With The Blue Hour, Paula Hawkins delivers a different kind of thrill than the propulsive The Girl on the Train which put her on the map as a bestselling author. This new novel, a dark deep dive into obsession, betrayal, and the artistic life compels no less but feels more sophisticated — a slow burn that satisfies both the thrill-seeking and the cerebral. Deeply atmospheric, The Blue Hour centers around Eris Island, an isolated Scottish island only accessible from the mainland when the tide is low. Renowned artist Vanessa Chapman, seeking solitude, makes the island her home and muse. Years later, the discovery of a human bone in one of her sculptures brings into question not only her legacy but the fate of her ex-husband who mysteriously disappeared two decades before. James Decker, a young curator long obsessed with Chapman, ventures to Eris Island to collect the artist’s works and piece together some answers. But local doctor Grace, Chapman’s long-time companion and fierce protector, hinders his attempts to uncover the artist’s secrets. In The Blue Hour, Hawkins tightly weaves plot and theme to create a claustrophobic tension akin to a barometric pressure drop ahead of a gathering storm. Then finally, thunder cracks in an inevitable and haunting finish. I connected with the British author over Zoom for a lively and insightful conversation. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Jenny Bartoy: I spent a weekend with my nose buried in this novel, absolutely riveted and ignoring all responsibilities. I’m curious about your inspiration for The Blue Hour. Paula Hawkins: I tend to think about things for quite a long time before I write them, but the setting was a big part of where it came from. I’d been on holiday in France, on the coast of Brittany, and walking there, I remember seeing these little tidal islands and one had a single house on it. That struck me, and I felt that little prickle of an idea. What sort of person would want to go and live in a house on an island that’s inaccessible for half the day? There are obviously lots of good, crime-y possibilities with a place like that, lots of locked room possibilities. But I was thinking more about the kind of person who would want to go there. And I had been wanting to write about an artist. We have quite a romantic view of the lives of artists, but there’s lots of scope for conflict and questions around legacy. I think mostly it was this idea of what it is to be a woman working creatively, and this woman being drawn to this very lonely place where she can be completely free to live her life and create. But then, what are the possible downsides of that? What might go wrong? JB: Early in the book, the artist at the center of the story, Vanessa Chapman, writes in her journal about this exact thing: “This freedom is intoxicating / I eat when I please / Work when I please / Come and go when I please / I answer to no one, only the tide.” It’s almost like a poem or a mini-manifesto. Her euphoria will likely feel relatable to many readers, particularly women. In this, The Blue Hour feels almost like a radical text in asserting Vanessa’s independence. PH: It’s a kind of selfish impulse to do whatever she wants, but I think a lot of us can recognize that impulse and how amazing it would be to completely run away from it all and just focus on the thing that you love. To not have to answer to anyone, to not have anyone knocking on your door, not even notifications on your phone. That idea of being somewhere silent, somewhere remote, somewhere where you can be at peace and focus on whatever it is that you’ve wanted to devote your life to, it’s extremely tempting and seductive to me. JB: Yes, freedom from expectations! Vanessa, to me, exemplifies what we might think of a traditional male artist: obsessive, unapologetic, mercurial, promiscuous. But unlike her male contemporaries, she’s portrayed negatively in the press. One of your characters, Helena, schools her husband on this, saying: “Disagreeable and prickly and strident — that’s just what people say about a woman who knows her own mind.” It’s refreshing to see this called out. Can you tell me more about your intent in underlining these inequities? PH: [Vanessa] has a touch of the art monster about her. That’s all she’s interested in, and that’s what she wants to dedicate her life to, which, when men do it, we all go, “Oh, he’s a genius.” And then when women try to go in that direction, they are vilified. I’m thinking of people like Doris Lessing, for example, who kind of abandoned her children to go and write, and there’s literally nothing worse that she could do. I very much wanted to call out the way that women are written about, particularly in the 90s [when Vanessa is making art] — a lot of it was pretty grotesque, and actually a lot of the time women artists weren’t written about at all. [When they were], there was always a focus on what they looked like, and any woman who wasn’t pleasing all the time, who didn’t try to please the critic or the journalist, would have been told that they were aloof or difficult or what have you — just for having some boundaries or maybe not smiling enough. So I definitely wanted to underline that point. There is still an expectation on women in public life to be pleasing in a way that we don’t ask men to be pleasing. If a man is difficult or aloof, that’s fine, but for women, she’s being a bitch. JB: This novel touches on violence against women and on the various ways in which women respond to violence and betrayal, particularly within the context of these sociocultural expectations. Vanessa is obsessed with the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi, and her painting of Judith beheading Holofernes. Can you speak about the theme of violence and the importance of this painting in The Blue Hour? PH: Gentileschi is often written about in the context of being a victim of violence herself. She was raped. That’s often referred to when people discuss her painting, and I think that’s probably a little bit simplistic. What I loved about her version of Judith and Holofernes is these two women fighting together side by side. Often you see Judith with her servant just standing next to her while she does the beheading. But there’s a kind of equality between Judith and her maid. It’s about a man getting his head cut off, but it is an extraordinary painting, really visceral. And there was something about that sense of fighting back that I could see really appealing to Vanessa. I think probably most women have, at some point in their lives, imagined the thrill or the catharsis of responding to violence with violence in that way, even if you don’t actually want to do it. And it was something that then sort of runs through the book. I like to think that Vanessa, to some degree, could see the attraction of that response to violence. JB: You kept your cast of characters concise, and at the center, you have these two women who are both powerful yet misunderstood in terms of the truth of who they are. Vanessa is this renowned but reclusive artist, and Grace is this local doctor quietly saving lives but feeling utterly lonely. Can you tell me more about how you developed these two characters? PH: Character is something that I think about a lot. I very much do not want the characters to just be a type. And it’s quite easy to slip into those tropes, I think. But I tend to live with the characters for quite a long time. Vanessa is beautiful and reclusive, but what’s interesting about her is that you get to know her gradually through her diaries, and you see how she can be conflicted: quite unsure of herself, and yet very focused on her work. You can see how she’d be an attractive person to be around, but she’s not always very easy or necessarily kind. She’s one of those people who shine her light on you for a bit, then she goes cold and goes off on another thing. Grace was a bit tricky and took a while to develop. I was thinking about somebody who had disappointments early in life and somehow has not managed to deal with them. She never managed to deal with rejection properly; she tends to overreact to things; and I think sometimes, people like that become lonely. And their loneliness actually makes them repellent to people. It’s a horrible thing to say, but we tend to avoid lonely people, because nobody wants to be “infected” by the loneliness. And then you sort of think, what would that be like? She tries very hard, actually, and she has created this life for herself where she’s useful and she’s needed and she’s very much part of her community. So she isn’t just one thing or the other. Nobody’s just one thing or the other. We all have the capacity to go in all sorts of different directions depending on the circumstance. JB: The Blue Hour is an incredibly atmospheric novel, with Eris Island at the center of it. This small island is only accessible when the tide is low. As such, it is both prison and freedom, heaven and hell. Can you tell me a little more about how this setting guided or enhanced your narrative? PH: As I touched on, one of the things I had to imagine was the sort of person who would want to go there. It narrowed the cast down in quite a natural way. There’s not a lot of people [around Eris Island], so relationships are stripped back. Certainly with Grace, because of her loneliness, Vanessa is sort of the sole connection that she has, and you see every part of that relationship’s dynamic quite close up, in a way that you might not if they had a whole big group of friends and they were in the middle of a city. Vanessa has chosen to withdraw. But then you can tell from her letters to her friend Frances that she doesn’t always relish the solitude. Parts