IG Live | a conversation with author Andre Hardy

 

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Andre Hardy played running back in the NFL and then wrote a gritty crime fiction debut. If you missed our live chat, check out this replay.

Tear the City Down came out yesterday and it's the kind of book I'd recommend to any reader who tells me they want something gritty and don't want to be babied. Coltrane Davis is a fixer who wants out. His daughter's tennis career is finally the thing worth going straight for. Then a Chargers star running back vanished the night before a big game, and  Coltrane’s boss pulls him back in for one more job. That job takes him somewhere very dark. (Be aware there are several trigger warnings.)

We talked about how a guy goes from the football field to writing noir, why jazz runs through every page, what Andre saw behind the scenes in football that made it into the book, and the many side his of hometown city San Diego. 

If you're a fan of S.A. Cosby or Walter Mosley, this one is for you.

Watch the replay, then grab the book at Bookshop.org. This is for the readers who like their crime fiction fast, brutal, and with a heart.

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and Megan Beatie Communications for the gifted book.

if you missed it, be sure to check out my review of Tear the City Down.

IG Live | a conversation with author Julie Carrick Dalton

 

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If you weren’t able to catch us live earlier, here's the replay of my conversation with Julie Carrick Dalton. We dug into The Forest Becomes Her and talked about the Concord setting, the three women who end up fighting for one tree, and how she let the magic creep in so slowly you almost don’t clock it until it’s already got you. Julie also talked about her background as a beekeeper and organic farmer and how that shaped the way she writes about land and what we owe it.

If you loved this one as much as I did, or you’re still deciding whether to pick it up, the replay is a good place to start. You can grab a copy of The Forest Becomes Her at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it. You can check out my full book review here.

About the Author

As a journalist, Julie Carrick Dalton has published more than a thousand articles in The Boston Globe, BusinessWeek, The Hollywood Reporter, Orion Magazine, Electric Literature, and other publications. A former beekeeper and organic farmer, she is a frequent speaker on the topic of writing fiction in the age of climate crisis and is a member of the teaching faculty at Drexel University’s MFA Program. When she isn’t reading, writing, or teaching, you can probably find her skiing, swimming, kayaking, working in her garden, or trying to keep track of her four children and two dogs.

Follow Julie on Instagram and visit her website for news and information about her books.

IG Live | a conversation with Archer Sullivan

 

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Archer Sullivan spent time with me talking snake-handling preachers, small Appalachian towns, and her writing process. 

 Annie Gore is back, this time investigating whether a preacher's fatal snakebite was really an accident, and Archer told me things and Archer discussed growing up in small town s and books that have influenced her writing. We also got into the Annie's character and what's surprised her about writing mysteries.

Catch the replay of our conversation here. Brimstone Hollow is a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me. It's out August 11 and you can preorder a copy from Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you missed my full review of Brimstone Hollow, you can read it here.

About the Author

Archer Sullivan is a ninth generation Appalachian. She's moved thirty-seven times and has lived everywhere from Monticello, Kentucky to Manhattan, New York and from Black Mountain, North Carolina to Beverly Hills, California. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Tough, Shotgun Honey, Reckon Review, Rock and a Hard Place, and The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2024. Follow Archer on Instagram for more news and information about her books.

IG Live | a conversation with author Lauren Nossett

 

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I spent time talking with Lauren Nossett athis afternoon bout Indie Darling and she was so fabulous. You can watch the replay of our conversation here.

Kelly Williams is a Nashville private investigator who helps women: sisters looking for lost siblings, wives chasing affairs, daughters with men lingering outside their windows. She drives a little red sports car and loves Dolly Parton. Her newest client turns out to be Seraph, the polarizing frontwoman of indie band The Garden Snakes, and she’s been getting threatening messages. Then Seraph is shot on stage mid-performance and the ambulance carrying her disappears.

Lauren is a former professor with a PhD who turned novelist, and you can hear it in how she thinks about the book. We talked about writing Nashville as a city with two faces, what it costs to be a famous woman with opinions, and why Kelly’s whole practice is built on believing women when nobody else does. 

Indie Darling is out July 28 from Minotaur. If you like your mysteries with a strong sense of place and a detective you’d actually want to have dinner with, put this one on your list. Follow Lauren on Instagram to keep up with new about her book and book tour events. 

Thank you so much Lauren! It was a pleasure chatting with you! 

You can read my full review of Indie Darling here. Grab a copy at Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

IG Live | a conversation with author John Fram (writing as Jack Friday)

 

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I just wrapped my Live with John Fram (writing as Jack Friday) and I’m still turning over half the things he said.

