Participants:

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Click here to view the Tour Schedule

A History You’ll Want To Carry

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MERRY-GO-ROUND BROKE DOWN by David Woo & Margalit Shinar #AuthorInterview

GHott — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 09:55:31 +0000

MERRY-GO-ROUND BROKE DOWN

by David Woo & Margalit Shinar

July 20 – August 14, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

A novel of nine linked parables about globalization, ambition, hope, love, and greed spanning two decades and eight countries.

Fall 2008. The Waldorf Astoria New York. Two armed men storm the hotel’s famed bar and hold the occupants hostage: an American corporate raider, a Chinese tycoon, a British hedge fund manager, a Japanese housewife-turned-celebrity, a Mexican undocumented worker, a Wall Street bond salesman, and a Norwegian environmentalist.

Who are these terrorists? What do they want? And what ties them to their captives?

Merry-Go-Round Broke Down is a genre-breaking novel that explores globalization’s “butterfly effect”: how choices made in one corner of the world ignited an unstoppable chain of consequences that upended lives across continents.

Praise for Merry-Go-Round Broke Down:

“What a fantastic tapestry of wordsmithing and storytelling! It left me with a much better understanding of how the world was woven so tightly by globalization, all through the dramatic stories of fascinating cultures and characters that are relevant to this day.”
~ Paul Tudor Jones, Chief Investment Officer of Tudor Investment Corporation

“You might think that it would be impossible to write a novel that helps the reader put her arms around the complex issues raised by globalization. Yet, David Woo and Margalit Shinar have done precisely this. The result is most engaging and insightful. It is also one that even globalization experts such as myself can profit from.”
~ Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor of economics and law at Columbia University, author of In Defense of Globalization

“Merry-Go-Round Broke Down depicts the key socio-economic developments of the last quarter-century. It brings to life the people who put them into effect, as well as those who were affected by them. Few were untouched.”
~ Howard Marks, the co-founder and co-CEO of Oaktree Capital and international best-selling author of The Most Important Thing

“A timely portrait of a world bound together by the pursuit of profit.”
~ Kirkus Reviews

“An ambitious thriller with rich characterizations and a heart-pounding pace, Merry-Go-Round Broke Down also offers a stark, on-the-ground vision of globalization’s devastation.”
~ Booklife by Publishers Weekly

“David Woo and Margalit Shinar have perfectly illustrated how even a tenuous connection between individuals can have a profound, far-reaching effect across the world that could never have been predicted.”
~ Reader’s Favorite

“Merry-Go-Round Broke Down is a contemporary fiction novel with the propulsion of a financial thriller. It’s fiction, but it wants to explain the world while it entertains you… If you want a story that makes you look up from the page and think, “Wait, is this how it really works?,” then it delivers.”
~ Literary Titan

Merry-Go-Round Broke Down Trailer:

Book Details:

Genre: Financial Thriller
Published by: Regalo Press
Publication Date: March 31, 2026
Number of Pages: 288
ISBN: 9798895655801
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | Simon & Schuster

Read an excerpt:

Chapter 4

TOMOKO WATANABE
Tokyo, Japan, January–July 2005

“Low interest rates punish savers.” —Bill Gross

THE HOUSE IN KASHIWA, CHIBA Prefecture, southeast of Tokyo, was a two-storied box with aluminum windows and clad in white mosaics. It had a grey-tiled roof and a tiny front garden. The wind was howling outside as Tomoko struggled to get up from her bed. It was six o’clock in the morning and still dark, and everybody in the house was asleep. She was loath to abandon the warmth of the heavy duvet, but today was her husband Akihiro Watanabe’s birthday, and she wanted to surprise him with a special breakfast.

Tomoko shivered as her feet, encased in thick white socks, trod silently on the tatami mat covering the floor. It was cold, even for January, and this was one time she wished there was heating in the bedroom upstairs. She put on her slippers, pulled on a heavy cardigan over her fleece pajamas, and went down to the kitchen.

The kitchen, Tomoko’s kingdom, was small, but she ran it like a tight ship, every utensil and small appliance kept in its assigned place.

She began to prepare her husband’s favorite menu: clam miso soup and omelet rolls. There was smoked fish left over from the previous night, as well as cooked rice.

After turning on the small heater and quickly swallowing a cup of hot tea, she put on her old blue-checked apron and set to work.

Poor Aki, she was thinking, as she removed from the fridge the asari clams she had bought the previous afternoon; he really deserved some cheering up. Only eight months ago he had lost his lifelong employment, the first serious crisis in their marriage of twenty-two years. The electronics company he had given his all to for over thirty years had gone bankrupt after its main customer decided to outsource to China.

She rinsed the clams in cold water, rubbed them clean with a dishcloth, and set them aside to soak in salt water. She then filled a pot with water from the sink and blanched a leaf of kelp. When it had softened, she removed it with chopsticks and then put it back in the pot to boil for a minute or two before taking it out again.

Though Aki had found a new job quickly enough, Tomoko was worried. It not only paid a third less than his previous salary, it was a temporary job, with a contract that had to be renewed every six months. While Tomoko was, by nature, someone who took life’s setbacks with a pragmatic optimism, she felt helpless in the face of the loss of their financial security. As she added dried bonito flakes to the boiling water, she shook her head and pursed her lips at the injustice of it.

When the fish was cooked, she passed the broth through a fine sieve lined with a cloth. Discarding the scum, she sieved it again. And again. Inspecting the liquid for any telltale specks, she repeated the process until she was satisfied the broth was perfectly clear. She now reached out for the clams, soaking in their bath of brine.

Usually, Tomoko loved the ritual fuss of birthdays, especially her husband’s—the shopping for presents, the paper decorations and cards, the candles on the cake—but this year there wasn’t much cause for celebration.

She rinsed the clams and tipped them into the broth. Bringing the liquid to a boil, she skimmed it patiently. Once the clams had opened, she mixed in the miso paste, squeezing it through a small sieve with a spoon. The soup was ready.

Now for the omelets. What was more worrying, she thought, breaking eggs into a bowl with a deft flick of her wrist, was that his pension was gone. And the new job offered no pension at all. The bleakness of their future agitated her as she whisked the eggs with more vigor than necessary and poured them into the frying pan.

The omelets were done. When they had cooled a bit, she rolled them up into narrow, finger-shaped wraps and put them aside. Then she arranged the fillets of cold smoked fish in the middle of a long rectangular plate, which she decorated in one corner with a dollop of daikon radish infused with ponzu sauce. Finally, she heated up the rice and took out some nattō, fermented soybeans, everyone’s favorite.

She looked out the window above the sink. The heavy night darkness was lifting, and she could make out the falling snowflakes and the leafless branches of the cherry tree in their garden bending in the wind. A cold grey light was beginning to infiltrate the kitchen. She switched off the overhead lamp, figuring she could do without it now.

A brown Formica-top table with six chairs stood in a nook just off the kitchen. Poor Aki, she repeated to herself as she began to set it. At the age of fifty-three, there was little chance of his finding steady employment again. Although they never talked about it, she knew that, ashamed and frustrated, her husband was unraveling. His drinking binges had become more frequent, and he had taken to coming home at all hours. He was also becoming moody and short-tempered.

Only last week he had flown off the handle when she told him she was thinking about looking for a part-time job. He wouldn’t hear of it, he had responded angrily. Their son was still at school and needed her. Besides, what would their neighbors think? It was out of the question.

Though Tomoko knew his objections had more to do with his pride, she didn’t bring up the subject again. She vowed to herself she would find another way to help. But how?

Tomoko put down a small flower arrangement, teacups, bowls, and chopstick supports on the table. She had to find a way to help Aki. Whereas she could still take comfort in little things, he had just lost his entire world. She took a moment to align the chopsticks just so. Taking a step back from the table, she viewed the result with satisfaction.

Tomoko glanced at the kitchen clock squeezed between the toaster oven and a shelf. It was seven-thirty and all was ready. Plenty of time left for a leisurely meal before Aki left for the office and their son, Nishio, left for school. What a pity her daughter, Keiko, wasn’t there.

Tomoko brushed that regret away, together with a lock of her permed black hair that had strayed onto her forehead, and stood meekly at the entrance of the kitchen, waiting. She could hear her family coming down the narrow wooden stairs.

She bowed to her husband and her mother-in-law as they appeared, her face faintly flushed from her efforts, her shoulders hunched forward ever so slightly. “Ohayō gozaimasu,” she said, with the politest of greetings.

But Aki only grunted a barely discernible thank-you as he viewed the mini-feast she had prepared and sat down, noisily pushing back his chair.

Then he buried his face in the morning newspaper that Tomoko had laid, neatly folded, to the right of his chopsticks.

He was followed by Nishio. At fifteen, he was a tall and gawky youth, with a few wisps of dark downy hair on his upper lip and chin. He advanced towards the table and sat down in silence. He sat there sullenly, looking down under lowered eyelids, not once making eye contact with his mother. He consumed his soup in a few rapid gulps and hurriedly shoved some rice into his mouth. Then with a curt, barely mumbled good-bye, he got up and was gone.

“Don’t forget your bento box,” Tomoko’s voice rang out after him, “you must eat lunch!”

The third person at the table was Mishimo, Tomoko’s mother-in-law. It was she who owned the house, and after the death of Akihiro’s father some ten years before had given over most of the space to her son’s family, keeping only one room for herself. It was a situation not without friction. She had never liked Tomoko and was of the opinion that her handsome son could have found a better match than the daughter of a taxi driver. Or, at the very least, a prettier one. Though their exchanges were invariably on the right side of civil, Mishimo inevitably found fault with everything Tomoko did. But this morning was different. She spooned down the soup slowly, savoring every sip. “Excellent, Tomoko,” she remarked loudly. “Well done.” A compliment! Tomoko was touched to the bottom of her heart.

She then turned to her husband.

“Anata,” he said, using a Japanese term of endearment. “I hope you’ll be home on time for dinner. I bought a cake for tonight. And there will be eel as a main course.”

Aki didn’t shift his eyes from the newspaper. “No. I’m eating out.

Client dinner. Don’t wait up for me. I’ll be back late.”

If Tomoko was disappointed, she showed no sign of it.

“Akihiro-san. I also bought you a small gift,” she announced timidly. She had bought it out of her personal savings and had hoped to give it to him at the evening meal. She would have to give it to him now instead.

She went to the living room where she had hidden it. Coming back, she bowed respectfully and held out the package in her two open palms like an offering, saying “Happy birthday” in English.

Aki finally deigned to lower the newspaper and stared at the box wrapped in delicately folded bright blue paper, tied with a slender red-and-gold string. He reached out to take it. But instead of opening it, he put it in the pocket of his suit jacket.

“Have to rush now,” he said dismissively.

“It’s the lighter you always wanted,” said Tomoko. But Aki responded with a dead gaze of bitterness at the wall behind her. Suddenly, he jumped up from his chair with such violence that it crashed to the floor.

“Baka! You stupid woman! Kono ama, you bitch!” He exploded in an inexplicable fit of rage.

Tomoko shrank back.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to waste money?” he yelled. “Don’t you see the situation we’re in?”

Without warning, he grabbed the cast-iron teapot from the table. He seemed ready to hurl it straight at her. Tomoko raised her arm to defend herself. He had hit her before, and she thought she knew what to expect.

At the last moment, however, perhaps in response to a whispered word from Mishimo that never reached Tomoko’s ears, he changed the direction of his aim and the heavy pot went flying toward the kitchen. Spurting tea, it smashed loudly into one of the kitchen cabinets.

In the silence that followed, Tomoko couldn’t move. Her heart beat wildly in her chest. But she didn’t say a word. Out of the corner of her eye, she was just in time to catch the expression of icy disapproval on Mishimo’s face.