of it she absolutely loves, but then it does mean that she’s incredibly reliant on the few bits of social contact that she has, be it with Grace, or even when her ex-husband comes, she’s quite happy to see him. The other setting is Fairburn, this grand house. And that’s also a very narrow cast of characters, with difficult family relationships, and this love triangle as well. I do tend to do that deliberately, to try and strip things back, so that I can just focus quite narrowly on the particular relationship dynamics that I’m most interested in. JB: You write: “How very odd it must be, living at the mercy of the tide.” You use the tide narratively to create constraint and tension, but also metaphorically. A certain ebb and flow is a natural part of life and narrative, but here the writing felt intentionally rhythmic to me and I wonder if the tidal theme played a part. PH: I think partly, yes, that was intentional. You do want the tidalness to mean something, in addition to it providing all those time constraints which are good for a crime novel — because you can figure out that so and so couldn’t have been there at a certain time, and people are getting trapped, or whatever. But there is also this sense of having to surrender yourself a little bit and to accept that things ebb and flow. And that’s something which Grace is utterly incapable of doing, this accepting the ups and downs of life. She wants to sort of control where things are, whereas Vanessa is much more ready to do so. There’s a kind of power in surrendering yourself to accepting that you’re not going to be in control of everything. JB: You write: “Vanessa painted what she loved, she painted her freedom, she painted the sea. She painted what she feared.” Do you think writing offers the same outlet or catharsis? Do you paint your freedom and your fears in your novels? PH: Yeah, I think to some degree there is an element of that. [Writing] is sort of trying out lives that you might have lived, not literally, but imagining yourself into other places and what it would be like. I’m not sure that it’s very good therapy. You would probably do better paying someone and talking to them. But for a lot of people, [making art] feels essential in the same way that, if you like running or what have you, that comes to feel essential to your general peace of mind. For me, work has always been really good in that way. [Writing] helps me feel useful. And that is how you get through the day. That is how you express yourself. It certainly feels important to me. JB: You refer to the author Daphne du Maurier several times in this novel. I know your work has been compared to hers, so these references throughout the novel feel a little meta. PH: I was definitely thinking about du Maurier a lot. There’s a couple of the short stories that I’ve really liked. The Birds is the one that the film is based on, but the story is incredibly dark, darker than the movie [which now] looks slightly ridiculous because of the dated effects. This story feels quite prescient, because it seems to look towards the environment changing, towards climate changing, and something happening in the natural world that is very threatening and terrifying. So I was thinking about that more atmospherically than anything else. And the other story is Don’t Look Now, which people know from the Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie movie. There’s this whole sense in Don’t Look Now that the protagonist doesn’t see what is really threatening to him. He’s looking one way and not seeing the real danger. And that is definitely something that happens [in The Blue Hour], with [a main character] distracted by what’s going on in their home life, sort of looking one way and not seeing where the existential threat is. So I dropped in a bit about Don’t Look Now right at the beginning of the novel. JB: Your first thriller, The Girl on the Train, became a global bestseller. I imagine this was as exciting as it was daunting when it came to crafting your next novels. How do you navigate expectations, both external and your own, when it comes to sitting at your desk and putting words to paper? tiPH: I think I really rushed into the novel after The Girl on the Train. In fact, I’d started writing it before The Girl on the Train was published, but I should probably have taken my time a little bit more. I was desperate to be ambitious and do something different. Into the Water was this polyphonic novel, with lots of different orators. A lot of people didn’t think it worked. It is quite overwhelming to have a success like The Girl on the Train. I was touring all the time, and it was quite difficult — I actually needed to sit quietly at my desk and really think in order to get some decent writing done. So what I would say is, if you are under a lot of pressure for whatever reason, it’s really important to take your time to make sure that you’re writing the book you need to write now. I’ve got lots of ideas and I’ve got lots of people living in my head — it’s about choosing the right idea and which people actually belong in this story. Because you don’t want to throw away your good ideas or your good characters. You want them to fit into the right story. Make sure that you’re on a firm base before you start writing. JB: That’s excellent advice. One last craft question. This novel, to me, felt written in brushstrokes, with the different points of view and Vanessa’s diary entries thoughtfully layered to paint an increasingly clear picture. Do you have any insights to share about your plotting process? PH: For this novel, I sort of knew [the general plot] quite early on. Once I came up with this idea of the bone in the sculpture, that sort of showed me the way. That doesn’t always happen in books. In fact, it hasn’t happened in the last two but I think in both The Girl on the Train and in this novel, I could see the direction of travel quite clearly from the beginning, which is a great thing to have. Then the rest of the plot elements — that is actually just hard graft, making sure everything fits in exactly the right way. How you reveal certain bits of information and how you reveal them to the reader but also to different characters in the novel, so people know things at different times, is a big part of what creates suspense and tension. I don’t think there are shortcuts for that. Well, not for me. I just have to write myself into it and figure it out. *** View the full article

At this time of the year, anyone can wear an outlandish mask. You can also carry a huge ax, or a machete, or wear gloves with knives for fingers, and no one will bat an eyelid. People will throw open their doors and hand candy to beasts and maniacs that, at any other time, would send them screaming. Literary monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man have been superseded by modern fictional killers like Michael Myers, Freddie Krueger and the stabbers from “Scream,” but since you can wear a mask and carry a weapon, doesn’t Halloween seem the ideal time to commit murder? A look in the Los Angeles newspaper archives reveal some notable Halloween cases, two of which saw a very ancient monster – jealousy – come knocking on October 31st. This was the Los Angeles Times headline on April 26, 1969, reporting that three car salesmen had been arrested on suspicion of murdering 32-year-old Kenneth A. Lindstrand at a Halloween party in Van Nuys a couple of years earlier. Nearly 100 witnesses saw the shooting, and Lindstrand had been easy to remember, as he was one of only a few people not in costume. He arrived just after 1am, danced with some female guests, and then went outside with another non-costumed man who arrived soon after he had. Lindstrand was then chased back into the party by this man, who opened fire. Initially the guests thought it was a Halloween prank, and a woman dressed in a hula skirt began to dance over Lindstrand’s body saying “This will wake him up!” until she saw the blood and shouted “This is no gag, he’s hurt!” Police did not say why they arrested three men for the killing, but it may have been linked to the discovery that Lindstrand, a directory publisher, had over $100,000 in safety deposit boxes. In the end Jack Gentry Stearns, 35, was sentenced to life in prison for the crime; he had apparently objected to Lindstrand dancing with his 22-year-old wife, Maria. Around 9pm on Halloween night 1974, Mrs. Low, 71, answered the door of her Chinatown home to “trick or treaters” – one of them wearing the Wolf Man mask, another Frankenstein – when they all pointed guns at her and forced their way into the house. When nearly-blind 81-year-old Pok Suey Low came out from the bedroom, one of them shot him in the chest. The killers fled empty-handed, leaving behind their masks – with fingerprints – and a large bag of candy and chocolates, which seemed to indicate they really had been trick-or-treating earlier that evening. The 5’1″ Mrs. Low, who spoke no English, told police via her daughter Lucille that the invaders were shorter than she was, but because of the masks, she couldn’t describe their faces. The police reasoned they were teenagers, maybe even younger, and for months they had no luck tracking them down until February the next year, when two 15-year-olds were arrested along with Stephen Wai Chung Ho, 20. The trio had kidnapped, robbed and beaten a 20-year-old man named Chan Wing Wong, and then driven him out to San Bernadino, telling him they were going to bury his body in Cajon Pass. Wong had managed to untie his hands, and, dodging flying bullets, ran through the forest for several hours before reaching the highway and raising the alarm. Once in custody, one of the teenagers confessed he