The Authors

 

Alafair Burke is the New York Times, Edgar Award nominated author of fourteen crime novels. Published in more than twenty languages, her books have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today Show, Entertainment Weekly, People, O (Oprah Magazine), The Boston Globe, Washington Post, Sun Sentinel, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and numerous other outlets.

She also co-authored six novels with Mary Higgins Clark. Learn more at www.alafairburke.com.


Boyd Morrison is an actor, engineer, Jeopardy! champion, and a #1 NY Times bestselling author of twelve thrillers, including six collaborations with Clive Cussler in the Oregon Files adventure series. His first novel, The Ark, was an Indie Next Notable pick and has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

He started his career working on NASA’s space station project at Johnson Space Center, where he got the opportunity to fly on the Vomit Comet, the same plane used to train astronauts for zero gravity. After earning a PhD in engineering from Virginia Tech, he used his training to develop sixteen US patents at Thomson/RCA. Boyd then managed a video game testing group in Microsoft’s Xbox division before becoming a full-time writer.

For non-fiction thrills, he enjoys white water rafting, skiing, scuba diving, and bungee jumping. Boyd is also a professional actor, appearing in films, commercials, and stage plays. In 2003 he fulfilled a lifelong dream and became a Jeopardy! champion. He currently lives in Seattle with his wife. Learn more at boydmorrison.com.


Lisa Gardner, a #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-four suspense novels, including The Neighbor, which won Thriller of the Year from the International Thriller Writers, began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead.

A self-described research junkie, she has transformed her interest in police procedure and criminal minds into a streak of internationally acclaimed novels, published across 30 countries. She’s also had four books become TV movies (At the Midnight Hour; The Perfect Husband; The Survivors Club; Hide) and has made personal appearances on TruTV and CNN.

An avid hiker, traveler, and cribbage player, she lives in the mountains of New Hampshire with her family. Learn more at www.lisagardner.com.


Cheryl Head (she/her) writes the award-winning, Charlie Mack Motown Mysteries whose female PI protagonist is queer and black. Head is a two-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, Goldie Award winner, and her books are listed in the Detroit Public Library’s African American Book List.

In 2019, Head was named to the Hall of Fame of the New Orleans Saints and Sinners Literary Festival. She is a current member of the national Bouchercon Board of Directors.

Head’s latest novel, Time’s Undoing, about a 90-year, unsolved police shooting in Birmingham, Alabama, is based on her family’s true story and will be published by Dutton in 2023. Learn more at www.cherylhead.com.


Authors’ Books

 

Find Me by Alafair Burke

She calls herself Hope Miller, but she has no idea who she actually is. Fifteen years ago, she was found in a small New Jersey town thrown from an overturned vehicle, with no clue to her identity. Doctors assumed her amnesia was a temporary side effect of her injuries, but she never regained her memory. Hope eventually started a new life with a new name in a new town that welcomed her, yet always wondered what she may have left behind—or been running from. Now, she’s leaving New Jersey to start over once again.

Manhattan defense lawyer Lindsay Kelly, Hope’s best friend and the one who found her after the accident, understands why Hope wants a new beginning. But she worries how her friend will fare in her new East Hampton home, far away from everything familiar. Lindsay’s worst fears are confirmed when she discovers Hope has vanished without a trace—the only lead a drop of blood found where she was last seen. Even more ominously, the blood matches a DNA sample with a connection to a notorious Kansas murderer.

With nowhere else to turn, Lindsay calls NYPD homicide detective Ellie Hatcher, the daughter of the cop who dedicated his life to hunting the Kansas killer. Ellie has always believed there was more to the story of her father’s death twenty years earlier—and she now fears that Hope’s recent disappearance could be related.

In pursuit of answers, the women search for the truth beneath long-buried secrets. And when their searches converge, what they find will upend everything they’ve ever known.

Purchase at an independent bookstore near you.

Purchase online at www.bookshop.org.


One Step Too Far by Lisa Gardner

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner, a thrilling new novel that sends missing persons expert Frankie Elkin into a national forest in Wyoming looking for a young man who disappeared without a trace.  But when the search team encounters immediate threats to their survival, Frankie realizes she’s up against something very dark—and she’s running out of time.