The whole conversation is right here, so if you missed us live, hit play. John writes some of the eeriest queer horror out there (The Bright Lands, The Midnight Knock), and now he’s stepped into crime fiction as Jack Friday with a series that’s funny, sexy, and soaked in Austin. We got into why he picked up a new name, how Peter Key showed up on the page, and what it actually takes to switch lanes from horror to mystery without losing the readers who came for the scares.

Quick refresher on the book if it’s new to you: Killer Vibes (out July 14) introduces Peter Key, a broke, bisexual, dedicated stoner who inherits a rundown house in one of Austin’s nicest neighborhoods from an uncle he barely knew. Then comes the half a million in debt, a bag of cash, and a growing suspicion that the death wasn’t an accident. Before he knows it he’s calling himself the laziest PI in Texas.

He was a fantastic guest. Warm, quick, and clearly having a blast building this world. Hit this link to pop over to my IG to watch the replay before you forget, and put this one on your July list.

Killer Vibes is out now — grab a copy on Bookshop.org and support an indie store while you're at it.

About the Author

Jack Friday is the pen name of John Fram, the author of several queer supernatural thrillers such as The Bright Lands and The Midnight Knock. He lives in Austin. Follow John on Instagram and visit his website for more news and information about hsi books.

IG Live | a conversation with Lee Goldberg

 

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I didn't expect a murder mystery to make me laugh this much. Lee Goldberg pulled it off.

I went Live with him to talk about Murder by Design, the first book in his new Edison Bixby series, and the conversation was every bit as quick and funny as the book.

Edison Bixby is a former LAPD detective who took a bullet to the face. He survived, but the brain injury left him with zero filter — he says the rudest possible thing in the room every single time. He's also wealthy, brilliant, and now works as an insurance investigator who cracks cases by spotting how the design of a building or a space can make a murder possible.

His first case looks open and shut: a woman falls down a mall staircase in front of dozens of witnesses, all of it caught on video. Everyone sees an accident. Bixby sees a murder by design, where someone quietly engineered her into causing her own death. Pair him with Wally Nash, a broke actor hired mostly to keep Bixby from insulting everyone, and you've got the strangest, most entertaining Holmes-and-Watson duo I've read in ages.

Lee talked about how he got his inspiration for the book from a quote by a famous architect and how he wanted to write a fun and unique detective. He also said he's working on a sequel already. 

It just hit shelves, so the timing couldn't be better. If you like your mysteries clever and a little tongue-in-cheek, this is your next read.

Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me today, Lee. I really appreciate it and I'm already looking forward to the sequel!

You can watch the replay of our conversation here. Check out my full review of Murder by Design here. Grab a copy on Bookshop.org and help an indie store while you're at it.

You can find Lee on Instagram and check out his website for more news about Lee and his books.

IG Live | a conversation with Andromeda Romano-Lax

 

Some thrillers entertain you. This one stays with you long after you finish. 

I went Live with Andromeda Romano-Lax to talk about What Boys Learn. The conversation got just as intense as her book. In a good way, of course. 

Abby Rosso is a high school counselor and a single mom raising her teenage son in a wealthy Chicago suburb. Then two teenage girls are found dead over one weekend, and Abby starts to suspect her own son is tangled up in it. Maybe even responsible.

It's a psychological thriller, but it's really chewing on something bigger. How well do we actually know the people we love the most, and how far would a mother go before she let herself believe the worst?

Andromeda talked how one of her previous books, The Deepest Lake, sparked What Boys Learn. 

If you've got a thriller lover in your life, or you're raising boys yourself, this is the one to put in their hands next.

You can watch the replay of our conversation here. Check out my review of What Boys Learn here. 

You can find Andromeda on Instagram and on Substack.

IG Live | a conversation with Amin Ahmad

 

IG Live with author Amin Ahmad

Some books just make for great conversation. This was one of them.

I had there great pleasure of talking with author Amin Ahmad this morning. We talked about A Killer in the Family, his ultra-wealthy immigrant family at the center of the story, the Succession-meets-Crazy Rich Asians vibe, and his inspiration for Abbas Kahn the head the of family, his writing process, and joy he gets from teaching creative writing at the college level.

Amin was such a genuinely warm and thoughtful guest. One of those conversations where an hour flies by.

If you haven't picked this one up yet, you should.It's a twisty thriller wrapped around a really sharp look at power, family secrets, and the American dream. The kind of book that keeps you second-guessing everyone. A Killer in the Family is out now.

You can watch the replay of our conversation here. And if you missed my review of A Killer in the Family, you can find it here.