and his friend were behind Low’s murder. Perhaps the most sensational Halloween case in the LA archives happened in 1957, and it was another “trick or treat” murder in which beauty salon owner Peter Fabiano, 35, answered the door of his Sun Valley home to someone in blue jeans, a khaki jacket, red gloves and a mask. Peter grabbed a bowl of candy, and his wife Betty heard him say “It’s a little late for this isn’t it?”, before a shot rang out. Robbery didn’t seem to be the motive, and police struggled to find the “gang land-style” shooter of Fabiano, suspecting it might be connection to his prison time on a bookmaking charge a decade earlier. It was a number of months later, in March 1958, when the killers were caught, and they were a very unexpected duo. 43-year-old medical clerk Goldyne Pizer and 40-year-old photographer Joan Rabel both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, though it was Pizer who bought the .38 revolver and pulled the trigger, firing from inside a paper bag. Goldyne hid the gun in a department store locker, but an anonymous tip led detectives to the weapon, and when she was arrested, told police “It’s a relief to get it off my mind.” Goldyne told the jury she had been befriended and then “dominated” by Rabel, who persuaded her to hate Fabiano, who she called a “vile, evil man, a man who wanted to destroy all people around him.” Over several months they had taken joint trips to his salon so that Pizer knew what he looked like, and she seemed little more than the patsy in a diabolical scheme. Rabel, a former employee at the salon, had let Betty stay with her when she and Peter were having marital problems. The Los Angeles Times described Rabel and Betty’s relationship as “abnormal” – a code for lesbian/gay – and Peter had insisted Betty break off the affair before they could be reconciled, something that enraged Rabel. Pizer, a closeted gay woman who had recently been divorced from her husband, was easy for the jealous Rabel to twist to her will. Rabel hoped she could be with Betty forever once Peter was out of the way, and right after the murder told Pizer: “Forget you ever knew me.” The two women were examined by psychiatrists, as the court believed that homosexuality may have made them unfit to stand trial – and Goldyne did indeed chose to plead guilty by reason of insanity. It did no good, as they were both sentenced to five years to life in prison. Happy Halloween! View the full article

On March 2, 1933 Chicago tabloids trumpeted the shocking downstate death of Aldine Younger. Aging dirty blonde newsprint scotch-taped to cardboard was my formal introduction to my father’s beloved 20 year old sister. He was still a child when her broken body was abandoned on a frozen back road in Pontiac, Illinois. The newspapers’ big block letters floated above a photograph of a beautiful young woman: “HEIRESS SLAIN…BODY FOUND IN ROAD AFTER DRINKING PARTY…MARRIED MAN HELD” When Aldine posed for her last picture, she had no idea it would be presented for public consumption on city streets and delivered into the private mailboxes of strangers. And yet, seemingly ready for her close-up, she had dressed to beat the band. Fur coat, silk scarf, sleek cloche hugging her bobbed shiny waves. lt was the expression behind the good looks and elegant attire that held me. Her mouth, full and lipsticked, curved in a knowing half-smile. Her bright-eyed gaze was clear and direct. Nothing tentative about her presence. Look at me, she said. Look at me. I did. In fact I felt powerless to tear my eyes away. My mother found me pouring over the scant details under the headlines: the girl‘s body found by a passing motorist, the arrest of 39 year old Asher Bentley at the residence shared with his wife and father, the former mayor of Pontiac… I was a good reader, the best in my fourth grade class, and I read fast. But not fast enough. My mother pulled the old box of family mementoes from my hand and closed the lid. That was your Aunt Aldine, she told me. I knew her name, but not her history. Every Memorial Day my parents made the two hour trek from our suburban home in Peoria, Illinois north to Pontiac and Fairbury, small farming towns nestled between cornfields and prairie windmills. The purpose was always the same. Place fresh gladiolas on the tombstones of my dad’s mother and grandparents then travel to a separate cemetery to pay respects to my dad’s sister. The girl who died in an “accident” decades before I was born. Let’s put these away before your father comes home. It’s almost time for supper, she said. Any child knows when an adult changes the subject, there’s something forbidden in the air. Secrets to be revealed. In the years to come I asked questions about the “accident” that was no accident. About the heiress who was penniless at her death because the fortune inherited from her wealthy father had been stolen. About the mayor’s son who was convicted by a jury of twelve men, then later exonerated by the Illinois Supreme Court because of a so-called technicality. The most I could glean — and this only after my father had a few beers to loosen his tongue and ponder the hardships of his youth — was a jumbled litany of injustice. The most I could glean — and this only after my father had a few beers to loosen his tongue and ponder the hardships of his youth — was a jumbled litany of injustice. Bentley killed Aldine because “she wouldn’t give him what he wanted”. Bentley’s father “bought off” the judges that freed his son. And most horrifying, Bentley had been hired by the rich uncle who stole Aldine’s trust fund to silence his outraged niece. I had met that great-uncle, a pink-cheeked old man who kept hard candies in his pocket for well-behaved children. Don’t think blood won’t kill blood, Dad said, look at Cain and Abel. By this time our family had moved to California to make “a new start“. My mother loved the Golden State but died too soon. I graduated from UCLA and became a storyteller (as my young daughter called my screenwriting career). My father, however, did not thrive. He yearned for his Midwestern roots and with every year sank deeper into despair. Then one spring morning I heard from a distant cousin about an upcoming family reunion of my paternal grandmother‘s clan. I asked my dad to go back home with me. No. Too expensive. I‘ll pay for everything. No. Too many bad memories. I was thinking… My father glared at me. …I might write a story about you and your sister. The farm where you grew up, the sidewalk where she taught you to roller skate– No. I’m too tenderhearted to deal with all that. This is for Aldine. During the two.weeks we spent in the hot humid Illinois summer of 1996, I learned that my dad’s sister had not endeared herself to everyone. Like a flawed diamond with murky facets, her memory sparked conflicting opinions. My dad’s brother confided that she was “no angel”. A cousin Iamented the “shame and scandal” her roadhouse carousing with a man twice her age brought to the family. But a school classmate remembered only Aldine’s generosity, the gift of a necklace that this now 80 year old woman still owned and cherished. One old farmer clucked his tongue and grinned, “Nobody in these parts had ever seen anything like her”. What surprised me was that sixty-three years after her death, her name was known, “the accident” remembered. Aldine Younger was still stirring up passion and dissent in her hometown. Shortly after our pilgrimage to his childhood home, my father’s heart stopped beating. The doctors said it happened fast. In the years that followed I returned to Illinois to finish what we had begun together. I visited the courthouse in Pontiac, discovered a trail of damning property records and waded through a labyrinthine stack of documents in the law offices of my grandmother’s personal attorney. Follow the money, follow the money… For all the factual evidence that fueled my journey, I knew that the “true” story of Aldine Younger could only be told through fiction. What began as an accounting of a girl’s life and violent death transformed into a bigger story. A Midwestern noir about a family struggling to escape the sins of greed and betrayal. The bridge between generations, past and present, became my literary playing field. Subjects choose their authors as much as we choose them. *** View the full article