Purchase at an independent bookstore near you.

Purchase online at www.bookshop.org.


Warn Me When It’s Time by Cheryl A. Head

A hate group operating in Oakland County, Michigan has claimed responsibility for a six-month-long string of arson fires and robberies at mosques, temples, and black churches around Detroit, eluding police and federal agencies. The most recent fire, at a mosque in Dearborn, kills a respected imam. His children–suspicious of law enforcement’s treatment of Muslims and afraid of reprisal–hires Charlie Mack and her team of investigators to find their father’s murderers.

The Mack team begins to hunt down the clues in this local hate crime, but they aren’t prepared when they realize that those clues are pointing to a widespread conspiracy that runs through elected state officials and up to the highest levels of national leadership. FBI agent, James Saleh, returns to help the Mack Agency infiltrate and take down a homegrown militia hell-bent on starting a race war in America.

Purchase at an independent bookstore near you.

Purchase online at www.bookshop.org.


The Lawless Land by Boyd & Beth Morrison

Ex-communicated knight Gerard Fox is a battle-hardened warrior whose ancestral home was unjustly taken from him. Now, he roams across the known world of Europe looking for work as a man-at-arms. Equipped with only his Damascus-steel sword and war bow, Fox takes out tyrannical and dishonorable men in a land still blighted by the Black Death.

In his ongoing crusade to deliver justice, Fox comes to the aid of Lady Isabel, who is fleeing from her brutal betrothed. But she hasn’t told him the whole story. Isabel is guarding a priceless holy relic. One many men would kill for.

Fox and Isabel soon find they are being chased across the continent and try to evade those who seek the relic. But as more assassins close in, Fox realizes they will stop at nothing to possess the sacred treasure that Isabel has sworn to protect…

Purchase at an independent bookstore near you.

Purchase online at www.bookshop.org.


Your Hosts

 

Karen Dionne is the USA Today and #1 internationally bestselling author of the award-winning psychological suspense novel The Marsh King’s Daughter, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in the US and in 26 other languages. Her follow up novel, The Wicked Sister (August 2020, G.P. Putnam’s Sons), is also an international bestseller and was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of their Best Books of 2020.

The Marsh King’s Daughter was also chosen as one of the best books of 2017 by iBooks, Hudson Booksellers, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Irish Independent, Library Journal, Shelf Awareness and many other booksellers and reviewers, and is soon to be a major motion picture starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn.

Both The Wicked Sister and The Marsh King’s Daughter were selected by the Library of Michigan as Michigan Notable Books, and The Marsh King’s Daughter took home the Barry and the Crimson Scribe Awards for Best Novel. Visit Karen at www.karen-dionne.com

Karen’s newest novel is The Wicked Sister. “Dionne paints a haunting portrait of a family hurtling toward the tragic destiny they can foresee but are powerless to stop.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Purchase The Wicked Sister at an independent bookstore near you.

Purchase The Wicked Sister online at www.bookshop.org.

Hank Phillippi Ryan is the USA Today bestselling author of thirteen novels of suspense.  She has won five Agathas, four Anthonys, two Macavitys, the Daphne, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark award. National reviews have called her a “master at crafting suspenseful mysteries” and “a superb and gifted storyteller.” Her 2019 book The Murder List won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the year. Her 2020 book is The First to Lie, of which the Publishers Weekly starred review said, “Stellar. Ryan could win a sixth Agatha with this one.” It is now a nominee for the Anthony Award  and the Mary Higgins Clark Award.

Hank is also an award-winning investigative reporter at Boston’s WHDH-TV. In addition to 37 EMMYs and 14 Edward R. Murrow awards, Hank’s won dozens of other honors for her ground-breaking journalism. Hank is  the co-host of First Chapter Fun, hosts the online mystery interview program for the acclaimed A Mighty Blaze, is a founding teacher at Mystery Writers of America University and served as past president of national Sisters in Crime.  Learn more at www.HankPhillippiRyan.com.

Hank’s newest novel, Her Perfect Life, published September 14, 2021 with starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly.  “Superlative…this is a fast-paced, surprise-packed treat.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Purchase Her Perfect Life at an independent bookstore near you.

Purchase Her Perfect Life online at www.bookshop.org.