***

Excerpt from MERRY-GO-ROUND BROKE DOWN by David Woo & Margalit Shinar. Copyright 2026 by David Woo & Margalit Shinar. Reproduced with permission from David Woo & Margalit Shinar. All rights reserved.

David Woo:

David Woo is a renowned global macro strategist, widely recognized for his bold and prescient calls on some of the biggest economic, political, and geopolitical stories over the past quarter century. Bloomberg called him “one of the most outspoken voices on Wall Street,” while Business Insider named him among “the twelve smartest people on Wall Street.” His views have shaped debates across markets, policy circles, and the global media. David began his career at the International Monetary Fund before going on to hold senior positions at Bank of America, Barclays Capital, and Citigroup. He earned a PhD in economics from Columbia University and a bachelor of arts in mathematics from Tufts University. A true product of globalization, David was born in Pittsburgh, raised in Taiwan, and educated in the United States. His career has taken him from Washington DC to London and New York. He is fluent in English, Chinese, and French.

Catch Up With David Woo:

www.davidwoounbound.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
Facebook

Margalit Shinar:

Margalit Shinar is an architect. Margalit was born in New York, the daughter of French émigrés. She has a master’s degree in art history from Tufts University and a bachelor of arts in architecture from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. She has edited a history book on ancient Israel. She is fluent in English, French, Hebrew, and Italian.

Catch Up With Margalit Shinar:

Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads

Q&A with DAVID WOO & MARGALIT SHINAR

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
David: I am an economist by training. I spent most of my career on Wall Street, where I became known for my out-of-consensus calls on some of the biggest stories over the past 20 years. For what it’s worth, Bloomberg calls me as “one of the most outspoken voices on Wall Street.” Born in Pittsburgh, raised in Taiwan, and now living in Israel, I am a product of globalization, and that experience shapes the way I see the world. I’ve always been drawn to big, ambitious novels about sweeping societal change. It was only after 25 years of researching international finance and economics that I understood the world well enough to embark on my first novel. Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa didn’t start working on The Leopard until he was fifty-eight. Some novels only arrive after you’ve lived them. That’s how I feel about Merry-Go-Round Broke Down. Margalit: I am an architect by training and a mother of two daughters. Instead of pursuing a career in architecture however, I pursued further study and graduated with an MA in Art History from Tufts University. That is where I met my second husband. I was born in New York to European émigré parents, both intellectuals. What I learned around the dinner table about Western culture was the equivalent of another university degree! French was the language spoken in my home. David and I have been married for 20 years and we live in the foothills of Jerusalem with our 2 standard poodles. I speak fluent English, Hebrew and French, and some Italian

What was the inspiration for this book?
David: Globalization has become one of the most divisive ideas of our time. In many circles, it has become a political scapegoat for rising inequality, economic insecurity, and the resurgence of protectionism. Yet behind these debates are the lives of millions of people whose stories are rarely told.
Merry-Go-Round Broke Down grew out of a desire to tell the story of globalization in a way that anyone could understand and, more importantly, relate to. We chose to write a novel because globalization is ultimately a web of human stories about ambition, hope, greed, luck, and fear. We wanted to show how individual lives, separated by continents and cultures, become bound by forces far beyond their control.
In The Plague, Camus examines how people respond when the world around them begins to break down. We wanted to ask a similar question in the context of globalization: how it shapes our lives, draws us together across borders, and, at times, pulls us apart. Ultimately, the novel is about how ordinary people, each pursuing a better life, unknowingly set in motion a chain reaction that transforms one another’s lives—and, ultimately, the world they share.

How did you come up with the title?
Merry-Go-Round Broke Down was the theme song of the Looney Tunes cartoon series. Written in 1937, during the Great Depression, it evokes a world that has spun out of control—a feeling that resonates strongly today.
When our daughter, Adi, suggested it as the title of our novel, we immediately knew it was the perfect fit. The phrase “Merry-Go-Round” also echoes the 1950 French film La Ronde, based on Arthur Schnitzler’s play, whose circular narrative structure inspired the architecture of our book.
Above all, the title reflects our deepest concern: the world we are leaving to our children and grandchildren. Through this novel, we wanted to explore how the forces that shaped globalization also created many of the challenges they will inherit. To navigate the future, they first need to understand how the world became what it is today.

Can you give us a glimpse into the research that went into writing this story?
There is a reason Merry-Go-Round Broke Down took ten years to write. We devoted the first five years to research, including traveling to every location where the story unfolds. The novel spans ten cities across eight countries, and we wanted each setting to feel as authentic as possible. From the very beginning, we knew we were attempting something ambitious. We also knew that readers would hold us to a high standard. Our goal was simple: to ensure that every character, every setting, and every moment felt real. We wanted readers to feel as though they were truly there—whether in a factory town in China, on a trading floor in London, or walking the streets of Havana.

Excluding the main character, who is your favorite character from the book, and why?
Margalit: my favorite character is Tyler. He represents the tragic outcome of globalization. I feel for him. He is a decent person who suffers misfortune after misfortune and is helplessly buffeted by huge forces that are beyond his control.

Tour Participants:
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Have You Seen Him by Kimberly Lee #AuthorInterview

GHott — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:31:13 +0000

HAVE YOU SEEN HIM

by Kimberly Lee

July 6 – 31, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

What if everything you believed about yourself was totally wrong?

For David Byrdsong, life is a series of daily obligations. An attorney, he lacks both ambition and the ability to commit to a long-term relationship with his girlfriend, Gayle. Abandoned by his family at an airport when he was eleven, he learned to blunt his feelings, despite his subsequent adoption by a loving couple.

Until one day, when David discovers his own face in a missing child ad. Suddenly driven to uncover the truth about his past, he is forced to tap into his inner strength as he encounters corporate conspiracies, murdered bystanders, and distressing suspicions about the only family he’s ever really trusted. David enlists Gayle’s help—and the help of an unlikely stranger with secrets of his own—as he attempts to find his true family, whoever they are.

Have You Seen Him is a story of lost identity, dangerous secrets, and a deeply personal pursuit of the truth.

Praise for Have You Seen Him:

Next Gen Indie Gold Award winner and IBPA Silver Award winner, Have You Seen Him has earned praise from readers and reviewers alike.

“Lee debuts with a dazzling maze of courtrooms, kidnappers, and unsolved mysteries in this substantive thriller, boasting a rich ensemble cast.…Have You Seen Him is consistently sincere, never losing sight of its spirit, and always ensuring readers are both challenged and charmed right up to the final page.”
~ BookLife

“…a slow-burning, emotional thriller that explores identity, trust, and the ripple effects of secrets long buried….This is a debut worth reading!”
~ Natasha Reed

“I loved the numerous reveals, and some made me gasp out loud! I won’t give any spoilers, so I won’t ruin it for you. If you love to be kept guessing until the end…give this book a try.”
~ Julie Kodama

“…delivers enough action to trigger a fight-or-flight response. The sparse touch heightens suspicion, palpable dread, and tension, fueling the overall pace….[E]veryone will stay engaged.”
~ C. Elyse, A Sip, A Shout Out, and a Sentence

“Cleverly written and thoughtfully crafted, Lee’s debut is action-packed and entertaining with enough emotion and depth to hook you. Gayle was my favorite character—she kicks ass.”
~ Mystery Manon, The Cluesletter

“…an impressively engaging, cleverly scripted, and simply riveting read from start to finish. Especially recommended for fans of unique suspense thrillers….”
~ Midwest Review

“The plot contains action, mystery, murder, secrets, and lies. There’s potential here for a sequel, and I’ll be one of the first in line to read it.”
~ Stephen Christopher, Readers’ Favorite

“The action and the mystery kept me reading. I had to know why he was missing.”
~ Briana Fitzpatrick

“This book was one that definitely pulled me in as twists and turns unravelled. Overall it was a twisty search for truth, tangled in corporate secrets, buried trauma, and family drama.”
~ A.D.

“I really enjoyed the author’s style of writing, the chapters were short and to the point and even though the storyline was intricate and multi-dimensional, it all came together.”
~ Jameelah Deleon

HAVE YOU SEEN HIM Trailer:

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery
Published by: Butterfly Effect Press
Publication Date: July 1, 2025
Number of Pages: 270
ISBN: 9798991867214
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | Powells

Read an excerpt from HAVE YOU SEEN HIM:

Author Bio:

Kimberly Lee, JD, is a versatile writer, workshop facilitator, and editor with a passion for nurturing the imaginative spirit and helping others reveal their creative gifts. Kimberly holds degrees from Stanford University and UC Davis School of Law, along with certifications from Amherst Writers & Artists, SoulCollage®, Guided Autobiography, and the Center for Journal Therapy. Recent collaborations include Esalen Institute, Omega Institute, Hollyhock Retreat Center, and The Huntington. Kimberly’s stories and essays have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, and she has served on the staffs of Literary Mama, F(r)iction, and Carve magazines. She lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.

Catch Up Kimberly Lee:

KimberlyLee.me
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @kimberlyylee
Instagram – @klcreatrix

Q&A with KIMBERLY LEE

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
Although I practiced law for a decade, writing always called to me, like a giant cane from those old-time theaters, wrapping around me and pulling me back to the page. I remember creating a neighborhood newspaper when I was nine, with stories about which family had gotten a new puppy, who was selling Girl Scout cookies, who’d just returned from a trip to Disneyland. I remember trying to teach my dolls and stuffed animals how to write when I was in kindergarten and was just learning to write myself. In high school I had a teen column in the local newspaper. Stephen King said “books are a uniquely portable magic,” and I think I’ve always believed in that power. I worked as a public defender and later in private practice, all the while dreaming of writing a novel. I took many writing classes and workshops and eventually had several short pieces published, then began writing a novel. In addition to my own writing, I now lead creative and writing and arts workshops, helping others find their voice and express the stories they hold.

What was the inspiration for this book?
Soon after we meet the book’s main character, David, he’s sifting through his mail and sees a missing child ad with his own face. The inspiration for the book is a scenario kind of similar to that—I was sorting my mail and saw an ad for a child who went missing when he was 10. The computer-progressed image showed him at 40-something years old. I thought about how this boy’s family had been searching for over three decades, never giving up hope. The faces haunted me, especially the eyes. I tore the ad out and carried it around in my bag for a while, then sat down to write a story.

Excluding the main character, who is your favorite character from the book, and why?
Definitely Gayle, David’s girlfriend. She’s brave, no-nonsense, and full of integrity. She somehow pulls out the best in everyone who crosses her path, and she refuses to give up on David, despite his flaws. She puts her hair in an up-do to feel confident and powerful. Gayle was inspired by my mother and my aunt, who were both teachers.

What’s an interesting or fun fact about the book that readers might not know?
Much of Have You Seen Him was written while I was sitting behind the wheel of my car, waiting for my kids at extracurricular activities. I’d grab whatever free moments I had and write, usually by hand. Although I have a home office all decked out for writing, being in the car seemed to lower the stakes and silence the inner critic. I’d write for 10-15 minutes, and over time, it evolved into the full manuscript.

What’s next for you—what can readers look forward to?
Have You Seen Him is the first in a trilogy, so it’s back to my notebook to work on the second installment. Pen to page. I’m headed to a writing residency this summer for a couple of weeks to get some momentum on it. A few people have asked me what’s going to happen with the characters. Gayle and her friend Violet are nosy and will take the lead in a new adventure. David will be coming to terms with his past and figuring out his future, while still on the run. But I’m not sure how it will all unfold. Robert Frost said, “No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.” We’ll all be surprised with the next developments–stay tuned!

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Have You Seen Him… And This Giveaway?

This giveaway is hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Kimberly Lee. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.
HAVE YOU SEEN HIM by Kimberly Lee | Gift Cards
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GRANDPA DAY by Perry Solomon #AuthorInterview

GHott — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:10:30 +0000

GRANDPA DAY

by Perry Solomon

June 29 – August 7, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

Becoming a grandfather opens the door to one of life’s most meaningful family relationships. In Grandpa Day, Perry Solomon shares a heartfelt and practical guide to building strong bonds with grandchildren through love, wisdom, and intentional time together.