You can often find me walking around my small town in New Zealand listening to podcasts about the worst things humans can do to each other. And I’m not alone in this slightly macabre habit – it’s estimated that at least 75% of the millions of true crime podcast listeners out there are female. Like me, these women are listening to a broad range of stories, helmed by podcasters with an equally broad range of backgrounds. Some hosts are current or former journalists. Some are citizen detectives, or self-confessed true crime afficionados, while others are regular citizens obsessed with that one cold case from their childhood. The very best of these hosts combine humour, pathos, and diligent investigative work to shine a line into the darkest corners of society. And maybe solve some crimes in the process. Ruth-Ann Baker, the citizen detective leading my new novel, Leave the Girls Behind, is only pretending to be a podcaster. When she creates a podcast called The Other Women, it’s merely a ruse to get access to three women she believes might be connected to the murder of her childhood best friend 19 years ago. The novel is set in early 2015, and no one immediately doubts Ruthie’s intentions (or capabilities for that matter), because back then, true crime podcasts were still on the cusp of the popularity and ubiquity we’re now so familiar with. Serial, which premiered in late 2014, is considered the game-changer in this medium, and now, a decade later, there are well over 20,000 true crime podcasts for us to listen to. But when Ruthie introduces her idea to friends and family, the genre is only just taking off. Which is lucky for her because, for the most part, she really doesn’t know what she’s doing, and many of her tactics are highly questionable. If Ruthie is an unreliable host from the early days of true crime podcasting, here are four novels featuring fictional podcasters who do know what they’re doing … most of the time: Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke (2021) Elle Castillo is a former social worker turned vigilant(e) true-crime podcaster who hosts Justice Delayed, where she’s been investigating a horrific serial killer case from 20 years ago. That case might have been resolved after the suspected murderer likely died in a cabin fire, but when a listener with a hot tip for Elle ends up dead, the podcaster’s professional and personal lives cross over, leaving the host in her very own life or death situation. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (2023) Bodie Kane is an film academic come podcast host who finds herself back at her old prep school in New England, teaching a podcasting course to a small group of students. One of those students revives Bodie’s interest in an old case – the death of her former roommate, Thalia. That murder was supposedly solved, but like any good podcaster, Bodie begins to suspect (or is it remember?!) that there was always more to the story. None of this is True by Lisa Jewel (2023) Alix Summers is a successful lifestyle podcaster who doesn’t start out focused on crime, but soon finds herself in the thick of it, after she picks her ‘birthday twin’, a stranger named Josie Fair, as her new podcast subject. A thriller, where the guest quickly turns the tables on the host, this novel pays homage to the impact of true crime podcasts, by showing what it’s like to find yourself thrust into the middle of one. Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera (2024) Lucy Chase is not a podcaster. But she might be a murderer. That’s where Ben Owens comes in. He’s the popular host of a hit true crime podcast, and Lucy is his new favourite subject. Did she murder her best friend Savvy, then conveniently forget about it? And is Ben out to prove her guilt – or her innocence? Here we have another professional podcaster, but this time we see them through the lens of the suspect being investigated. After Ben brings his show to town, and the two form a connection, all of Lucy’s buried memories start to surface, one startling episode at a time. These four podcasters might have the kind of experience and skills Ruthie could only hope for, but they’re all haunted by the past like she is. And just as determined to put their ghosts to rest. *** View the full article

I was steeped in forensic science before I learned how to read or ride a bike. My younger sister and I did our first “case” with dad, the county medical examiner, when we were six and eight. It was a twin engine airplane crash at our small, regional airport. We collected pieces of brain and skull from the victims. In the moment, this was simply an anatomy lesson and nothing more. Over the next 20 years, I had a hands-on, front row seat to countless investigative adventures and forensic lessons. My father was the medical examiner, and my mother was the office manager for the coroner’s office of three northern Michigan counties. These were rural counties that had no budget for an official M.E. office, so it was established in our home. This also allowed my father to keep a tight chain of custody. It doesn’t take a psychologist to connect the pieces of my forensic childhood to my current crime writing career. With forensics woven into my DNA, my plots are driven by this inner scientist. And as a crime fiction fan, I know I’m not alone when I say that we read them in part for the juicy details in the forensic puzzle. In fact, during the initial edits of my new release, Frozen Lives, my editor gave me a note advising me to add another body drop and more of the gory forensic stuff. That was not a problem! Here are a few forensic tidbits you can look forward to in my new release, Frozen Lives and the science behind the fiction. Don’t worry. No spoilers! What does happen to a body if it’s been frozen? As its title suggests, the investigators in Frozen Lives, do encounter a frozen body or two. This brings up a complicated issue for a medical examiner in terms of decomposition and what it can tell you about a person’s demise. Weather, temperature, insects, maggots, body composition— all of this affects how quickly a body breaks itself down. In frozen bodies, there is a phenomenon called freezer artifact. Tiny bubbles form inside the cells as the body de-thaws. Thus, proving that it had once been frozen (if that wasn’t known ahead of time). A body rots very quickly after the de-thawing process begins, much like the way frozen fruit turns brown and mushy once it’s taken out of the freezer. What happens to a person when they’ve been shot at close range? There is a close-range shooting that occurs in Frozen Lives. (Not a spoiler given the fact that there’s almost always a shooting in every crime fiction book!) What happens to a body when it’s shot really depends on the type of ammunition and gun used. In the case of Frozen Lives, a small semi-automatic handgun is used. This means the shooter uses a magazine to load a round of ammunition, so they don’t have to reload a bullet each time they want to shoot. In the book I don’t specify the type of ammo use, but let’s say it was hollow point bullet. A hollow point bullet is pointed on the tip and has a hollowed-out middle. When the bullet hits its target, the metal material blooms out like flower petals and causes more damage to the target as it rips through flesh, than say, a jacketed bullet which is non-expanding as it hits a target and leaves a small hole. As for the actual crime scene where a shooting is involved, there are many steps and things to look for. Investigators would try to recover the bullet casings either from the scene or from the body. If it’s from the body, the medical examiner will be able to find that piece of evidence during the post-mortem exam. The investigator would also try to determine the trajectory of the bullet, meaning where the shooter was standing and how far away from the victim. This can often be determined by blood spatter pattern. Spatter (not splatter) happens when the blood leaves the body as a sphere and travels through the air being pulled down by gravity, forming a tear drop shape. It stays in this shape until impact. Then it forms a pattern with a body and a tail. The tail is actually the front of the blood spot and points back to the parent drop. An investigator would also want to search any potential suspect for back spatter, which is the blood from the victim that sprays at the shooter, covering hands, face, clothes, gun. In the case of Frozen Lives, with a close-range shooting, blood spatter from a gunshot is high velocity and forms a misting pattern. Think of it like when you use spray paint. The diameter of each drop of blood is less than 1mm. How does one prove a drug overdose death? There is a drug overdose death in Frozen Lives and it happens in a place where hundreds of drugs are kept and administered legally. A hospital. This can make it tricky to determine if it was a drug overdose and what drug caused it. There are many things about a victim’s exterior presentation that might indicate an overdose death, including a body slumped over, respiratory failure, vomit present, low body temp, purple lips, blue fingertips, and clammy skin. Scientifically, one of the best ways to corroborate a drug overdose is through blood sample. Unlike what you see on TV, when a sample goes to toxicology, the real-life lab run a typical drug panel on that sample, unless other drug(s) are requested by name. In the case of Frozen Lives, the M.E. would need the toxicologist to know what medications the patient was on, if any. And if there were any other drugs present at the time of death. A good investigator will search the premises of the descendent to see if other drugs were present. In Frozen Lives, this is exactly what happens thanks to our savvy heroine, Dr. Emily Hartford M.E. who checks the bio-waste container next to the hospital bed. I won’t spoil what she found. One common misconception about drug investigations is that you need to procure a search warrant to search for the drugs. One such case where this is not required is if there are exigent circumstances, meaning there is reasonable cause that a life or evidence needs saving. Another circumstance is called a protective sweep. An investigator may conduct a search for and confiscate drugs if there is reasonable proof and danger that criminal activity is occurring. There are a lot more juicy forensic moments in Frozen Lives, and the three previous books in the series, The Coroner, Secret Remains, and Last One Alive. And if you’re looking for more real-life forensics, check out the good ole standbys on my forensic shelf: Criminalistics for Crime Scene Investigators, Richard Saferstein Medico-legal Investigation of Death, Spitz & Fisher Spy Secrets that Can Save Your Life, Jason Hanson 400 Things Cops Know, Adam Plantinga 100 Deadly Skills, Clint Emerson Death’s Acre, Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson Predators, Gregory Cooper and Michael R. King Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, Richards J. Heuer The Anatomy of Motive, John Douglas and Mark Olshaker Forensic Speak, Jennifer Dornbush *** View the full article