About the Author

Amin Ahmad was raised in India and came to the United States at the age of seventeen. He worked as an architect for many years before turning to writing. He teaches creative writing at Duke University and lives in Durham, North Carolina with his family and a very mischievous cat.

Follow Amin on Instagram. For news and information on Amin and his books, visit his website.

IG Live | a conversation with Amy Mass

 

I had such a great time chatting with author Amy Mass about her debut novel 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀. It's a fun and heartfelt romcom that comes out tomorrow. It features Grace, a scientist, who goes on a reality dating show to help save her lab if she can win the prize money. But can Grace find love too? 

Reality Bites is out May 12. 

Watch the replay of our conversation here. You can read my full review of Reality Bites here. For more information and news about Amy, visit her website.

IG Live | a conversation with Ilona Bannister

 

I had such a wonderful time chatting with Ilona Bannister on an IG Live today about her new book Five. We had a spoiler-free discussion about the inspiration for it, the characters, and her writing process. 

This is a tense and taught thriller that takes place in five minutes as a train rushed towards the platform. If you're looking for a tense and taught thriller, this one's for you. It's a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me. Thank you Crown Publishing for the gifted finished copy!

Many thanks to Ilona for taking the time during this busy pub week to chat! I appreciate it! 

You can watch the replay of our discussion here. You can read my full review of Five here.

For more news and information about Ilona, visit her website.

IG Live | A Conversation with Ellery Adams

 

IG Live | A Conversation with Ellery Adams

I had the pleasure of sitting down on Instagram Live with NYT bestselling author Ellery Adams this afternoon to talk about her brand new book Invasive Species It was a conversation you don’t want to miss.

The story is set in Cold Harbor, a sleepy small town that’s seen its share of monsters in the form of cheating husbands and leering bosses. But nothing quite like Mrs. Smith, the mysterious woman who’s finally emerged from her crumbling mansion on the hill. Her secret? She needs nine human sacrifices to maintain her immortality. 

Meanwhile, Natalie Scott is laser-focused on closing her first real estate sale. It’s the one that will finally take her from stay-at-home mom to working woman all while navigating the suffocating social expectations of 1980s suburbia.  But it’s Natalie’s twelve-year-old daughter Jill and her Icelandic housekeeper Una who sense something is really wrong. Armed with library books and a whole lot of grit, the two team up to save the town and face the bigger question lurking underneath it all: what does it really mean to be a monster? 

This is a genre-blending novel that weaves together Greek legend, Icelandic folklore, and the everyday horrors of patriarchal expectations. Ellery and I had a great conversation about all of it. She’s a fantastic guest and this book is unlike anything else out there right now.

Invasive Species hit shelves April 14th. Catch the replay on Instagram here.

Want to read my full review? Check it out here.

I sit down with authors for honest, unscripted conversations about their books. Follow me on Instagram so you don’t miss the next one.

IG Live | A Conversation with Michael Kardos

 

 

I IG Live | A Conversation with Michael Kardos

A few weeks ago I sat down on Instagram Live with author Michael Kardos to talk about his delightful crime novel Fun City Heist and it was every bit as fun as the book itself.

Here’s the setup: Mo used to be the drummer in a band that almost made it. Now he’s renting beach chairs to tourists and trying not to think too hard about the life he didn’t have. Then his old bandmate Johnny shows up with two things — a terminal ALS diagnosis and one last wild idea. Reunite the band for a 4th of July show at the boardwalk amusement park where it all began. And while they’re at it? Rob the place.

It’s a heist novel with real heart. What makes it work isn’t just the caper.  It’s Mo’s relationship with his teenage daughter running underneath everything. I gave it 4 stars and had a blast reading it. Full review here.

Watch my conversation with Michael on Instagram — catch the replay here.

I sit down with authors for honest, unscripted conversations about their books. Follow me on Instagram so you don’t miss the next one.

IG Live | A Conversation with Robin Yocum

 

IG Live | A Conversation with Robin Yocum

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down on Instagram Live with author Robin Yocum to talk about his thriller The Last Hitman — and it was a great conversation.

Here’s the quick version of the book: Angelo Cipriani is an aging mob enforcer who’s been quietly pushed out by new leadership. His days are simple now: lunch at the diner, a little harmless flirting with the waitress. Then the FBI shows up with a proposition that changes everything. Talk and stay out of prison. Stay silent and risk becoming a loose end.

It’s a character-driven crime novel with a surprisingly sympathetic main character and some of the crispest writing I’ve come across in a while. A hidden gem that deserves a lot more attention. I gave it 4 stars. You can read my full review here.

Watch the replay on Instagram —

 catch it here.

I sit down with authors for honest, unscripted conversations about their books. Follow me on Instagram so you don’t miss the next one.