Through true stories and simple ideas, this book shows grandfathers and grandparents how one-on-one Grandpa Days help nurture confidence, curiosity, grit, and emotional security. From everyday adventures to shared meals and conversations, Grandpa Day offers clear guidance on mentoring grandchildren, supporting parents, honoring boundaries, and creating memories that last a lifetime. It is a warm invitation to slow down, connect deeply, and leave a lasting legacy of love across generations.

Praise for Grandpa Day:

“Perry unlocks a magic world to grandparents by demystifying building deep connections with grandchildren and fostering their confidence and curiosity”
~ Anne van Leynseele, Esq. founder and farmer of Pa’ani Farms and author of Savor Your Chocolate

“Drawing from over twenty years of personal experience with his six grandchildren, Solomon provides a wealth of wisdom, stories, and advice to help grandfathers embrace their special role as mentors, cheerleaders, and steady presences in their families…His stories, such as mentoring his granddaughter Serena in her journey to becoming a craft chocolatier, illustrate how small moments of encouragement can spark lifelong passions.”
~ Carol Thompson for Readers’ Favorite, 5-Stars

“Grandpa Day reminds readers that the role of being a grandfather has evolved from being a distant patriarch to becoming actively involved and providing guidance and empathy…The writing style is enchanting, reflecting the love, joy, and pride of being a grandfather, and it is filled with practical wisdom and ideas on how to build the relationship between grandfather and grandchild.”
~ Leonard Smuts for Readers’ Favorite

“Perry Solomon’s approach to grandfatherhood is inspiring… The result? A close relationship… plus a profound sense of meaning for you.”
~ Merideth Mehlberg, author of Your Finest Work

“I can’t wait to be a grandmother… Perry’s book makes me even more excited about that milestone… His enthusiasm balanced with very practical tips makes the journey more meaningful… Thank you for this gift, Perry.”
~ Antonia Bowring, executive coach and author

Book Details:

Genre: Grandparenting, Biography/Autobiography, Non-Fiction, Self-Help
Published by: Lighthouse Family Press
Publication Date: February 6, 2026
Number of Pages: 196
ISBN: 9798994166703
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

Author Bio:

Perry Solomon is a proud grandfather whose greatest joy comes from the close, loving relationships he shares with his six grandchildren. From the day each was born, he has focused on building strong family relationships through time, attention, and support. Perry believes that love, communication, and shared memories are the foundation of lasting intergenerational relationships.

Perry lives in Santa Monica, California. Family is the heart of his life and legacy.

A successful serial entrepreneur, Perry has built and advised companies across multiple industries and completed four business exits. Today, he devotes his energy to grandparenting, mentoring, and helping grandparents create meaningful bonds, joyful activities, and a legacy of love and wisdom across generations.

Catch Up With Perry Solomon:

GrandpaDay.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @perryGPD
LinkedIn
Facebook – @Grandpa_Day

Q&A with PERRY SOLOMON

What inspired you to write GRANDPA DAY, and was there a specific moment with your grandchildren that made you realize this book needed to be written?
Several grandfathers, including my own brother, told me they had difficulty relating to their grandchildren and asked me for guidance. They could clearly see the joy that being a grandfather brought to both my grandchildren and me. That is what inspired me to write Grandpa Day.

You emphasize “intentional time” through one-on-one Grandpa Days. Can you share a favorite real-life example that captures the impact these moments can have?
One of my favorite examples is my granddaughter Serena’s chocolate journey. When she was about three years old, I took her to a buffet brunch where a chocolate fountain was part of the dessert buffet. I picked her up by the waist so she could skewer a strawberry and dip it into the flowing chocolate. The look on her face made it clear this was a very special moment for her.
Over time, Serena became increasingly curious about chocolate, its flavors and textures, and how it was made.
On our Grandpa Days, we began visiting local craft chocolate shops together. As the years passed, we met chocolatiers, toured kitchens, and attended chocolate festivals. What started as simple curiosity gradually developed into a genuine passion.
When a grandchild sees that you notice what they love, and that you are willing to join them in that world, it builds confidence, trust, and connection. That is one of the most powerful gifts a grandparent can give.

GRANDPA DAY highlights the evolving role of grandparents. What do you think today’s grandfathers sometimes overlook, and how can they become more intentional in their role?
I think some grandfathers may not realize how powerful their presence can be. Many of us grew up with grandfathers who were more distant or quiet. They may have loved us deeply, but they did not always show it in ways we could easily feel or understand.
Today’s grandfathers have a different opportunity.
We can be mentors, listeners, and steady sources of love. Parents make the rules and raise the children. A grandfather’s role is to support the parents. Within that role lies a tremendous opportunity to make a lasting difference in a grandchild’s life through time, attention, and unconditional love.

What do you hope readers take away from GRANDPA DAY, not just as grandparents, but as family members looking to build lasting connections?
I hope readers understand that strong family connections are built through small moments repeated over time. A meal together, a walk, a shared book, a simple conversation, or a visit to a favorite place can become part of a child’s emotional foundation.
Grandpa Day is about building trust through presence. It is about helping children feel seen, heard, valued, and loved. Those are gifts any family member can give.
I also hope readers come away with a deeper appreciation for the power of active listening. When we listen carefully, we often discover what a child is really thinking and feeling. We learn what excites them, what worries them, and where they may need support. Some of the most meaningful conversations begin simply by taking the time to listen.

What’s one simple “Grandpa Day” idea that any grandparent could start with right away?
Start with breakfast or lunch, just the two of you.
It does not need to be fancy. Let your grandchild help choose the place. During the meal, put your phone away and ask a few simple, open-ended questions such as, “What was the best part of your week?” or “What are you excited about right now?”
Then listen. Do not rush to respond or turn the conversation into a lecture. Be curious, supportive, and fully present.
That is a Grandpa Day anyone can begin.

Tour Participants:
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We’re Honoring the Love, Wisdom, and Joy of Grandparents With a Giveaway

This giveaway is hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Perry Solomon. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.
GRANDPA DAY by Perry Solomon | Gift Cards
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Get Gribnitz by Howard Gimple #AuthorGuestPost

GHott — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 09:27:23 +0000

GET GRIBNITZ

by Howard Gimple

June 29 – July 24, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

Howard Gimple, master of the comedy thriller, takes on the world of advertising in his funniest, snarkiest, most entertainingly irreverent book yet.

Stew Gribnitz is a brilliant advertising copywriter with impulse control issues, an utter disdain for authority, and an unresolved demi-Oedipal complex (he’d like to murder his father but has no sexual designs on his mother). When the first act of his new creative director is to dump our hero’s best work into a garbage bin, Stew’s immediate impulse (which, of course, he can’t control) is to do unspeakable things to his new boss’s necktie while he’s still wearing it.

The next day, when the necktie guy is found brutally murdered, Stew is brought in for questioning by the NYPD. He’s released thanks to an air-tight alibi, but not before his face is emblazoned on the cover of the New York tabloids, declaring him to be a cross between Son of Sam and Jack the Ripper. Stew becomes a Madison Avenue untouchable and a New York City pariah, except to his father who declares that seeing his son on the front page of his favorite paper is the first time that Stew has ever done anything to make him proud.

Stew gets a gig as a part-time advertising consultant to a billionaire publisher running for Governor of Connecticut who’s twenty points behind in the polls. When the publisher’s private plane does a nosedive into Long Island Sound, Stew is the only one who knows that his deceased client had been receiving death threats from his opponent, a former FBI agent whose brother is a mob enforcer.

Stew is convinced he’ll be the next victim and the authorities are convinced he’s a multiple murderer. The only way to clear his name is to find the real killer or killers, a task, well beyond his skill set, made even more difficult because the FBI, the NYPD, several suburban police jurisdictions and a homicidal hitwoman are all out to GET GRIBNITZ.

Praise for Get Gribnitz:

“…the perfect mystery novel”
~ Readers’ Favorite

“…a deliciously entertaining, fun, and exciting read from cover to cover.”
~ The Mystery Review Crew

Book Details:

Genre: Mystromedy
Published by: Mystromedy Books
Publication Date: July 1, 2024
Number of Pages: 348
ISBN: 9798990761575
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

Read an excerpt:

On my way to the house I’m hoping Moish isn’t home. But as soon as I walk in there he is, standing in the living room, holding the Post in one hand and the News in the other.

I gird myself for what’s coming. “So I guess you read about me in the paper.”

His smile gets broader. “You bet I did.”

“It was all a huge misunderstanding. Believe it or not, you’re my alibi. I was here with you last night when it happened.”

He sticks his thumb in the air. “Of course you were. I’ll back you up a hundred percent. Just tell me what time I was supposed to be here and I’ll swear on a pile of Bibles.” He winks at me. “Old Testament, of course.”

“No, really.”

He shakes his head. “This is better. We were here together all night, playing pinochle. Wait a minute, you never learned to play pinochle. How about gin rummy? You know how to play gin rummy. Of course you do. Any moron can play gin rummy.”

“Pop, listen to me. We don’t have to make up a story. If it ever comes up, just tell the truth.”

“Okay, son,” he says, still grinning. “Whatever you say. But I still think the gin rummy routine is the way to go.”

Son? He never calls me son. Putz, schmendrick or shmuck with earlaps, which for my father is the absolute worst thing you can be, are his usual terms of endearment for me, but son? Never.

Since my mother died, giving me a hard time has become my father’s favorite pastime. Even more than playing cards or going to the track. After forty-five years of arguing with her, he needed someone else to yell at. Not that he didn’t yell at me when she was alive, it’s just that she was his number-one target. She told me that he never means anything by it. She used to say, “When he gets quiet, that’s when you have to worry. As long as he’s yelling, everything’s fine.”

That’s why I’m so confused. Here’s the perfect chance for him to tell me what a shmuck I am for getting myself into this mess, instead he’s kvelling like I just won the Nobel Prize.

“You did see the paper, didn’t you?”

“Of course. I bought extra copies. I’m gonna hand them out to everyone at the track.”

“And you’re not upset?”

“Upset?” He puffs out his chest. “I’ve never been prouder.”

“But everyone thinks I’m a cold-blooded murderer.”

“I know.” There’s that grin again. “It’s terrific.”

“I don’t get it.”

“What’s to get? You finally made a name for yourself. Made it to the front page. The page that’s usually reserved for presidents, governors and generals. And now my boy is right up there with them.”

“They made me look like a homicidal maniac. It’s not the same.”

“You’re right. It’s better.”

At this point I don’t know what to say, so I just stand there with my mouth open.

“You know where I grew up, right?”

I nod. “Yeah. Brownsville. Chester Street, right?”

“You know my mother had a chicken market around the corner on Dumont Avenue?”

“Of course. You told me that story a hundred times. They called her the Chicken Lady. She made you get up at five in the morning to pluck chickens before you went to school. Made you come back before you went to bed to sweep up.”

“She was a hard woman, my mother. She had to be. After that goddamn flu killed my father, she had three babies to feed. But that doesn’t matter now.” His eyes start to twinkle. And Moish wasn’t usually a twinkler. “Do you know what was down the street from my mother’s store?”

I shrug.

“Rosie Gold’s candy store.”

“Okaaaaay?”

“You know who hung around Rosie’s?”

“Not a clue.”

He puffs out his chest. I’m thinking it’s gonna be some old-time Jewish sports hero like Kingfish Levinsky or Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom.