Algonkian Assignment 1.docx

Hello! Below are my answers to the exercises for my YA speculative coming-of-age novel. Looking forward to meeting you all! -Stephanie Perry Moore 1) STORY STATEMENT Seventeen-year-old Skye Blue, pulled into a magical family chronicle, must survive the lives of her ancestors and return to mend herself—and a community fractured by violence. 2) THE ANTAGONIST Sweetness—Skye's boyfriend, whose charm and charisma drew her in but conceal a darker reality. Raised in a rough neighborhood with few resources, Sweetness has always admired Skye's more stable, affluent background. Yet, instead of feeling uplifted by her, he feels belittled and resentful, viewing Skye's family and potential as constant reminders of what he believes he can never have. His jealousy twists into a possessive need to keep her close, convinced that controlling her will balance the disparity he feels. Sweetness is verbally abusive, belittling Skye’s dreams and academic efforts to make her question her worth and discourage her from leaving. His life is steeped in dangerous affiliations, leading a gang that makes him more threatening. He perceives Skye’s independence and ambitions as personal slights against him, responding with intimidation and manipulation, fueled by both fear of losing her and his need to maintain control. Driven by his own insecurities, Sweetness becomes an anchor pulling Skye deeper into his world. His ultimate goal is to possess and restrict her, keeping her as a symbol of his success. However, in doing so, he becomes the force that Skye must ultimately break free from to find her own strength and freedom. “With a gun cocked in his mouth, he had to back down!” “What?” I blinked, gripping the steering wheel tighter as Sweetness, my rugged, gangbanger boyfriend, repeated himself through the car’s speaker. His voice was low, almost amused, like he wasn’t talking about something terrifying. Sweetness. He lived up to his name—dark chocolate skin, smooth and irresistible. Girls joked he was better than a box of candy. At 5′8″, just a touch taller than me, his confidence commanded attention. His energy—wild, unpredictable—wrapped around me like a storm. His reckless laughter and fast living had me hooked, but lately, it felt more like a noose tightening around my neck. “Dang, dummy. You even listenin’, Skye?” Sweetness’s voice cracked like thunder, jolting me from my thoughts. I pulled my mom’s car into a spot at Tea Time, a cozy, upscale restaurant in Covington, Georgia. This place—this moment—was my refuge. Normally, I couldn’t wait to sit across from my grandmother and unravel the knots in my life. Today, though, the weight on my shoulders felt too heavy to unload. “I was saying, I had a dream last night,” Sweetness continued. “This dude tried to holla at you, so I put my piece in his mouth to shut him up.” My stomach twisted. I couldn’t do this with him. He was mean. He was crazy, but so was I for staying with him. It wasn’t just the draining week at my private school, with fake friends and haters dragging me down. It wasn’t just the sleepless nights haunted by a recurring nightmare. It was the suffocating possessiveness in Sweetness’ voice—like my life was his to control. And now, he was fantasizing about violence over something that didn’t even happen. A beep interrupted him—Jessie, my best friend, calling. Relief washed over me. “I gotta go. Jessie’s calling, and I’m here. Can’t keep Grandma waiting,” I said, my voice strained but firm. “Cool,” Sweetness replied, his tone lightening. “Swing by after. We can Netflix and chill like last night.” I sighed, pressing the button to switch calls, still tripping that he called me dummy and wondering if I’d ever feel the same tug toward him again. 3) TITLE CHOICES Here are three breakout title options, each reflecting Skye’s journey of legacy, inner strength, and the challenges she faces: When Time Comes – This title reflects the pivotal moments Skye encounters, where she must rise to challenges and decide her path, echoing the legacy she inherits. Chains of Legacy – This title hints at Skye’s journey to confront and honor her family’s past, as she learns from ancestral struggles to shape her own freedom and identity. Echoes of Freedom – A powerful nod to Skye’s experiences of both historical and present-day struggles, as she hears and learns from the echoes of her ancestors to find her own voice and courage. These titles evoke Skye’s evolving relationship with her heritage and her determination to break through constraints in her life. 4) GENRE AND COMPARABLES Here are strong comparables for my YA novel, When Time Comes, that help convey its themes, genre blend, and target readership effectively: A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow (2020) – Like When Time Comes, this YA novel centers on Black female characters discovering their identities and histories, with Morrow’s story weaving fantasy and social themes. A Song Below Water combines magical elements with real-world issues, much like Skye’s journey through time to learn from her ancestors while confronting modern struggles. This connection illustrates Skye’s world of layered realities, where her heritage provides insight and empowerment to navigate her life. Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979) – While originally an adult novel, Kindred has inspired YA audiences and even adaptations due to its profound impact. This novel offers a similar combination of time travel, ancestral legacy, and the confronting of historical injustices, making it an ideal comp for When Time Comes. Skye’s experience parallels Butler’s heroine as she learns firsthand from her ancestors’ challenges, drawing strength and perspective to change her present reality. The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron (2020) – This popular YA historical novel explores the bravery of a young girl standing up to violence and oppression in Nazi-occupied Poland. Like Skye, the protagonist grapples with life-and-death stakes while drawing strength from her moral compass and connections with others. Cameron’s novel demonstrates how historical legacy and personal bravery converge, resonating with Skye’s mission to confront and mend her community’s conflicts. The Davenports by Krystal Marquis (2023) – This historical YA novel follows a young Black woman in early 20th-century Chicago, balancing family expectations and societal constraints. Like When Time Comes, it explores complex identity, family legacy, and navigating expectations. Though different in era, The Davenports shares themes of self-discovery and the strength to confront the past for a better future, aligning well with Skye’s journey. These comparisons capture the tone, cultural depth, and mix of speculative and historical elements in When Time Comes, while also showing how it fits into the YA landscape for contemporary readers. 5) HOOK LINE AND CORE WOUND Hook Line: Struggling between private school alienation and a toxic relationship, seventeen-year-old Skye Blue is pulled into a magical family chronicle, where ancestral lessons push her to confront her fears—or risk being trapped in a cycle of violence. Core Wound: Skye struggles with a deep-seated fear of inadequacy and failure, believing that she will never live up to her friends and family’s expectations or her own dreams, a belief compounded by the pressures of her boyfriend’s manipulations and the societal limitations placed on her by being a black girl in a majority white school. This internal wound propels her on a journey through time, teaching her that survival, courage, and freedom are attainable only by facing her fears and embracing her inner strength. 6) CONFLICT AND ENVIRONMENT Inner Conflict: Skye’s insecurities stem from feeling like she doesn’t fully belong anywhere—not in the affluent world of her private school and not in the turbulent neighborhood where she lives. Struggling with the weight of her identity as a young Black woman, she’s caught between wanting to break free from the toxic relationship with Sweetness and her fear of the unknown without him. Skye dreams of making an impact, of bridging divides and standing for something bigger, yet she doubts if she’s strong enough to step into that role. The violence and challenges in her world shake her resolve, and she’s often left questioning her self-worth and ability to act. Hypothetical Scenario: After the gang shootout where Zion steps in and is critically injured saving her, Skye is shaken by his selflessness. Zion, who is mixed-race and embodies a quiet strength, fearlessly acted to protect her in a way that she’s never felt able to do for herself. Returning home, she’s haunted by the image of him lying in blood and thinks of her own hesitance to leave Sweetness despite his control over her. Later, as she reads the family chronicle, she sees the bravery of her ancestors who faced down adversity for freedom and justice. These reflections make Skye question if she could ever do the same in her time—could she stand up like Zion did for her, or like her ancestors did in the face of injustice? Within seconds, the air exploded with gunfire. Crack! Crack! Crack! The hill was alive with chaos. The Bricks scattered, shouting. Bullets zipped past me, but I was frozen in fear. Two guys dropped in front of me, one’s head blown open. Everywhere, Bricks fell, moaning, crying, cursing. They called for their mothers or God. “Skye, get down!” Sweetness hollered, his voice echoing like a shout across a battlefield. Suddenly, a tall guy—over six feet—charged toward me. He tackled me, shielding me with his body. My head hit the pavement, and my vision blurred. I tried to grab my pounding head, but my arms were pinned beneath him. I struggled to focus. His almond-shell skin and straight hair that curled at the tips caught my eye. He weighed at least 200 pounds. Who was this guy? His grey-blue eyes stared at me, full of concern, but he didn’t speak. “I’m okay,” I whispered, winded from the impact. I was about to tell him to get off when I felt warm, wet liquid seeping through my clothes. Blood. It surged from his side where a bullet had torn through him. Desperate, I twisted and squirmed, finally managing to push him off. I yanked off his shoes, grabbed his socks, and pressed them against the wound. But it was too late—the socks were soaked, and the life had already drained from his eyes. The gunfire stopped, and the Lincoln peeled away, its passengers laughing. Sweetness ran to me, grabbing my bloody hand, trying to pull me up. “No!” I cried. “I can’t leave him! He saved my life!” “My boys ’bout to get Clad. Come on, girl. Let’s go!” Sweetness yanked me up, half carrying me as we moved away. But I didn’t want to leave the stranger who had saved me. His life couldn’t just be forgotten. I glanced back at his lifeless body and saw a tattoo on his arm: Zion Hill. “Thank you, Zion Hill,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. His body lay there, lifeless and blood soaked. Social Environment: Skye’s social conflict is rooted in feeling like she doesn’t belong fully in either world she inhabits or in the ones she time-travels to. At her private school, she’s seen as an outsider among wealthy white students who leave her out because she is not “one of them.” With Sweetness, she’s treated as a liability rather than an equal, and his gang sees her as an outsider who will never truly be part of their world. In contrast, when she time-travels, she encounters Zion, who moves with confidence and intelligence, bridging gaps and standing up for what he believes in. His ability to fit in without conforming inspires Skye, making her wonder if she should follow his example in the present day and stand up for herself, despite the pressure and rejection from both sides. Hypothetical Scenario: After returning from 1780, Skye learns about another gang fight brewing and wrestles with whether she should try to intervene. Drawing on her experience with Zion’s strength and the resolve of her ancestors, she decides to try to prevent another confrontation by urging the gangs toward a truce. Her emotional appeal surprisingly reaches the gang members, convincing them to hold off on violence temporarily. However, when the police arrive, tension flares, and an argument with Gooch ends in him being shot. Skye is horrified, realizing that despite her best efforts, the cycle of violence extends beyond her influence. 7) SETTINGS Setting of When Time Comes Skye’s journey unfolds in Covington, Georgia, where contrasting environments sharpen her sense of belonging and courage. From her safe but unsettling bedroom to the gritty reality of Sweetness’ world, and on through time itself, these settings reflect the internal and external challenges Skye faces as she uncovers her heritage and finds her own strength. Contemporary Settings: Her Home & Bedroom: Skye’s bedroom is a cozy refuge with a mix of upscale decor—string lights, soft blankets, and family mementos. This sanctuary becomes a space of fear and transformation when the family chronicle begins pulling her into the past. The bed shakes, lights flicker, and the room’s warmth fades, replaced by an ominous energy that marks the start of each time-travel experience, mirroring Skye’s own shift from safety to uncertainty as she delves into her family’s history. Grandmother’s Hospital Room: In contrast to Skye’s dynamic bedroom, GG’s hospital room is cool and calming, with pale blue walls, dim lighting, and the rhythmic beeping of monitors. Despite its clinical feel, the room is where Skye finds comfort, receiving guidance and life lessons from her grandmother. Here, Skye’s love for GG merges with a growing understanding of her family’s legacy, fueling her desire to honor her heritage and face her fears. Tea Time Café: The Victorian tea house, Tea Time, in downtown Covington is a nostalgic escape for Skye and GG. Decorated with floral wallpaper, delicate china, and old-world charm, it’s a place of warmth where they can be themselves. As Skye’s conversations with GG become more intense, this setting shifts from a quaint refuge to a space where family secrets are unearthed, adding depth and tension to their relationship. Her Private School: Skye’s exclusive, predominantly white private school is pristine and immaculately kept, with manicured lawns and polished buildings. But behind this orderly facade, Skye feels judged and alienated. Her background, race, and financial status place her on the periphery, making this setting a battleground for her insecurities and sense of self-worth. She struggles to fit in, feeling like an outsider among classmates who subtly exclude her, amplifying her inner conflict. Sweetness’ Neighborhood: A gritty contrast to Skye’s suburban life, Sweetness’ neighborhood is defined by graffiti-covered buildings, dilapidated apartments, and a pervasive sense of desolation. This area represents the social and emotional risks Skye takes by staying in her relationship with Sweetness. It’s a backdrop for gang conflicts, volatile interactions, and moments of physical danger, underscoring the tension between her desire for stability and the turmoil Sweetness brings into her life. We pulled up to Sweetness’ apartment complex. Graffiti covered the building, slurs and symbols sprayed like part of the architecture. The landscape was dead—just patches of beige stubble. One side of the complex was a crumbling building used as a crack house, addicts shuffling in and out like zombies. The other side was a burnt-out, windowless shell that attracted squatters and crime. Everything screamed decay, as if waiting for a bulldozer to put it out of its misery. Historical and Magical Sub-settings Through Time Travel: 1780 Savannah Slave Auction Dock: Skye arrives in a chaotic, humid slave market where auctioneers shout and enslaved people are treated as commodities. Here, she encounters Zion, whose resilience and quiet strength spark her admiration. This setting forces Skye to confront the brutal realities of her ancestors’ past, helping her understand the strength it took for them to endure, survive, and hope. Moments later, I stood in complete stillness and silence. No wind whipping around; no wings flapping. I opened my eyes. Instead of my bedroom, I found myself in the middle of a dusty, sunbaked road stretching through a small, worn town. The buildings on either side were rough-hewn, with weathered wood that had turned gray under the relentless sun, and each bore a large, faded sign announcing its purpose. There was a bank with iron-barred windows, a small grocery store with barrels of goods by the door, a saloon with swinging doors barely hanging on their hinges, and a millinery shop that left me wondering, What the heck was a millinery shop? The air was thick and dry, tinged with the earthy scent of hay, animal sweat, and the faint, metallic whiff of horse tack. People dressed in plain, faded clothes walked along the street, moving between buildings or standing beside their horses and buggies. But the entire town appeared frozen in time. Horses with bridles dangling, mid-neigh with heads thrown back; dust clouds kicked up by wheels and hooves hung suspended in the air like delicate, brown fog. A flag that had been waving in the breeze outside the saloon was caught in an upswing, locked in place. An eerie silence clung to the air, intensifying the stillness. It felt as though I’d stepped into a painting or a story paused at the turn of a page. Clutching my feathers tightly, I called out, “What am I supposed to do?” My voice sounded hollow against the motionless scene, and though I hoped someone somewhere could hear me, there was no answer—only silence, as if the world of 1780 itself was waiting. 1850 Underground Railroad Stop in the Woods: Hidden in the shadows of dense Georgia forests, Skye experiences a hideout used by the Underground Railroad. The earthy smells and secluded quiet contrast with the constant threat of capture. Zion’s confidence in navigating this world inspires Skye, revealing to her that bravery often requires stepping outside her comfort zone. 1958 Plantation and Bus Stop during Jim Crow: Skye lands in the segregated South, experiencing the sharp divide between the white plantation and the humble quarters for Black workers. Witnessing Rosa Parks’ defiance at a bus stop gives Skye a firsthand view of courage in the face of injustice, while Zion’s unwavering stand for his beliefs challenges her to embody similar strength in her own time. The Magical River Escape: Each time Skye’s journey becomes too dangerous, she finds herself at a magical river, an ethereal haven where eclectic guides—an eagle, a horse, and a lioness—help her regroup, survive, and recharge. This serene yet mystical setting, with shimmering waters and dense trees cloaked in mist, symbolizes Skye’s subconscious, where she taps into newfound courage and determination. Each guide offers her a life lesson, showing her paths forward while helping her understand the strength she carries within. Each setting in When Time Comes is integral to Skye’s growth. From the safety of her bedroom to the dangers of Sweetness’ world and the harrowing historical landscapes of her ancestors’ lives, each place propels her toward self-discovery. Through these environments, she learns to embody the courage of her ancestors, embracing her family legacy while forging her own path forward.