“Murder, Incorporated. That’s who. The toughest SOBs in the country. And they were all Jews. Louis Lepke, Abe Reles, Buggsy Goldstein. Killers, every one of them. Everybody feared them. The Italians, the Irish, the coloreds. They had class too. Money, women, fancy cars, you name it. When I was a kid, twelve or thirteen, I’d sneak out of my mother’s shop and hang around outside Rosie’s. Those guys loved me. They treated me like I was their little mascot. Their good-luck charm. I’d run errands for them. Bring them cigarettes, drinks, the paper. Whatever they wanted. And they’d throw me a twenty-dollar tip like it was a nickel. You know what that’s worth today? Five hundred dollars. I was a snot-nosed pisher with more money in my pocket than most of the grown men in the neighborhood. In a couple of years I coulda been one of them.”

I don’t know whether to be impressed or aghast. “So what happened?”

He shrugs. “This and that. Reles turned rat. Then he fell out of a hotel window. Pretty soon they were all dead or in jail. The Depression hit. The war happened. I spent five years in the Philippines shooting Japs. And when I came home I married your mother.”

I’m a little taken aback that he puts marrying my mother in the same category as the Second World War and the Great Depression.

“Besides, when your grandmother found out what I was doing, she beat the living crap outta me. Told me if she ever caught me hanging around with those bums again she’d pluck me like one of her chickens.”

“Let me get this straight, your childhood dream was to be a gangster?”

“It was different then, not like the scum-bums you see now. Back then, if you were in the rackets you were somebody, a big shot, a mensch.”

“So seeing my commercials on TV and the awards I won, that all means nothing to you, but having everybody in New York think I’m the Jewish Dillinger, that you’re proud of?”

“It’s not like you’re a senator or governor, but it’s something.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you but I really didn’t do it.”

“Whatever you say.” He pauses for a second. “Listen, do you know Shifty, the bookie from back in our old neighborhood?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“He’s been giving me a hard time. He says I owe him some money but he’s fulla shit.”

“How much money?”

“I dunno, two . . . three hundred.”

“Dollars?”

“No, kishkes. Of course dollars.”

“And you’re sure you don’t owe him the money?”

“Of course I’m sure. You think I wouldn’t remember something like that?”

I don’t say anything.

“He says he’s gonna come over here with some leg breakers and take it if I don’t give it to him. How about you pay him a little visit and convince him to lay off?” He holds up the paper and grins. “He’ll listen to you.”

“Listen, Pop. I’m not a thug. I don’t even play one on TV. There’s no way I’m gonna threaten your bookie or anybody else.”

He shoots me a scornful smirk. “I shoulda known you didn’t have the guts.” He walks to the bathroom. Before he shuts the door he looks at me with disgust and shouts, “Putz!”

***

Excerpt from GET GRIBNITZ by Howard Gimple. Copyright 2026 by Howard Gimple. Reproduced with permission from Howard Gimple. All rights reserved.

Author Bio:

I’ve been writing for my supper for most of my adult life. First as a copywriter and creative director for several ad agencies. After I aged out of the advertising business (you’re a dinosaur at 35), I wrote English dialogue for the American releases of Japanese anime cartoons, reviewed movies for a pay-per-view television network, and was the editor of a newsletter for the New York Giants football team. I wrote the lyrics for a song used in the soundtrack of the horror film THE REJUVENATOR as well as the fight song for Stony Brook University, where I was a writer and sports editor for their alumni magazine and taught two classes, Rock and Relevance, about the influence of classic rock on politics and Filthy Shakespeare about the sexy bits of the Bard’s plays and poems that they don’t usually teach. Several of my stories have been featured in Akashic Books’ Mondays are Murder online noir series. I recently finished work on The Garbageman, a documentary about a trash hauler who saved the lives of 50,000 children in underprivileged countries with congenital heart disease. And if you’ve gotten this far on the website, you know about my novels.
After living in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Long Island, I headed west to Glendora, California, with my wife and Goldendoodle.

Catch Up With Howard Gimple:

HowardGimple.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @howardgimple
Facebook – @authorhowardgimple

GUEST POST by HOWARD GIMPLE

MYSTROMEDY…WAIT, WHAT??

Simply, a mystromedy is a comedy-mystery. It’s a genre that has been wildly popular on screens large and small. Shows like Columbo and Monk ran for many years atop the ratings. And funny mysteries have been dominating the silver screen forever. From William Powell’s Thin Man to Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau to Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc, moviegoers can’t get enough daffy detectives. Why is it then, when it comes to the printed page or the pixilated ebook screen, mixing jokes and thrills is unkosher, undignified and unacceptable. A few outliers like Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books and Carl Hiassen’s quirky Florida capers are the exceptions that prove the rule that comedic mysteries are the Rodney Dangerfields of the mystery-thriller genre.

Even Donald E. Westlake, the dean of whodunit humor, said that his Dortmunder series, one of the all-time comedic mystery masterworks, was created by accident. He began writing another book in his Parker series, featuring a tough-as-nails criminal whose exploits wouldn’t come close to engendering a smirk, let alone a smile or, heaven forbid, a guffaw. Parker’s demeanor was so fierce and foreboding that the mere sight of him entering a room would give its occupants shivers.

Westlake said that when he started writing the book, no matter how hard he tried to stick to the usual ominous Parkeresque atmospherics, the story kept veering wackily off course. He decided to temporarily put Parker on the shelf and continue the comedic arc of the story with a new main character. And so John Dortmunder was born. After The Hot Rock, the first Dortmunder book, was finished Westlake considered it to be a one-off and intended to return to writing hard boiled mysteries. But the tremendous critical and commercial acclaim it received persuaded him to write another and another and another— fourteen novels and more than a dozen short stories in all.

So why is it that out of Amazon’s 60-odd categories for the Mystery, Thriller and Suspense genre, from amateur sleuths to witches and wizards, there isn’t a single category for comedy? Do they think that mystery readers have no sense of humor? Is there no room for both gasps and giggles in a 300 page novel? Of course there is. But it may take time for mysteries and comedies to cohabitate on amazon.

I encountered the same sort of anti-comedy bias when I was a young copywriter at an ad agency. I was assigned to write ads for an insurance company. Every time I submitted a humorous one it was summarily rejected. ‘Insurance is serious business, it’s not a laughing matter,’ I was sternly told. And for years, insurance ads were at best dry and at worse morose. Then Met Life started airing ads featuring Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang. Not only was no one put off by this, their sales took off. And the trend continued. Geico uses a wise-cracking gecko with an Australian accent as its spokeslizard, Flo and her gang are doing shtick for Progressive and a kooky emu is the face of Liberty Mutual.

Let’s do the same for laugh-out-loud mysteries. C’mon amazon, give us a category. Maybe even two. It could be the start of the mystromedy revolution. Or at least get us mystromedians a little respect.

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Get In, Enter, Then GET GRIBNITZ

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Proxy Legal Thriller Series by Manning Wolfe #AuthorInterview

GHott — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 10:22:05 +0000

PROXY LEGAL THRILLER SERIES

by Manning Wolfe

June 8 – July 17, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Amazon | KindleUnlimited | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

DEAD BY PROXY

In this lawyer on the run action suspense, attorney Quinton Bell loses the trial of his career, and possibly his life.

Dead By Proxy takes you on a heart-pounding journey through the life of a criminal defense attorney, whose world is wiped out. When Quinton loses a career-defining case, he finds himself being hunted by the very client he tried to save.

As Quinton navigates the treacherous path of survival, he is running from a powerful and relentless adversary who will stop at nothing to see him silenced. Finally landing in Houston, he hides in plain sight while re-inventing his new life as a trial lawyer.

When he’s forced to take on a high-profile murder case, he exposes himself and those he loves to danger. With each passing moment, the noose tightens, and he must draw on every ounce of wit to outsmart those who still want him dead.

Will Quinton Bell find a way out, or will he forever be a target in a deadly game of cat and mouse?

Amazon | KindleUnlimited | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

HUNTED BY PROXY

In this lawyer on the run action suspense, can attorney Quinton Bell hang on to his new life as he hides in plain sight?

Hunted By Proxy takes you on a heart-pounding journey through the life of a criminal defense attorney, whose world, as he knew it, was wiped out by the very client he tried to save.

Quinton establishes a new life and law practice in Houston and thinks he’s outrun the dangerous adversaries who chased him there. Just as he begins to relax, he receives a mysterious note that proves to him that he’s still in danger and running from a powerful and relentless adversary. But who?

With each passing moment, the noose tightens, and he must draw on every ounce of wit to outsmart those who still want him exposed, or worse, dead.

Will Quinton Bell find a way out, or will he forever be a target in a deadly game of cat and mouse?

Amazon | KindleUnlimited | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub

ALIVE BY PROXY

Can attorney Quinton Bell hang on to his new life, as he hides in plain sight, in this lawyer-on-the-run suspense thriller?

Alive By Proxy takes readers on a heart-pounding ride through the life of a criminal defense attorney whose world was wiped out by the very client he tried to save. After faking his own death and stepping into the life of his deceased best friend, Quinton walks a razor-thin line every day to keep his past buried and his future intact.

When Houston Wildcatters linebacker Marcus Hale is charged with the brutal murder of his agent, the case detonates into a media firestorm. As the defense digs deeper, the murder case opens into something darker with buried secrets, dangerous leverage, and hidden lives that refuse to stay in the shadows.

As the courtroom battle intensifies, so does the danger beyond it. Unseen eyes track Quinton’s every move. Old ghosts stir. The identity that has kept Quinton alive begins to feel more fragile than ever.

Every witness, every revelation, and every step closer to the truth threatens to expose both Quinton and his client. Will Quinton find a way out, or will he forever be a target in a deadly game of cat and mouse?

Praise for the Proxy Legal Thriller Series:

“A riveting read that expertly teams courtroom drama and legal maneuvering with imminent danger, spine-tingling suspense, a touch of romance, and non-stop action. Talk about an adrenaline rush!”
~ Reedsy

“Can a woman write a thriller book that leaves you going, ‘Wow, how did I ever miss this author before?’ Yes, she can. Fist bumps and high fives to author, Manning Wolfe on this fantabulous thriller!”
~ Forgotten Winds

“I love the whole book! From beginning to end, it was a roller coaster ride! From New York to Texas, With incredible character development, and plot twists from beginning to end! Looking back, there were subtle clues, but not until the very end was there a resolution. I would highly recommend this book!”
~ Susan Riley, Amazon Customer

“Manning Wolfe just put herself on my list of must-read authors!”
~ John Ellsworth

Book Details:

Genre: Legal Thriller
Published by: Starpath Books, LLC
Series: Proxy Legal Thriller Series

Author Bio:

MANNING WOLFE, an award-winning author and attorney residing in Austin, Texas, writes cinematic-style, smart, fast-paced thrillers and crime fiction. Manning was recently featured on Oxygen TV’s: Accident, Suicide, or Murder.

Manning’s legal thriller series features Austin attorney Merit Bridges, including Dollar Signs, Music Notes, Green Fees, Chinese Wall, and Killer Weed.

Manning’s new Proxy Legal Thriller Series features Houston attorney Quinton Bell and includes: Dead By Proxy, Hunted By Proxy, and Alive By Proxy.

Manning is co-author of Sinister Santa, and twelve additional Bullet Book Speed Reads.

As a graduate of Rice University and the University of Texas School of Law, Manning’s experience has given her a voyeur’s peek into some shady characters’ lives and a front-row seat to watch the good people who stand against them.

Catch Up With Manning Wolfe:

ManningWolfe.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads – @manningwolfe
BookBub – @ManningWolfe
Instagram – @manningwolfe
X – @ManningWolfe
Facebook – @manning.wolfe
YouTube – @starpathbooksllc1763
Pinterest – @manningwolfe
BlueSky – @manningwolfe.bsky.social
TikTok – @manningwolfe

Q&A with MANNING WOLFE

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I’m an attorney turned thriller writer living in Lockhart, Texas, which means I spend my days thinking about courtroom drama, suspicious characters, and whether brisket counts as a food group. Lockhart is known as the BBQ Capital of Texas, so I consider it less of a hometown and more of a delicious occupational hazard.
I’ve always loved storytelling. Practicing law introduced me to all kinds of personalities and conflicts, and eventually I realized that some of the best fiction starts with people under pressure facing terrible decisions.