1. Story statement: A twist of fate lands police administrative assistant Eva Brandt at the scene of a double murder, upending the safe life she has built since escaping the extremist sect led by her wealthy, charismatic father ten years ago. 2. The antagonist: Eva’s powerful father Walter Brandt is tired of having to secretly undermine Eva’s struggle to build a life outside his far-right sect, Tannenberg. He considers Eva--despite being female--the best equipped of his 3 children to take over leadership of the cult. Walter inherited control from his own father, and building a blood dynasty is of paramount importance to him, but his older son vanished and he considers his younger son inferior. Until now, Walter has considered Eva’s past disloyalty unforgivable, but her position just inside the murder investigation gives her opportunity to eliminate Walter’s enemy, Sergeant Ron Croft, a supposed member of Tannenberg who, Walter knows, is in fact working undercover, investigating the money laundering scheme Walter runs through wineries owned by primary murder suspect, dissolute inebriate Ken Furey. Walter plots to return Eva to his control, using every tool in his malignant narcissist’s playbook to gaslight and manipulate her into killing Croft while promising protection from consequences once she does. Playing on Eva’s internal struggle against her upbringing, he explains how and why Croft murdered the original two helpless, innocent victims and destroyed Eva’s life as part of the coverup. 3. Possible titles TANNENBERG THE JEWEL WASP TWO WOLVES 4. Comps: Psychological suspense When I began searching for comps (I confess to not having done this before now), these were the plot/theme elements I looked for: - the corrosive influence of a charismatic/narcissistic “leader” - a protagonist struggling against past secrets/shames that play upon the present - questions of conscience, ethics, and morality...and an antagonist who makes a seductive case against them - a beautiful but changing setting that belies ugliness/evil beneath the surface and where disparate worlds/people collide Most of the books/articles/studies I’ve read that tick the majority of these boxes (except the last one) are nonfiction. While obviously I would not compare myself to these writers, these novels come to mind: 1. THE GOD OF THE WOODS by Liz Moore 2. THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides 3. THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt (After beginning this exercise, I found this title as an example in the materials sent to us, so I went for two more. But I’d still consider this a comp, a “crime novel” in which solving the crime is not the primary focus) 5. Logline Police administrative assistant Eva Brandt strives to help solve a double murder in California wine country, despite every clue forcing her back into the clutches of her dangerous father and the powerful cult of fear, lies, and paranoia he has built. 6. Two levels of conflict: (apologies if you intended that we simply summarize the scenes—I tried to keep them short) A. Inner conflict. In this scene, we first see Eva’s struggle to free herself from her past, in the moment she discovers the murder weapon: I started down the vine row closest to the house. After about ten yards, I stopped. It took me a moment to register the knife embedded in the trunk of an ancient grapevine--the dried blood smeared across the smooth metal shaft was the same color as the bark. “Sir?” The word caught in my throat. It wasn’t just any knife. I’d learned to use one like it, years ago. It carried a feeling, long-forgotten: the warm sense of safety, of belonging, I’d felt as a child when first shown the secret cache of lethal weapons at Tannenberg. Staring at that bloody hilt jutting from gnarled wood, I was eight years old again, my father’s arms wrapped around me from behind. Hold it like this. Now, if you release the latch that keeps the knife pressed against the compressed coil... ...the blade would rocket at 40mph toward any threat within twenty feet. Ballistic knives were nothing more than a hollow handle inside an exterior grip and a mechanism--compressed air, a CO2 capsule, or a spring—that shot the blade out of the grip like a bullet. They had been illegal in California since the 1980s, and their banned status meant a certain subset of the population took special pride in owning them--a subset I knew well, into which I’d been born. Little Eva Brandt: pale blond hair, eyes a slightly disappointing leaf green rather than a clear sky blue, skin so white rushing blood vessels betrayed every fear, every secret shame. Named for the woman who stayed loyal to Hitler unto death. “Sir!” Berger turned. Croft did, too. At first, they both looked annoyed at the interruption, but I guess my face said enough. The next thing I knew, they were beside me. B. Secondary conflict: Eva’s struggle to make friends—to trust others (in this case, and at this point unknown to her, with the actual murderer): [Dierdre] said, with a new sparkle in her eye, “I wonder if all gay couples are as fussy as Nick and Terry. They’re very proud of their hollyhocks.” We’d reached her car. “I’m sure there are as many types of gay couples as there are straight couples.” I deflated as the sparkle left her eye. Christ almighty, this was why I couldn’t make friends. I hadn’t meant to sound judgmental. She reached for the door. “Sorry. Obviously, there are. That was my upbringing talking. God, I hate it when I sound like my father.” “Couldn’t be as bad as when I sound like mine.” She paused, her hand on the handle of her Escalade, and said, “The truth is, I feel guilty about Heather. I mean, innocence dies. That happens to all of us, but I tried to keep certain things from her, and I think she’s known about Ken’s affairs all along. That’s why it’s so hard for her to grow up. She never experienced the innocence of childhood, so she keeps trying to go back, reconcile everything in her head and her heart, start over.” “Don’t we all.” She pulled the door open. “I shouldn’t have made that joke about Nick and Terry. It was cheap. I appreciate you calling me on it. That’s what friends do. Make each other better.” And then she gave me a hug. A quick, unthinking hug, the sort of embrace I imagined was common between normal people, but it was all I could do to lift an arm, reciprocate, not stand there like I was carved from marble. She threw me a smile and a wave as she drove off, and I sunk to a seat against the stone wall as the sun went down, nursing my wine, letting the heat from the last sunrays soak into my face. The world felt peaceful all of a sudden, hushed under a sky like melted rainbow sherbet. I skipped dinner and fell asleep early to the smell of leather and chestnut, hints of maple and cayenne. My grandfather’s tobacco. He would not have blamed me for my mother’s death. I felt so sure of it, I slept well for the first time in memory. 7. The setting—Sonoma County, California I wanted a physically beautiful setting, one that might lull the reader a bit, provide a hint of peace, when in reality there is a strong “outsider” (murder victims Chloe Adams and Saoirse Quinn) vs “insider” (Eva, Croft, Detective Berger) dynamic in an area unusual for the fact that among insiders, the very wealthy and the very poor interact on a personal level. There is also a large immigrant vineyard worker population, providing scapegoats (Luis Delgado, murder suspect #2) for those who might be looking for such (Croft?). For the same reasons, the Tannenberg compound is depicted as an idyllic five-star spa, not Ruby Ridge.