What was the inspiration for this book?
Most of my books start with a “what if” question. In this case, I became fascinated with the idea of how quickly an ordinary life can spiral into complete chaos. One bad decision, one wrong person, one secret exposed at the wrong time, and suddenly everything changes.
I also love stories where the hero is smart but still vulnerable. I think readers connect more with characters who are trying to hold things together while the walls are slowly closing in around them. Plus, let’s face it, putting fictional people through misery is part of the job description for thriller writers.

Can you give us a glimpse into the research that went into writing this story?
One advantage of being an attorney is that I already understand legal procedure and courtroom strategy. The downside is that I also know how much paperwork real lawyers deal with, which is why my fictional attorneys are always much cooler and more efficient than reality.
Beyond the legal side, I choose locations carefully. I’ve spent a good amount of time in the places I select as the main venue. I want readers to feel like they’re standing on a Houston street corner at midnight or sitting in a Galveston restaurant watching a storm roll in.
I also tend to fall down strange internet rabbit holes while researching. At some point during every book, my search history begins to look highly suspicious. So far, the cops have not come calling.

What does your typical writing routine look like? Any idiosyncrasies or rituals?
I’m an early outliner and a late-in-the-day writer. I’ll spend days mapping out twists and scenes, then suddenly write for eight straight hours fueled by tea and the false belief that I’ll “just finish one more chapter.”
I also tend to work out plot issues in my dreams. This has convinced my family that either I’m deeply creative or slowly losing my mind due to lack of REM sleep. The jury is still out.

What are a few of your favorite foods?
Living in Lockhart, Texas, it’s basically illegal not to love BBQ. Brisket here is practically a religion. If somebody says they know a “better” BBQ place somewhere else, people in Lockhart react like they’ve been personally insulted.
But my second home is the Texas Coast, and that’s where my other food obsession takes over: shrimp. Fried shrimp, grilled shrimp, shrimp tacos, shrimp po’boys, shrimp boiled in enough Old Bay to clear your sinuses. I love those little crustaceans in just about any form imaginable.
Writing this makes me think I should include a restaurant that serves both BBQ and shrimp in my next book. Maybe I’ll throw in a little salad too.

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The Midas Touch by Gary Grossman, Oren Aviv, & Charles Segars #AuthorInterview

GHott — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:16:40 +0000

THE MIDAS TOUCH

by Gary Grossman, Oren Aviv, & Charles Segars

June 29 – July 24, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

National Treasure meets Jack Ryan in THE MIDAS TOUCH

July 19, 1799. Napoleon’s armies advance into Egypt. In the steaming desert sands, his explorers unearth an astounding discovery: The Rosetta Stone. The tablet, cracked and incomplete, will eventually answer mysteries about ancient Egyptian history, culture, and science. But in the years since its partial excavation, world leaders, historians, scientists, and adventurers have speculated that the missing fragments could answer another age-old mystery.

THE MIDAS TOUCH is a globe-trotting adventure that follows CIA cryptologist/puzzle solver/savant Brady Donovan as he investigates the murder of his beloved mentor Dr. Hastings Kaufman, only to find that it leads to a search for the missing pieces of the famed Rosetta Stone and the secret it holds: The Alchemist Gold Theory – how to turn ordinary metals into gold.

Protagonist Brady Donovan partners with British archeologist Teppy Flynn and conspiracy theorist Avery Prophet. Only a heartbeat away is a diabolical Silicon Valley tech giant, D’Arcy Lauren Granier, and her henchmen.

The quest takes them through Napoleonic history and into a contemporary race through the streets of London, America’s backroads, the Caribbean, New Orleans’ French Quarter, Napoleon’s last island prison in the Atlantic, the Louisiana Bayou, and a massive, abandoned salt mine where pirate Jean Lafitte hid his treasures.

History, told in vivid flashbacks, jumps back to 1799 Egypt, and forward through the hundreds of years since, with pirates and presidents on the search for better or worse. Now Brady Donovan fights against the fast- ticking clock, relentless bad guys, and a Category 5 hurricane to where past meets present and greed and betrayal become deadly partners.

THE MIDAS TOUCH is written by international award-winning thriller writer Gary Grossman with Charles Segars and Oren Aviv, the creators of the billion-dollar National Treasure movie franchise.

Praise for THE MIDAS TOUCH:

“A perfect piece of entertainment with characters and a story that never disappoints. Poignant in places, nail-biting in others, the plot is accentuated by a take-no-prisoners attitude, similar to speeding down a slalom course with all its twists and turns. It’s quite a ride!”
~ Steve Berry New York Times best-selling author

“The Midas Touch is a thrilling ride through history and modern-day, tantalizing the reader with intrigue, action, and adventure across a labyrinth of archaeological secrets and danger.”
~ Raymond Benson, New York Times best-selling James Bond novelist

“Fans of The DaVinci Code will love The Midas Touch. Grossman, Segars, and Aviv have created an iconic character in Brady Donovan, a CIA cryptologist who trades in his pen for tradecraft to protect the world from a devastating economic weapon. Gripping prose, unforgettable settings, and non-stop excitement. A real page turner!”
~ K.J. Howe, international bestselling author of Skyjack writes

THE MIDAS TOUCH Trailer:

Book Details:

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, History Fiction, Globe-Hopping Intrigue
Published by: Fayetteville Mafia Press
Publication Date: June 2, 2026
Number of Pages: 334
ISBN: 9781949024999 (ISBN10: 1949024997)
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | BookBub

Gary Grossman:

THE MIDAS TOUCH is written by international award-winning thriller writer Gary Grossman (OLD EARTH, the EXECUTIVE ACTIONS and RED HOTEL series) with Charles Segars and Oren Aviv, the creators and executive producers of the exciting and popular Nicholas Cage NATIONAL TREASURE movie franchise.

Catch Up With Gary Grossman:

garygrossmanbooks.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub
Instagram – @garygrossman1
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Facebook – @AuthorGaryGrossman

Charles Segars:

CHARLES SEGARS has served as a senior executive at Viacom, CBS, The Walt Disney Company, DreamWorks Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation. Segars is also known as Creator and Executive Producer of the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures hit movie franchise, National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets.
Currently, Segars enjoys a dual role as CEO of Ovation TV, the only multi-platform program service dedicated to the Arts and as President of Segars Media.
Segars is a respected global safety and security analyst. He advises a number of national security-related technology startups and is actively involved in governmental affairs.He has served as a White House Associate as an Advance Team leader for the Office of the President and Vice President of the United States of America, leading a number of secretive domestic and international trips.

Oren Aviv:

OREN AVIV ran Disney Studios from 2006-2010, after heading Disney Marketing for eight years. He became Disney’s first Chief Content Officer, and after leaving Disney he became CMO for 20th Century Fox Studios. In addition to executive producing a dozen films, he also co-created and was Executive Producer of Disney’s National Treasure film franchise.
Aviv was named “Marketer of the Year” three separate times by Advertising Age Magazine. He created breakthrough campaigns for the studio’s NARNIA, STEP UP, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the National Treasure franchises, and launched memorable campaigns for many of Pixar’s animated hits, including Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles and Cars. He also launched blockbusters such as The Sixth Sense; Pearl Harbor; Ransom; The Rock; Signs; The Waterboy; Armageddon; Unbreakable; 101 Dalmatians; Con Air; Crimson Tide; Freaky Friday; and Father of the Bride, as well as hundreds of other films under the Disney, Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures banners. As CMO at 20th Century Fox, Aviv created the campaigns for Rise of the Planet of the Apes; X-Men: First Class; Ridley Scott’s Prometheus; The Wolverine starring Hugh Jackman; and Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning Life of Pi.
As head of production at Disney, Aviv was responsible for greenlighting such hits as THE PROPOSAL starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds; Tim Burton’s billion-dollar-grossing Alice in Wonderland; Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End; National Treasure: Book of Secrets; and the Amy Adams musical-comedy Enchanted.

Q&A with GARY GROSSMAN

Can you tell us a little about yourselves and your backgrounds?
I guess I’m a book with many chapters. Like Brady Donovan, our lead character in THE MIDAS TOUCH, I grew up in Hudson, New York. Unlike Brady, I have no amazing cognitive skills that would lead me to the CIA and a treasure hunt around the world. However, the world was out there for me. The first way, as a 12-year-old ham radio operator, tapping out Morse Code and communicating with other shortwave radio operators across the globe.
The second way I reached beyond my one-square mile small town borders was as a local rock radio DJ. I started at 15 and at that point, I thought my career was set. Radio. Forever radio and rock and roll. Then came Boston and Emerson College where television and documentary film production lured me to expand my experience. Both mediums extended my reach and I became a story teller. The next leaps were into journalism, local and network news, documentary production, and books – both fiction and non-fiction. All as a storyteller, in one medium or another.
That’s who I am now—through writing international mysteries and thrillers, memoirs, books on TV history, and yes, I’m still producing some TV and happily getting on live radio and podcasts to promote my books.
It’s full circle experience, and word for word, it’s my story. I can even still spell it out in Morse Code!

Can you give us a glimpse into the research that went into writing this story?
Collaborating with Charles Segars and Oren Aviv has been truly creative and fulfilling. Together, we recognized that history was going to be a character in THE MIDAS TOUCH. That meant we’d have to hunker down and do thorough research on names, places, and dates. We had to create interlocking links between the real and the imagined, and have our cryptologist, Brady Donovan, and his cohorts, Egyptologist Teppy Flynn and conspiracy research Avery Prophet, figure them out.
That meant there’s hardly a page that didn’t require research. Hopefully, our research will be the transportation for readers to follow the clues from 1799 Egypt with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, to the British Museum, and onto America, while deep diving through centuries of history.
The challenge and the goal was to cultivate the facts without getting too deep in the weeds. That gets back to my collaboration with the creators and executive producers of National Treasure and National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Charles Segars and Oren Aviv know how to strike the balance between authenticity and entertainment. They’ve done that in their movies and we feel we’ve succeeded in our wild, globe-hopping treasure hunt, THE MIDAS TOUCH.

Tweaking this question to get to except I had working with Charles and Oren, who reinvented the treasure hunt genre. How did the three of you collaborate on THE MIDAS TOUCH? What did that process look like day to day?
Collaboration can work many ways: Talking through the manuscript with one writer hitting the keys. Alternating chapters and passing them around. Or a combination of both. For the creation of THE MIDAS TOUCH, everyone contributed with story, characters, location, dialogue, through the five drafts, then the polish. In other words, we each brought our own best game to the process—as writers, film and television storytellers, and fans of the genre.
Most of all, it’s really exciting when everyone has something important to contribute. A good idea gets better with help. Imagery becomes richer. Characters, more real. And for us, history jumps off the page.
I got to work with real pros. It doesn’t get any better than that.

What does your typical writing routine look like? Any idiosyncrasies or rituals?
Process, process, process. Routine, routine, routine. I don’t believe in writer’s block. I have to lay something down every day, no matter how much I may rework it later. My goal is three pages a day. Sometimes more. Just do the math. If I keep it up, and I try to, that’s ninety pages a month, Less with a day or a weekend off every so often.
Then there’s rewriting. Sometimes that’s even harder. Well, if not harder, certainly more tedious because that’s where I discover what needs to be strengthened, improved, eliminated, or reimagined. However, with something on the page, and the establishment of a creative direction, rewriting takes me one step closer to bringing the story together.
And . . . then come the next drafts.
As screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill<, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and so many more wonderful movies) says, “Being a writer is like having homework every night of your life for the rest of your life.”
Totally true. And with that, I have another two pages to write today!

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SHADOWS OF FRENCHMEN by Michael Rigg #AuthorInterview

GHott — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 08:16:16 +0000

SHADOWS OF FRENCHMEN

by Michael Rigg

June 22 – July 31, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

A Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery

On a frosty Sunday morning in February, Dr. Jonathan Gray, Coroner of Orleans Parish, faces a gruesome sight. A dead man splayed against the circular steel and cut-glass blocks of the city’s AIDS memorial in Washington Square Park has strange symbols carved into his forehead and chest. A coded note—a cipher—has been placed under one hand. The body mutilation and note are hallmarks of a serial killer dubbed by the news media as the “Mardi Gras Sweeper,” because he strikes during Carnival season and leaves coded manifestos taunting police and giving hints about his next victim.

Hoping to avoid a panic during the city’s most profitable season, Mayor Max Jamerson asks Gray to investigate the murder “on the sly,” without formal assistance from the New Orleans Police Department. Time is of the essence as Gray races to figure out the cipher and track down the Sweeper in order to prevent additional killings—and save Mardi Gras.

Praise for Shadows of Frenchmen:

“A chilling, razor-sharp mystery set against the explosive energy of Mardi Gras. This cat-and-mouse hunt fuses cryptic clues, relentless suspense and rising terror into a tale that gives us a horrifyingly intimate glimpse into a killer’s mind. Dr. Jonathan Gray is a hero you won’t forget—and the Mardi Gras Sweeper is a nightmare you won’t escape.”
~ Kathleen Antrim, Bestselling Author, President-Outliers Writing University

“Michael Rigg does it again, with another thrilling mystery that you won’t be able to put down featuring New Orleans Coroner Jonathan Gray. Shadows of Frenchmen takes readers into the darkest corners of New Orleans’ lush settings and spooky cemeteries as Gray and his colleagues hunt for a possible serial killer, all against the backdrop of raucous Mardi Gras celebrations. Rigg’s love for this extraordinary city shines through on every page, even as danger lurks among the Spanish moss and above-ground tombs.”
~ Ellen Byron, USA Today Bestselling & Agatha Award Winning Author

“As a coroner, Dr. Jonathan Gray is the new Kay Scarpetta. In Shadows of Frenchmen, author Michael Rigg skillfully uses beads, beignets, bullets, bombs, and bodies to make New Orleans vivid and alive.”
~ John DeDakis, Former CNN editor, writing coach, and author of the Lark Chadwick mystery-suspense-thriller series, at johndedakis.com.

“Great action from the get-go! Atmosphere, characters, and all the right ingredients. A great read by Michael Rigg!”
~ Heather Graham, New York Times Bestselling Author

“Featuring smart and complex characters, Shadows of Frenchmen pulses with energy, taking the reader on a breathless chase for a serial killer terrorizing the city in the days leading up to a city-wide Mardi Gras celebration. Fans of the intrepid New Orleans coroner Dr. Jonathan Gray will not be disappointed!”
~ K.L. Murphy, Author of the Detective Callie Forde Mysteries, The Great Forgotten, and the award-nominated Her Sister’s Death

Shadows of Frenchmen Trailer:

Book Details:

Genre: Medico-Legal (Coroner) Thriller
Published by: Level Best Books
Publication Date: May 5, 2026
Number of Pages: 336
ISBN: 979-8898202354
Series: A Jonathan Gray, M.D. Mystery, Book 2
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | Goodreads | BookBub | Level Best Books

Read an excerpt:

Chapter One

Alpha and Omega
Sunday, February 1, 2015 – 1:47 a.m.

Twenty-plus years with the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office taught Jonathan Gray to expect the unexpected. But Washington Square Park had always been a tranquil haven on the fringe of the French Quarter. So crime-scene tape draping the square’s wrought-iron fence presented the visual equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard. Moonlight filtering through stately live oaks cast eerie—almost funereal—shadows, adding to the dissonance.

Fluttering in the nippy midwinter breeze, the neon-yellow ribbon communicated

a mute warning. On this side, normalcy. On the other, insanity. Stepping into the dysfunction never got easier. Regardless, turning back wasn’t an option. As if speaking the incantation aloud would immunize him against the unfolding drama, he repeated his trite pre-crime scene mantra: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” His breath lingered in the frosty air before evaporating.

After checking in with the uniformed officer monitoring access, Jonathan angled toward floodlights illuminating a temporary canopy above the city’s AIDS memorial. More tape—red as opposed to yellow—identified the innermost “Do Not Cross” perimeter. Crime scene technicians in white Tyvek protective suits busied themselves measuring and photographing what must be the reason he’d been summoned. A male corpse sitting upright on the ground—its arms and legs twisted at seemingly impossible angles—leaned against the memorial’s circular cut-glass and steel panels surrounded by a pool of thick, dark-crimson liquid.

A curved, nearly rectangular piece of wood with brass edges—most likely a knife handle—protruded from under the right side of the dead man’s rib cage. A portion of his intestines spilled out of the wound. A second knife—its handle and part of its blade visible—had been thrust downward into the soft tissue between the left collarbone and neck.

Cause of death seemed too obvious to require someone of Jonathan’s seniority. A first-year med student could have made the call. But markings carved into the dead man’s forehead and chest hinted at something more sinister. No wonder Mitch Broussard from NOPD had called him in the middle of the night. The man’s heavy flannel shirt lay open, exposing his chest and a series of

capital letters etched into his skin. The letters—G I D I A I D I V—made no sense, at least not in English. A folded piece of paper with similar letters and other symbols, not quite readable from that distance, lay under the man’s left hand. Lack of blood covering the letters in the chest signaled they had been added postmortem. Jonathan focused on two marks in the man’s forehead. An uppercase “A” and what looked like an upside-down horseshoe—the Greek letter Omega—apparently cut while the victim was still alive.

It couldn’t have been two years already. But there it was. Alpha and Omega. Jonathan bit his lip and cursed under his breath. Then, a silent prayer. Looked like the nightmare was about to begin—again.

One of the CSTs stood and raised her clear face shield. “Hey, Doc. Welcome to Funsville.”

Excerpt from SHADOWS OF FRENCHMEN by Michael Rigg. Copyright 2026 by Michael Rigg. Reproduced with permission from Michael Rigg. All rights reserved.

Author Bio:

Agatha and Anthony-nominated author Michael Rigg, a lawyer for more than four decades, writes mysteries and thrillers set in two very different locations: Virginia Beach (where he lives) and New Orleans (which he visits as often as possible “for research,” including participation in three Mardi Gras Krewes). He is a retired Navy Judge Advocate and a retired civilian government attorney, formerly working for the Department of the Navy Office of the General Counsel. He is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and both the Sisters in Crime national organization and its Southeastern Virginia Chapter—Mystery by the Sea.

Catch Up With Michael Rigg:

www.MichaelRigg.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub – @michaelrigg716
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Threads – @michael.rigg716
X – @MDR102030
LinkedIn
Facebook

Q&A with MICHAEL RIGG

What was the biggest challenge you faced in beginning your writing career?
The biggest challenge I faced as I started my career as a fiction writer was to unlearn what I’d learned about writing in the decades I’d been a lawyer, dedicated to writing “just the facts, ma’am.” Both legal writing and fiction writing share a common goal: in both, you’re writing “for effect.” In legal writing, you want to convince someone (a judge, an opposing attorney, or your client) that your legal position is true and correct and should be adopted. In fiction writing, you want to make a reader believe they are in the story, that they’re part of the action, that a fictional situation is “real.” You want to swing them to your (and your protagonist’s) point of view. Similar goals. Different techniques.

Can you give us a glimpse into the research that went into writing this story?
Because I write a mystery series, and other stories, set in New Orleans, I thought I needed a better understanding of Mardi Gras and its part in New Orleans and Louisiana culture. Since 2018, I’ve paraded annually with three Mardi Gras krewes. Those experiences provided important background for my other works (short stories, a novelette, and a debut novel), which dealt only tangentially with Mardi Gras. Shadows of Frenchmen, on the other hand, is knee-deep into the Carnival season. Shadows of Frenchmen involves the possible return of a serial killer who has terrorized Mardi Gras every other year. This will be the so-called “Mardi Gras Sweeper’s” third visit. Detailed knowledge of how Mardi Gras parades come together proved critical to drafting an effective, and believable, narrative.

Are you currently working on your next novel? If so, can you share a little about it?
For most authors with a series, the next one is always in the works. I’m two books into a three-book contract with Level Best Books, so, yes, I’m working on my next novel. Like Voices of the Elysian Fields and Shadows of Frenchmen, it’s set in New Orleans, with Jonathan Gray as the protagonist. Currently, the next novel involves several characters from the large Vietnamese community in what’s called “New Orleans East.” There may or may not be an outbreak of a contagious disease that threatens to spread from New Orleans to the Gulf Coast and beyond. Stay tuned. It’s early. Let’s see where the characters and circumstances take us.

What are some of your favorite leisure activities or hobbies when you’re not writing?
My wife’s the fiction reader in our house. She reads constantly. Until I started writing fiction, I mostly focused on non-fiction—remember, I was an attorney for a lot of years. For pleasure reading, I often turned to history and biography. And I’ve long been “a Civil War guy.” Since I was a very young kid, I’ve liked reading about the American Civil War. And, if I had my choice of leisure activities, it’d be walking a Civil War battlefield. Despite living in Virginia, life (translated: work and raising a family) always interfered. But I take advantage of opportunities when they arise. For example, one of my daughters went to college in a town just north of Richmond. When I went to pick her up for a holiday break one year, I left home earlier than required and visited the “The Seven Days Battles” in reverse. IYKYK.

Do you have a message or anything specific you’d like to say to your readers?
I’d like to say a simple “Thank you.” I first thought about writing a novel in my mid-fifties, as I scouted for something to keep me busy once I retired. Reading excerpts from books my wife was reading, I thought, “I can do this.” How better to impress someone who reads fiction than by writing a novel? After all, I reasoned, “How hard can it be?” Okay. You got me there. Famous last words. It’s very hard. But once the writing bug bit, I couldn’t stop. Little did I know how much readers would reward my efforts. My debut novel, Voices of the Elysian Fields, garnered nominations for an Agatha and an Anthony in the Best First Novel category. Didn’t win the Agatha (go figure, four cozies and a coroner procedural). But now I’m Calgary bound. And it’s all thanks to readers. So, if you’re headed to Bouchercon, please keep me in mind.

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Beads, Beignets & Bookish Bounty

This giveaway is hosted by Partners in Crime Tours for Michael Rigg. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.
SHADOWS OF FRENCHMEN by Michael Rigg | Gift Cards
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The Ledger by Steven Manchester #AuthorInterview

GHott — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 12:10:53 +0000

THE LEDGER

by Steven Manchester

June 8 – July 3, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

Set in a medium-security penitentiary in the mid-1990s, The Ledger is a faith-based story that pulls back the curtain on prison life, allowing the reader a safe peek behind the wall.

Although told from three alternating perspectives—officer, inmate, and sergeant—many of the same questions are asked: Can light be found in the deepest darkness? What about forgiveness, redemption, and grace? And if the code is clear, “loyalty above all things except honor,” when should an officer cross the blue line to police one of his own?

The Ledger is the long-awaited companion novel to The Menu.

Praise for The Ledger:

“The Ledger illuminates the dark world of Corrections, making it safe for all of us to steal a peek.”
~ Barry McKee, Professor Emeritus, Criminal Justice

“I found myself holding my breath. It felt like I was right back inside the wall.”
~ Nelson Julius, Deputy Superintendent, DOC (ret.)