Friends of mine have been telling me to watch Lucifer. Lucifer, that show where Lucifer gets tired of being in hell and decides to kick it on earth and learn about humanity, and winds up solving mysteries. That Lucifer. I don’t really feel the urge to watch it, but I am intrigued at the prompt that, of all the things he could do with his time, the devil would find himself trying to solve baffling crimes. On a nondiegetic level, this show’s conceit exists the way it does because people love mysteries. But diegetically, the idea that this great, age-old villain would, in the right context, find himself becoming a detective… is intriguing to me. And funny. So it got me thinking. What about other villains? What about, like, horror movie villains? Would they be good detectives? Would they rise to the occasion? Let’s consider. I’ve drawn up a ranked list of the most famous horror movie villains, in order of “how good a detective” they would be. Obviously, this is unserious. Happy Halloween. 22. The Shark, Jaws, et al The shark in Jaws might be a “smart fish,” but would be a generally ineffective crime scene investigator, I think. Right? He’s a fish? 21. The Xenomorph, Alien, et al I just can’t imagine a context in which these skills would be useful? 20. Frankenstein’s Monster, Frankenstein, et al “The Creature” in Mary Shelley’s novel is an eloquent, erudite, sensitive individual, modeled on Lucifer from Milton’s Paradise Lost. HE would make an amazing detective… he tracks down Victor Frankenstein all the way to the Arctic, for crying out loud. Alas, “The Creature” from the movie is cut from a very different cloth, er… flesh. I cannot see him being a good detective. All he can do is grunt and lunge. We need our standards to be higher. 19. Leatherface, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Leatherface’s inability to think for himself makes him a very good blunt instrument, but would render him a poor investigator, I should think. 18. Pennywise, It As an otherworldly demon with seemingly unlimited power, Pennywise could be a great detective if she set her mind to it. But she’s far too self-directed. 17. Count Orlock, Nosferatu While I would 1000% watch a movie where Nosferatu solves crimes, I can’t imagine what that would look like. What skills does he bring to the table? He’s good at climbing stairs and lurking in doorways… what else, Orlock? What leadership or cognitive abilities can you contribute? 16. Lawrence Talbot/the Wolf Man, The Wolf Man He’s no idiot, but he’s too much of a liability. Lots of good investigation work takes place at night… he’d instantly become useless. 15. Candyman, Candyman, et al I just feel like bees loudly announce his presence wherever he goes, and that’s not a helpful element to add to a crime scene? 14. Godzilla, Godzilla, et al Subsequent film adaptations make Godzilla a good guy, but in the original, he’s a very bad monster! He demonstrates some strategic thinking, for sure, though. Like, you can see how in various sequels, he’d be able to mobilize his whole deal for the greater good. 12. Jason Voorhees, Friday the 13th Jason isn’t really the real villain until Friday the 13th Part 2, but we’re rolling with it, since he’s the main villain of the franchise. Jason doesn’t really bring much to the table, except a good sense of chronology and an ability to know what day it is. Look, I’m not saying he’d be the best detective of all time, but he’s got something. 11. Ghostface, Scream, et al Ghostface’s penchant for asking questions to his victims (“what’s your favorite scary movie?”) bodes well for his ability to interrogate suspects… but the fact that Ghostface’s identity has to change from movie to movie means that there’s not a lot of procedural unity to his methodology. A detective needs to be more than a transferable figurehead! 10. Dracula, Dracula, et al Look, there have been a million Dracula incarnations, and some would definitely be better detectives than others. But, for the purposes of this list, we’re going with the most indelible cultural image of “Dracula,” which is to say the OG Universal Monsters Dracula: our lord and savior Bela Lugosi. As much as I love him, I feel like he would not be a great detective, sadly. He’s not even very good at hiding the fact that he’s a vampire around a bunch of stodgy Englishfolk who don’t believe in vampires until Van Helsing shows up and labors to convince them. And he’d be useless giving a testimony in court, after the fact! I do not think that man could realistically swear on a bible. 9. Predator, Predator et al The alien race of trophy hunters known as the Yautja have lots of finely-honed tracking skills. You’ve got to imagine that they’d at least be excellent bounty hunters. 8. Annie Wilkes, Misery She’s a nurse. She’s an avid reader. And she’s a serial killer who has managed to be acquitted of her crimes in a court of law and kill a bunch of people afterwards without anyone suspecting. We’re dealing with a very clever woman, here. Imagine what good she could do if she put her mind to it? 7. Pinhead, Hellraiser, et al Pinhead is an interesting villain because he intrinsically cannot differentiate between the sensations of pain and pleasure, and he gets mad at those who try to solve a puzzle that he has clearly marked as his purview. So, like, he sounds like an average graduate student, and that kind of person is always a good detective. 6. The Creature, The Creature from the Black Lagoon Think about it. This is a movie about a guy who is minding his own business in his Amazonian home when a bunch of scientists show up to study him without his permission or knowledge and then attack him on site and he has no choice but to defend himself and he does it well. These are the kinds of skills that would be good for a detective to have in his or her back pocket! 5. Griffin, The Invisible Man Would Griffin be a good detective? Yes, he’s invisible. This would be very helpful, obviously. 4. Michael Myers, Halloween, et al He is very, very good at walking around in broad daylight without anyone paying any mind, and this ease of surveillance is a great trait for a detective to have. 3. Freddy Krueger, A Nightmare on Elm Street, et al Freddy’s ability to enter people’s dreams would be an unbelievable asset to crime-solving! I mean, he can explore the subconscious minds of suspects and determine their guilt! Would it be a major ICAP ? violation? Yes. Would it work? Yes. 2. Jigsaw, Saw, et al Jigsaw’s elaborate murderous traps reflect a highly developed frontal lobe, the part of the brain that solves problems. Jigsaw probably could have found the zodiac killer. 1. Hannibal Lecter, The Silence of the Lambs, et al Okay, this first-place slot is kind of cheating, because, in various iterations of Hannibal’s story, including Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, he is a detective… or at least a detective sidekick. And it’s true that he has insider knowledge in addition to being able to understand people’s deep psychological situations. But he’s effective and this list is about effectiveness! View the full article

A look at the month’s best reviewed new releases in crime fiction, nonfiction, mystery, and thrillers. Via Book Marks. Nick Harkaway, Karla’s Choice (Viking) “What a treat it turns out to be to wander anew the fusty, crumbling warren of the Circus … The prose of Karla’s Choice is not an absolutely perfect exercise in ventriloquism of the master, nor does it try to be. There may be a few seeming anachronisms…but there is a satisfyingly cold tone throughout, recalling the way that le Carré’s own furiously tamped-down moralism (in the novels of the 1960s and 70s, at least) could approach nihilism … He demonstrates superbly, too, how suspense can arise from the patient accumulation of detail, and the brilliant climactic scene is nothing so vulgar as an action-movie shootout but rather a sequence of ordinary bureaucratic peril: the attempt to cross a border when one’s papers are not quite in order.” –Steven Poole (The Guardian) Mark Haddon, Dogs and Monsters (Doubleday Books) “The stories in this splendid new collection are inspired by an eclectic variety of sources … The work of a consummate storyteller, the brilliantly conceived Dogs and Monsters illuminates a variety of species, both real and mythical, including our own.” –Hilma Wolitzer (New York Times Book Review) Charles Baxter, Blood Test (Pantheon Books) “He’s written something closer to a farce — a story in which every predicament is intentionally absurd … After Baxter has laid out the parade of selfish, money-hungry, blindly tech-admiring elements of contemporary life, the black comedy of the words shines through.” –Mark Athitakis (Los Angeles Times) Elyse Graham: Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II (Ecco Press) “Entertainingly conveyed, with great respect and deep appreciation for their ingenuity and drive, Graham’s history is a powerful symphony for these unsung heroes whose professional skills and personal courage brought down the Nazi state. The modern intelligence community owes its existence to their rigor and resourcefulness.” –Carol Haggas (Booklist) Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake (Scribner) “Bears all the hallmarks of her inquisitive mind and creative daring … The first satisfying surprise is that Kushner has designed this story as a spy thriller laced with a killer dose of deadpan wit … The story, told in short chapters that feel punchy even when they’re highly cerebral, slides around the labyrinth of Sadie’s mind, which is equally deceptive and deceived … Kushner inhabits the spy’s perspective with such eerie finesse that you feel how much fun she’s having … Bore through this noir posing and wry satire of radical politics, and you feel something vital and profound prowling around in the darkness beneath.” –Ron Charles (Washington Post) View the full article