“Intensely powerful and deeply moving, pick up a copy to balance your own ledger.”
~ Debby Guyette, Book Blogger, Single Titles

“The Ledger is a spiritual read, drawing the reader inward.”
~ Reverend Andy Stinson, First Congregational Church of Fall River

Book Details:

Genre: Christian, Crime Fiction, Literary Fiction
Published by: Luna Bella Press
Publication Date: May 26, 2026
Number of Pages: 280
ISBN: 979-8999472021
Series: Companion novel to The Menu.
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Goodreads | BookBub

Author Bio:

New England’s Storyteller Steven Manchester is the author of the soul-awakening novel, The Menu, as well as the ’80s nostalgia-series, Bread Bags & Bullies; Lawn Darts & Lemonade; Yearbooks & Yo-Yos. His other works include #1 bestsellers Twelve Months, The Rockin’ Chair, Pressed Pennies and Gooseberry Island; the national bestsellers, Ashes, The Changing Season and Three Shoeboxes; the multi-award winning novels, Dad and Goodnight Brian; and the heartwarming Christmas movie, The Thursday Night Club (NYIFA & LAFA winner). He is the co-author of You Will Be Peter, as well as Officer Erik & the Very Special Dad (written with TV icon, Erik Estrada). His work has appeared on NBC’s Today Show and CBS’s The Early Show; in Billboard and People Magazines. Three of Steven’s short stories were selected “101 Best” for Chicken Soup for the Soul series. He is a multi-produced playwright and winner of several book festivals, Including Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Amsterdam, and New England (from 2017-2025). When not spending time with his family, this Massachusetts author is promoting his works or writing.

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www.StevenManchester.com
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Q&A with STEVEN MANCHESTER

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
After returning home from a difficult tour of duty in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, I stepped back behind the walls of a Massachusetts penitentiary where I battled each day as a prison investigator. Needless to say, there was great negativity in my life at that time, and very little opportunity to heal from my wartime demons (or pursue my dreams of being published). I finally decided to return to college to finish my degree in Criminal Justice. During one of the classes, my professor, Barry McKee, detailed police work, but barely touched on other topics. I finally raised his hand and asked, “As the criminal justice system is so vast, what about the courts, probation, parole – corrections?” Barry smiled and told me to see him after class. I thought I’d done it! In his office, Barry explained, “Except from the slanted perspectives of inmates, there’s no real written material out there on corrections, or prisons.” Barry smiled again and then dropped the bomb that would change my life forever. “If you’re so smart,” he said, “why don’t you write it?” It was the last push I needed to get writing. Nine months later, I placed the first draft of 6-5; A Different Shade of Blue (under the pen name, Steven Herberts) on Barry’s desk. From then on, I was hooked. I was a writer.
Today, 30 years later, I am the co-author of the historical biographical novel, You Will Be Peter, the author of the soul-awakening novel, The Menu, as well as the ’80s nostalgia-series, Bread Bags & Bullies; Lawn Darts & Lemonade; Yearbooks & Yo-Yos. My other works include #1 bestsellers Twelve Months, The Rockin’ Chair, Pressed Pennies, and Gooseberry Island; the national bestsellers, Ashes, The Changing Season, and Three Shoeboxes; the multi-award-winning novels, Dad, and Goodnight Brian; and the heartwarming Christmas movie, The Thursday Night Club (NYIFA & LAFA winner). I am also the co-author of Officer Erik & the Very Special Dad with TV icon, Erik Estrada, as well as In the Valley of the Shadow, featuring the artwork of Brian Fox. My work has appeared on NBC’s Today Show and CBS’s The Early Show; in Billboard and People Magazines. Three of my short stories were selected “101 Best” for Chicken Soup for the Soul series. I am a multi-produced playwright, as well as the winner of the 2017 Los Angeles Book Festival, 2020 New England Book Festival, 2023 Paris Book Festival, and 2025 New York Book Festival. When not spending time with my beautiful wife, Paula, and our children and grandchildren, I am promoting my works or writing.

What was the inspiration for this book?
The Ledger has been another labor of love for me, the second installment in my Menu Series.
In 2020, I released The Menu, a story about hope, healing, and finding true peace. It’s a positive message intended to unite us all. My greatest hope has been that The Menu serve as a beacon of light for those who are feeling isolated and disheartened. The book’s message is simple: ‘We are all connected, and none of us is ever alone—not ever.’
Upon The Menu’s release, I began volunteering with caregivers at Hospice. During one of the many healing sessions, one of my readers claimed that she loved the novel but questioned why all the characters were good and kind. ‘Having a conscience was a menu choice,’ she said. ‘What if one of the characters decided not to order a conscience from his life’s menu?’ Talk about a goosebumps moment! I immediately understood that I needed to write a novel to complement—or maybe even counter—The Menu. Ying and yang; light and darkness. I figured that if I’m going to write about mercy, forgiveness, and redemption, what better setting than a prison?
I spent the better part of a decade working within a medium-security penitentiary—as a Correction Officer and then prison investigator—so it only made sense that 30 years later I’d take my writing skills and return to that setting. Although The Ledger is a departure from my usual fare, it’s a story I needed to write.

What’s an interesting or fun fact about the book that readers might not know?
The Ledger is the most reality-based fiction I have ever penned… and that’s saying something. In this novel, my goal was to pull back the curtain on life behind prison walls, giving my readers a safe peek.

Tell us why readers should pick up your book—what makes it stand out?
The research took years and the book required 30 years of writing experience to get it right.

Are you currently working on your next novel? If so, can you share a little about it?
All the Books in the World is a comprehensive historical and spiritual narrative centered on the life, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and legacy of Jesus Christ, as witnessed and recorded primarily by John bar Zebedee and other disciples. It offers a detailed portrayal of early Christian events, the formation of the discipleship group, Jesus’s teachings and miracles, the growing opposition from religious authorities, and the establishment of the early church. The narrative blends historical context with personal reflections and theological insights from the perspective of the last living eyewitness.

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Clear Your Schedule, Open THE LEDGER

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TRAFFICKING IN MURDER by Jeannette de Beauvoir #AuthorInterview

GHott — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:23:25 +0000

TRAFFICKING IN MURDER

by Jeannette de Beauvoir

June 8 – July 3, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:
SYDNEY RILEY PROVINCETOWN MYSTERY SERIES

When a Boston TV crew comes to Provincetown to shoot a segment at the Race Point Inn, owner Sydney Riley takes it in stride… until one of the producers mysteriously disappears. The missing producer soon winds up murdered, miles away, the corpse gruesomely displayed in a Wampanoag graveyard. Worse, a bizarre note on the body implies Sydney is responsible!

Meanwhile, a beautiful young Wampanoag woman has also gone missing. Ali, Sydney’s husband and a DHS counter-trafficking agent, is assigned to look into her disappearance. And Sydney needs to investigate who killed the TV producer and left that horrifying note. Are the two cases connected? Has Sydney’s past come back to haunt her—and threaten the people she loves?

TRAFFICKING IN MURDER Trailer:

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery
Published by: Beckett Books
Publication Date: May 22, 2026
Number of Pages: 322
ISBN: 979-8992594256
Series: Sydney Riley Provincetown Mystery Series, #11 | Each is a Stand Alone Mystery
Book Links: Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

Chapter One

“Americans,” said my goddaughter, licking cheese and tomato sauce off her fingers, “eat twenty-three pounds of pizza every year.”

I looked at her suspiciously. There’s no doubt in anybody’s mind that Lily is precocious for a seven-year-old, but she also sometimes falls prey to what in artificial intelligence is known as hallucinations, and makes things up if she believes they’ll create a better story. “I don’t eat twenty-three pounds of pizza,” I said, even though we were in fact sitting at the Provincetown House of Pizza and contributing to the statistic.

“Not every American,” Lily conceded. “It’s an average.” She brightened. “So that means, some people eat way more than that!”

“That’s a lot of pizza,” I agreed. The truth is, I do regard it as a treat of sorts. I am part-owner of the Race Point Inn in Provincetown’s East End, and pizza is never featured on our Michelin-starred restaurant’s menu.

Besides, I like spending time with my goddaughter. When my best friend Mirela brought Lily back from Plovdiv in Bulgaria—where her sister had regarded the baby as an inconvenience and readily signed adoption papers so Mirela could bring Lily to the States—I hadn’t been quite as enthused. (To be fair, neither had Mirela: if there were ever someone who manifested zero maternal instincts, it’s her. As a mother, she’s something of a work in progress. That had not, however, stopped her from once becoming the fiercest mother bear ever out in the dunes when the baby’s life was threatened.)

In my defense, there aren’t that many non-parents who can truly embrace the demands of a baby, which morphed into the demands of a toddler, which finally metamorphosed into the very smart conversations one could now have with the girl sitting at the table with me.

“Did you know,” she said, “that some indigenous people call the earth Turtle Island?”

“I did not,” I said. She knows the word indigenous. Of course she does. “Are you going to eat that piece?”

She shook her head, intent on her thought. “The way the turtle shell is curved works okay for half the earth,” she said. “That makes sense. But what about the bottom half? And where does the turtle sit, or stand, and how come people don’t fall off the turtle? And if we’re on Turtle Island, why don’t we just float away? But if we did, what would we be floating on top of?”

“Good questions,” I said. Somewhere in the back of my mind an expression flitted by, turtles all the way down, but I couldn’t remember who said it or what it meant, and didn’t want to further complicate the conversation. I picked up the last slice of pizza and took a bite. “You could look them up and see.”

“Aunt Sydney,” she said to me with dramatic excessive patience, “I already did. I know how to do research! But no one knows.”

When I was seven, I probably didn’t even know the word research. I sighed. Maybe she could make it her dissertation topic. At the rate she was going, that was probably going to happen sometime next year. “It’s their story,” I said. “Lots of cultures have stories to explain how things work.”

“But if everybody’s got a different story, how do we know which one is true?”

We’d gone from alimentation to geography to metaphysics in under four minutes, which had to be a record of some kind. I was rescued by the arrival of my husband. “I see you didn’t save me any pizza,” he said, sitting down at the table and reaching over to tousle Lily’s hair.

“Didn’t know you were coming,” I said.

“Uncle Ali,” said Lily, “How do we know whose story is true?”

“Story?” He raised his eyebrows, amused, and gave me a smile, which always—even after twelve years together—takes my breath away. Ali is Lebanese-American, and is the most beautiful man I have ever seen.

“Origin myths,” I told him. “Turtle Island.”

He said to Lily, “Truth can be different from facts, you know? Different stories are true for different people. In my religion, we don’t think the world started with a turtle. We think Allah created it, and did it in seven days.” He paused. “Does that sound like a fact to you?”

She shook her head. “My mom can’t even do a painting in seven days, sometimes,” she said.

“So they’re not facts, our stories, but even if we know they’re not factual, they tell us some truths about who we are,” he said.

“What truths does your story tell?”

He considered the question. Ali always treats Lily like a miniature adult. It works okay more often than not. “Well, it tells me that Allah is good, because the earth is good. It tells me Allah pays attention. It reminds me that he wants me to live in a way that I pay attention, too. And I think that people who tell the story of Turtle Island must be very close to the earth and nature, and the turtle reminds them of that.”

“Okay.” She was probably filing it all away to ask Mirela about later. “Are you going to order a pizza?”

Ali smiled. “I think not,” he said. “I was just passing and saw your Aunt Sydney’s car here so thought I’d stop in to say hello, because I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“It hasn’t been forever, Uncle Ali,” Lily said seriously. “It was last week.”

“Well, it feels like forever,” he said. “What are you ladies doing after lunch?”

“I don’t know about Lily,” I said, “but this lady has work to do.”

“You have to take me home first,” Lily said.

“I know.”

“My mom gave me the key,” Lily said.

“I know. She told me. And you haven’t lost it?”

She made a face. “Of course not, Aunt Sydney. I’m responsible.”

“You certainly are,” I said, smiling. I stood up and began clearing the table. “Want to help me with this? What time’s your mom coming home?”

She finished her soda, sucking noisily on the straw. “When she’s done at the gallery.”

That could be anytime. Mirela isn’t just any artist; even in Provincetown—itself an important art colony, the oldest continuous one in North America—she’s one of the town’s hottest artists. She came to P’town from Bulgaria one summer to work, back when Bulgarian students came here in droves; they still come, but in somewhat smaller numbers; Provincetown is changing. She spent that first summer waiting tables at Joon Bar and The Mews, driving a pedicab, and painting seascapes, mostly of the harbor. The paintings sold, and she stayed on, eventually becoming a US citizen; but over those years her style changed. Now she creates abstract works that sell for tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars. She’s also marginally psychic, and some of her paintings carry eerie messages that scare the hell out of me.

Lily is, of course, her loudest critic, and often complains that her work doesn’t look like anything in particular; I privately agree with that assessment.

Very privately.

Ali stood up and opened his arms for a hug. “I’ll see you soon, habibi,” he said. It’s an Arabic endearment he reserves for Lily. He generally uses Italian ones with me. He thinks they make him sound sexy.

He’s right.

Lily duly deposited at Mirela’s house in the West End, Ali and I returned to the Race Point Inn, which was doing its usual brisk business. It was late June, the start of the tourist season, when Provincetown’s population makes the switch from three thousand residents in the winter to eighty thousand in the summer. The inn’s open year-round, and we’re generally booked up completely from April to December. I’ve been part of the inn now, one way or another, for over fourteen years, and yet am still absorbing what that entails: people, people, and more people.

Ali disappeared into our residence, which is the penthouse on the top floor of the inn, and I went in search of Wendy, the inn’s manager and—I could swear—magician. She soothed ruffled feathers, dealt with crises, handled difficult people, all the things I’m not terribly good at. We all have our areas of specialty.

Mine is murder.

***

That’s not really true, of course; I haven’t actually killed anybody yet, though I’ve come close a few times. In my fantasies, anyway. No; as Julie Agassi, the head of the Provincetown Police detective unit, tells it, if there’s a dead body anywhere in town, I’m going to be the one to have found it. Or known about it. Or been somehow involved with it. And it’s true that I seem to have a Jessica Fletcher/Miss Marple-level of amateur connection to crime.

It started one summer morning when I went to take an early dip in the Race Point’s pool—at the time, I was employed as the inn’s wedding coordinator—and found the body of my boss floating in the water with me. A thousand times ick, as well as a sorrow I’ve never really gotten over: Barry had been the kindest, gentlest man I’d ever known.

So of course I wanted to be part of bringing his killer to justice.

After that, it felt somehow natural for me to be on the scene of other crimes. Provincetown isn’t very big, and my work brings me into contact with a tremendous number of people, so it’s logical, really, that I’d have more success in figuring things out than would the State Police, dispatched from up-Cape to investigate homicides and not necessarily all that familiar with our little quirks down here.

And quirky doesn’t even begin to describe Provincetown. The town is a vibrant art colony. It’s also a gay-resort destination. And an old fishing village that still retains the remnants of the commercial fleet, along with the Portuguese families who worked it. Once upon a time, one of the whaling capitals of the world. And before that, the summer home of an indigenous population. All that history, all that mix makes for people who most decidedly do not do things by the book. Some outsiders find that disconcerting.

I find it… home.

Wendy was sitting in the empty restaurant drinking coffee and going over the evening’s menu with Martin, the maître d’. “It doesn’t matter; she says we have to take it off,” he was saying.

I pulled up a chair. “Take what off?”

“The salmon en croute,” said Martin. “She is not pleased with the quality of today’s delivery.”

Wendy was shaking her head. “Seriously? I don’t get it. Everybody likes salmon,” she objected. “Even people who don’t like fish, like salmon. She’s got it; for heaven’s sake, what else does she want to do with it?”

Martin made a face; I could only imagine what “she” had said to do with it. She was, of course, Adrienne the diva chef, by whose graces we had earned and kept our Michelin rating. She also had absolutely no care for anybody’s feelings; staff had been known to quit their first night of service because she’d completely terrorized them. My co-owner, Mike, seemed to be the only person who took her tantrums in stride. “It is not a local fish,” Martin was saying, his French accent somehow making the remark more persuasive. “And she has two other piscatory dishes on the menu…”

Wendy snorted. “For heaven’s sake,” she said again, but she said it with resignation. We all knew the truth: what Adrienne the diva chef wanted, Adrienne the diva chef got. “I’m going to have to reprint the menus.”

“Such is the nature of our curious enterprise,” said Martin, shrugging; he knows which battles to fight. He turned to me. “Sydney? Was there something you needed?”

“I wanted to check in with Wendy about the TV crew,” I said. We were being featured on one of the local-things-to-do, early-evening programs out of Boston, which was both a Good Thing—it helps to be known as a Weekend Waypoints destination—and also was going to be disruptive of staff and guests alike.

“Arriving tomorrow morning,” she said, changing gears briskly and seemingly effortlessly. “Mike wants you to do the interview, did he tell you?”

“He did.” Mike and I had become co-owners of the inn when its former owner gave up Provincetown for Amsterdam and his new love. Mike had been the manager, so he slipped easily into the role of keeping on top of the practical side of things, whereas once I gave up coordinating weddings, I tended more toward the public-relations side of ownership, attended business guild meetings, helped organize events, went off-Cape to conferences… and, apparently, did interviews for Boston television stations.

I also valued Wendy’s impressive organizational skills. “Where do you suggest it will disrupt people the least? The interview, I mean? The part I’m doing?”

“You’re doing the whole part,” she corrected me. “You’re going to have to stick with them, and take the producers to lunch here, I have a table for you at one o’clock.” She pulled out her smartphone and started scrolling. “Juliet Mills and Bruce Peterson,” she read. “And rooms thirty-four and eighteen will be empty and prepared for the cameras, but you have to be out of eighteen by lunchtime because we have an early arrival for it.”

I raised my eyebrows ever so slightly. “Thirty-four? Do you think that’s a good idea? You know they’ll have done their homework.” I could still hear Lily’s voice saying she knew how to do research; there was absolutely no way television producers didn’t.

It wasn’t that thirty-four is a bad room—it’s actually quite nice, with antique furnishings and a window overlooking the largest of our patios, the one with the arbor. It had been two years since Ali and I had stood on that patio exchanging wedding vows when we were interrupted by a man’s body falling very nearly on top of us.

From room thirty-four.

“They requested it,” said Wendy. “It adds a little pizzazz, knowing a murder happened here.”

Two murders, in fact, if you counted the body in the pool years before that. My instinct was to downplay that particular facet of the Race Point’s claims to fame. But Wendy leaned into it, and her decision had proved successful. There was even talk, sometimes, of a possible haunting. And people liked that. “Your call,” I said, making a face.

“I’ve put together a schedule,” Wendy went on, her voice brisk. Potential ghosts weren’t playing into her agenda—for the day, at least. “They’ll spend the morning shooting the inn, then after lunch they’ll go down Commercial Street, do shots of the town. They call it B-roll. Back here for a wrap-up before dinner service starts. Nine of them in all: producers, director, the on-air talent, and cameras and sound.”

“Okay.” I knew better than to argue: Wendy knew what she was doing. Nothing could go wrong.

Which just goes to show how little I understand about fate, or life, or anything.

***

Excerpt from Trafficking in Murder by Jeannette de Beauvoir. Copyright 2026 by Jeannette de Beauvoir. Reproduced with permission from Jeannette de Beauvoir. All rights reserved.

Author Bio:

Jeannette de Beauvoir is the author of historical and mystery/thriller fiction and a poet whose work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. She has written three mystery series along with a number of standalone novels; her work “demonstrates a total mastery of the mystery/suspense genre” (Midwest Book Review) She’s a member of the Authors Guild, the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and the Historical Novel Society. She lives and works in a seaside cottage on Cape Cod where she’s also a local theatre critic and hosts an arts-related program on local community radio.

Catch Up With Jeannette de Beauvoir:

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Instagram – @JeannettedeBeauvoir
Facebook – @JeannettedeBeauvoir

Q&A with AUTHOR

How did you come up with the title?
I have to just laugh—I try to show that each of my mysteries has a murder in it, so I use words like fatal, deadly, and so on. And since human trafficking as a crime was also involved, I came up with Trafficking in Murder. The silly part of it is that it’s absolutely technically meaningless—but it still sounded good, my publisher agreed, so we left it at that.

Can you give us a glimpse into the research that went into writing this story?
I generally spend two or three years researching the stories I write—once it’s in print, it’s forever, and I want to include everything that I can learn into my understanding, even though not all of it makes it into the original book. For Trafficking in Murder, there were a number of subplots that needed researching: the background to producing a weekly television program, the processes involved in human trafficking, and the history and culture of the Wampanoag tribe. So I was gathering a lot of threads together!

What is your inspiration?
Most of my books are mystery novels—what that means is at the most basic level, they’re about a crime, finding out how it happened, and resolving the aftermath in some way. And yet all of my novels, though they seem to be about solving crime, are at their core about respect and the non-“othering” of people who are different from us. And that will inevitably lead to exploring our own psyches, questioning why we believe what we believe about others, and figuring out whether we ourselves have room for growth. In exploring and sharing the world of the various different kinds of communities, I am hoping that readers will again enter emotionally into the lives of people they may never have thought about, and then go out and make the world just a little better, safer, and more joyful.

What’s next for you—what can readers look forward to?
I’m well into the research for the 12th Sydney Riley Provincetown mystery—this one will have a paranormal/metaphysical background (Provincetown has so many ghost stories, I couldn’t resist!). And I’m currently doing Draft Three of the next Abbie Bradford International mystery: after heading up to Base Camp in The Everest Enigma, she’ll be checking out some past espionage in England.

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Lights, Camera… Murder in Provincetown

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CMash Reads

THE HISTORY WE CARRY by Margaret Whitford

THE HISTORY WE CARRY

A Daughter’s Memoir

by Margaret Whitford

July 27 – August 21, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

For fans of Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died, a memoir for daughters who recognize that to truly understand themselves and the patterns of their lives, they must first understand their mothers and the forces that shaped these women.

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A World of Two

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A History You’ll Want To Carry

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MERRY-GO-ROUND BROKE DOWN by David Woo & Margalit Shinar #AuthorInterview

MERRY-GO-ROUND BROKE DOWN

by David Woo & Margalit Shinar

July 20 – August 14, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

A novel of nine linked parables about globalization, ambition, hope, love, and greed spanning two decades and eight countries.

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Chapter 4

TOMOKO WATANABE Tokyo, Japan, January–July 2005

David Woo:

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Q&A with DAVID WOO & MARGALIT SHINAR

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New Thriller, New Gift Card—Jump In!

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Have You Seen Him by Kimberly Lee #AuthorInterview

HAVE YOU SEEN HIM

by Kimberly Lee

July 6 – 31, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

What if everything you believed about yourself was totally wrong?

Have You Seen Him is a story of lost identity, dangerous secrets, and a deeply personal pursuit of the truth.

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Have You Seen Him… And This Giveaway?

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GRANDPA DAY by Perry Solomon #AuthorInterview

GRANDPA DAY

by Perry Solomon

June 29 – August 7, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

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Q&A with PERRY SOLOMON

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We’re Honoring the Love, Wisdom, and Joy of Grandparents With a Giveaway

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Get Gribnitz by Howard Gimple #AuthorGuestPost

GET GRIBNITZ

by Howard Gimple

June 29 – July 24, 2026 Virtual Book Tour

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TOMOKO WATANABE
Tokyo, Japan, January–July 2005

Alpha and Omega
Sunday, February 1, 2015 – 1:47 a.m.