Lindsey Davis: Marcus Didius Falco and Flavia Albia Mysteries < Back Lindsey Davis Author of The Marcus Didius Falco and Flavia Albia Mysteries December 25, 2021 Lindsey Davi s was born in Birmingham, England, studied at Oxford, and worked as a civil servant for 13 years. After a romantic novel she’d written was runner-up for the 1985 Georgette Heyer Historical Novel Prize, she became a full-time writer. She wrote twenty delightful novels about an informer and all-around solver of problems (Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries). Set in ancient Rome, her protagonist is delightfully human, happy when his hair looks good and disappointed in himself when he screws up. I loved his courtship of Helena Justina, the senator’s daughter who becomes his wife and the mother of his children. Now Ms. Davis is writing about Marcus and Helena’s British-born adopted daughter, Flavia Alvia, who solves murders when she isn’t taking care of her busy household, supervising slaves and planning family gatherings. These are action packed stories set in a violent society, but I loved spending cold winter afternoons back in Davis’s Ancient Rome. Ms. Davis won the 2011 Cartier Diamond Dagger for her outstanding contribution to the mystery genre. She was honorary president of the Classical Association and is a lifetime member of the Council of the Society of Authors. Previous Next

Sisters Nadia and Cass are heirs to a company that builds yachts for the super wealthy, and both are excited about a commission that will introduce them to the huge Asian market. < Back The Drowning Game Barbara Nickless January 1, 2025 Two sisters are heirs to a company that builds yachts for the super wealthy, and both are excited about a commission that will introduce them to the huge Asian market. Shortly after arriving in Singapore, Nadia learns that her sister, Cass has plummeted from a 40th floor balcony. Numb with grief, Nadia takes over Cass’s job of finishing a yacht for a high-level Chinese scientist whose work is important to the repressive Chinese government. In gripping prose, Nickless delves into yacht design, espionage, the world of high-stakes yachting, and China’s repressive regime. Figuring out why Cass died could tear the company apart and might get Nadia killed in this suspenseful intrigue-filled novel about family history, loyalty, and secrets. Barbara Nickless is the Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of Play of Shadows , Dark of Night , and At First Light in the Dr. Evan Wilding series, as well as the Sydney Rose Parnell series, which includes Blood on the Tracks , a Suspense Magazine Best of 2016 selection and winner of the Colorado Book Award and the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence; Dead Stop , winner of the Colorado Book Award and nominee for the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence; Ambush ; and Gone to Darkness . In addition to her career as a technical writer and instructional designer, Barbara worked as a raptor rehabilitator, piano teacher and performer, and a sword fighter. She served as the Director of Education for the country’s largest public astronomical observatory. It was all great fun. But then a wildfire burned down her family’s home. For Barbara, losing everything also meant she had everything to gain. Her essays and short stories have appeared in Writer’s Digest and on Criminal Element, among other markets. She lives in Colorado, where she loves to cave, snowshoe, hike, and drink single malt Scotch―usually not at the same time. Connect with her at www.barbaranickless.com . Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Botonist Andre Damazy undertakes a perilous exploration into the mountains of Kazakhstan to retrieve a sapling from a rare apple tree in the mountains of Kazakhstan. At great cost, he manages to retrieve a sapling, and brings it to his hidden greenhouse in Paris. < Back Harvesting the Sky Karen Hugg September 7, 2021 Botonist Andre Damazy undertakes a perilous exploration into the mountains of Kazakhstan to retrieve a sapling from a rare apple tree in the mountains of Kazakhstan. At great cost, he manages to retrieve a sapling, and brings it to his hidden greenhouse in Paris. The fruit of the tree has mysterious medicinal properties, and Andre’s mission is both scientific and personal, because his mother has suffered a serious stroke. He receives sufficient funding to create the correct conditions to care for the trees, but he’s under pressure, both from his sponsors, and from a mysterious organization that fears the apple is an omen of evil. Second in Karen Hugg’s literary thriller series focused on the world of plants, Harvesting the Sky (Woodhall Press, 2021) is a parable about what we take from nature. Karen Hugg is also the author of The Forgetting Flower and Song of the Tree Hollow . Born into a Polish family and raised in Chicago, she later moved to Seattle and worked as an editor in tech, which gave her the opportunity to live in Paris for a short time. Afterward, she became a certified ornamental horticulturalist and master pruner. Karen earned an MFA from Goddard College and her work has appeared in The Big Thrill , Crime Reads , Thrive Global , and other publications. She lives with her husband and three kids in Seattle, where she’s finishing up her first nonfiction book, Leaf Your Troubles Behind: How to Destress and Grow Happiness Through Plants . When she’s not writing or gardening, Karen is learning guitar by playing her favorite songs from the Scottish band, Travis. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Immigration problems, climate issues, dysfunctional families, road barricades, and the division between haves and have nots play a role in this dream-like novel. < Back News of the Air Jill Stukenberg October 4, 2022 Immigration problems, climate issues, dysfunctional families, road barricades, and the division between haves and have nots play a role in this dream-like novel. Set in Wisconsin’s stunning Northwoods, News of the Air (Black Lawrence Press, 2022) by Jill Stukenberg centers on a mother, father, and their teenage daughter, who voice the story from each of their perspectives. The novel opens with a pregnant Allie recalling her divorce, worried about her future, avoiding roadblocks to get to work at a Chicago museum, and frantic because of nearby eco-terrorism. In the next chapter, Allie and her husband Bud are proprietors of a far north rustic resort, and their previously homeschooled daughter Cassie, is about to finish her schooling in the local high school. Then two children show up in a canoe, and there is confusion about who they are and what they’re doing in the Northwoods. Jill Stukenberg’s short stories have appeared in Midwestern Gothic , The Collagist (now The Rupture ), Wisconsin People and Ideas magazine, and other literary magazines. News of the Air, her debut novel, won the Big Moose prize from Black Lawrence Press. Stukenberg is a graduate of the MFA program at New Mexico State University, has received writing grants from the University of Wisconsin Colleges, and has been awarded writing residencies at Shake Rag Alley and Write On, Door County. Jill is an Associate Professor of English at University of Wisconsin Stevens Point at Wausau. She grew up in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, and has previously taught in New Mexico and the Pacific Northwest. Jill enjoys cross country skiing, hiking, and sailing on Green Bay in a small, very old, but still bright blue sailboat with a cracked wooden tiller. She lives in Wausau with the poet Travis Brown and their eight-year-old. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Simons Smythe was born into Charleston’s powerful elite and grew up in one of its fabled historic homes. Her grandfather and father have always been king makers, and all the women she knows have been taught from day one how to dress, how to speak, and how to conform. < Back In Polite Company Gervais Hagerty July 18, 2021 Today I talked to Gervais Hagerty about her novel In Polite Company (William Morrow, 2021). Simons Smythe was born into Charleston’s powerful elite and grew up in one of its fabled historic homes. Her grandfather and father have always been king makers, and all the women she knows have been taught from day one how to dress, how to speak, and how to conform. When Simons isn’t producing the news on a local TV station, she surfs the waves of Folly beach, crabs the salty rivers of Edisto Island, and joins an old friend at King Street bars. If she manages to accept the path laid out for her by generations, she’s also supposed marry her boyfriend, Trip. But she isn’t sure of anything. She confides her confusion only to her elegant grandmother, who urges her to be brave. Simons just has to figure out what that means. Author Gervais Hagerty grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. She earned her B.A. in psychology from Vanderbilt University. After a post-college stint in Southern California, she returned to the East Coast, where she worked as a news reporter and producer for both radio and television broadcasts. After earning her M.B.A. from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Hagerty was hired to teach Leadership Communications, and as director of the Patricia McArver Public Speaking Lab, she coached students, faculty, and staff to become effective speakers. She also advised the college's public speaking club. She is a board member of The Charleston Council for International Visitors and serves on Charleston's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Gervais lives in Charleston with her husband and daughters, and when not writing, parenting, or trying to slow traffic so she can bike safely, she dabbles in creating single panel cartoons. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Charles Finch: Charles Lynch Mysteries < Back Charles Finch Author of The Charles Lynch Mysteries February 14, 2022 Charles Finch is a literary critic and author. Born in 1980 (!!) in New York City, he was educated at Yale University and Merton College, Oxford. The first book in his Charles Lynch Mystery Series came out in 2007 and was nominated for an Agatha and chosen as one of Library Journal’s best books. Having loved six of these Charles Lynch novels, I’ve gotta say that I never expected to fall in love again, but I’d run off to England’s lake district with either of the Charleses. Finch gives a beautifully detailed portrayal of mid-nineteenth century England, and his writing is pitch perfect. Detective Charles Lynch is thoughtful, insightful, and competent, but he knows that he’s worth little without his wife, family, and friends. I just emerged from devouring The Last Passenger, and as usual, was immersed in the tiny details of Victorian society’s requirements, characters’ distinct personalities, and Lynch’s visits, meals, and meanderings. I wonder how much of himself the author put into his protagonist, the similarly named Charles Lynch. Charles Finch is on my list of authors-I’d-most-like-to-meet – and it turns out that he also lives in Chicago! Chronological list of Charles Lynch mysteries: A Beautiful Blue Death 2007 The September Society 2008 The Fleet Street Murders 2009 A Stranger in Mayfair 2010 A Burial at Sea 2011 A Death in the Small Hours 2012 An Old Betrayal 2013 The Laws of Murder 2014 Home By Nightfall 2015 The Inheritance 2016 Gone Before Christmas 2017 The Woman in the Water 2018 The Vanishing Man 2019 The Last Passenger 2020 An Extravagant Death 2021 Previous Next

Serve as shown in sections in the bowl because it looks awesome. Then mix at the table. < Back Mango-Avocado Salad June 11, 2020 Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes Serves: 4 Servings Tags: Vegan, Vegetarian, Entrees About the Recipe Ingredients 1 Mango cut in small pieces 1 Medium Avocado cut in small pieces 1 cup (or more) chopped Napa cabbage 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 1/2 cup chopped red onion Juice and zest of one medium lime 1/4 cup Trader Joe’s Chunky Salsa (my favorite – has a smoky flavor) Salt and Pepper to taste (optional) Preparation Serve as shown in sections in the bowl because it looks awesome. Then mix at the table. Or just serve it already mixed. It’ll taste delicious either way! Previous Next

Mako Yoshikawa's Secrets of the Sun: A Memoir (Mad Creek Books 2024) contains a host of essays about her difficult, brilliant father. Shoichi Yoshikawa grew up in a wealthy family in 1930s Japan, but his mother died when he was five, and he died alone on the eve of Mako’s wedding. < Back Secrets of the Sun Mako Yoshikawa February 20, 2024 Mako Yoshikawa's Secrets of the Sun: A Memoir (Mad Creek Books 2024) contains a host of essays about her difficult, brilliant father. Shoichi Yoshikawa grew up in a wealthy family in 1930s Japan, but his mother died when he was five, and he died alone on the eve of Mako’s wedding. He had been a genius, renowned for his research in nuclear fusion and respected at Princeton, until he fell apart. She remembered him being alternatingly kind or violent when bipolar disease gripped him. Her mother packed up and left the house with Mako and her sisters, later remarrying a wonderful man and brilliant chess player who Mako considered the father she always wanted. Mako wants to understand him; why he cross-dressed, why he was so passionate about fusion, why he alienated his daughters so that he hadn’t even been invited to Mako’s wedding. Mako Yoshikawa is the author of the novels One Hundred and One Ways and Once Removed . Her novels have been translated into six languages; awards include a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant and a Radcliffe Fellowship. As a literary critic, she has published articles that explore the relationship between incest and race in 20th-century American fiction. After her father’s death in 2010, Mako began writing about him and their relationship: essays which have appeared in the Missouri Review , Southern Indiana Review , Harvard Review , Story , Lit Hub , Longreads , and Best American Essays . These essays became the basis for her new memoir, Secrets of the Sun . Yoshikawa grew up in Princeton, New Jersey but spent two years of her childhood in Tokyo, Japan. She received a B.A. in English literature from Columbia University, a Masters in Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama at Lincoln College, Oxford, and a Ph. D. in English literature from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Mako is a professor of creative writing and the director of the MFA program at Emerson College. In addition to her MFA classes, Mako teaches Comedic Lit to undergraduates in Emerson’s Comedic Arts program. She also teaches as often as she can in the Emerson Prison Initiative, a degree-granting program that is based in MCI-Norfolk, a medium-security prison for men. She lives with her husband and two unruly cats in Boston and Baltimore. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Port Anna tells the story of a quiet town on the Maine coast that has attracted the attention of wealthy investors seeking a picturesque, windswept summer cottage overlooking the ocean. < Back Port Anna Libby Buck July 1, 2025 After Gwen Gilmore loses her adjunct teaching job, mother, and boyfriend, she leaves the south and heads for the cottage she’s just inherited on the Maine coast. It’s in the town her family visited every summer, people still remember her, and she has some old friends there, but it’s also filled with terrible memories of her sister’s drowning. And the old houses are slowly giving way to ugly condos and mini mansions. Anna grapples with a teenage runaway, a realtor trying to condemn her cottage, a handsome artist, and the ghosts of previous tenants who make their presence known. This is a beautiful novel about overcoming past failures, finding a community, and moving forward. Libby Buck earned her BA in English from the University of Virginia, her MA in art history from Columbia University, and PhD. in art history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While her general area of expertise is Nineteenth Century France, her dissertation focused upon the Gustave Moreau museum and its challenge to traditional museology. She taught as a visiting lecturer for over a decade at various institutions, including Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She and her husband raised three daughters in North Carolina, where she still lives with her husband when she is not beside the sea in Downeast Maine. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

The perfect recipes for a picnic lunch! < Back Cold Sesame Noodles November 19, 2020 Prep Time: 5-10 Minutes Cook Time: Varies Serves: 6-8 Servings Tags: Entrees, Vegetarian About the Recipe Ingredients 1 14.5 oz. box/package any kind of pasta 1 nearly empty jar of Tahini (1 or 2 TBSPs) ¼ cup very hot water 1 TBSP toasted sesame oil 3 TBSP rice vinegar 3 or 4 TBSP soy or tamari sauce 2 TBSP maple syrup 1 tsp garlic powder 4 or 5 scallions, cut in small, diagonal pieces 1 TBSP or a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds ¼ tsp crushed red pepper (or regular black pepper) Optional: grated carrot, and/or grated zucchini, 1 small red or yellow pepper, cut into thin strips, a handful of chopped parsley or cilantro Preparation In a medium pot, boil water and cook pasta according to instructions. Add very hot/boiling water to a nearly empty jar of tahini. Cover and shake -scrape sides if needed. Add oil, vinegar, maple, garlic, and shake more. Pour into a large serving bowl and stir in the scallions and whatever chopped vegetables you have. Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce in the serving bowl, and toss to coat. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and pepper. Cover or refrigerate until ready to serve. Yum. Previous Next

The story of how a book ends up decades later in Chicago is interwoven with train-jumping, alternate universes, and the heartbreaking tales of displaced people. < Back The Lost Book of Adana Moreau Michael Zapata February 13, 2020 In 1916, Adana Moreau’s parents are killed by American Marines. She flees to Santo Domingo and then to New Orleans. There, she marries a pirate, Titus Moreau, and gives birth to their son, Maxwell. While Maxwell wonders the streets, Adana spends hours at the library. She writes a book, Lost City , and it becomes a science fiction hit. Then she writes a follow-up book, which she and Maxwell definitely destroy, just before she dies. The story of how that book ends up decades later in Chicago is interwoven with train-jumping, alternate universes, and the heartbreaking tales of displaced people. Michael Zapata is the author of The Lost Book of Adana Moreau (Hanover Square Press, 2020). He is also a founding editor of MAKE Literary Magazine . He is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Award for Fiction, the City of Chicago DCASE Individual Artist Program award, and a Pushcart nomination. As an educator, he taught literature and writing in high schools servicing dropout students. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa and, as an ardent wanderer, he's lived and traveled extensively through the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. The place he reveres most on the Earth is the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in Ecuador. Currently, he's catching up on the extraordinary sci-fi show 'The Expanse' and lives with his family in his hometown Chicago. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

The Beauty and the Hell of It and Other Stories (Guernica, 2025) conjures up images of women who struggle through difficult transitions, unpleasant encounters, or ghastly boyfriends and husbands. < Back The Beauty and The Hell of It and Other Stories Lynda Williams September 2, 2025 The Beauty and the Hell of It and Other Stories (Guernica, 2025) conjures up images of women who struggle through difficult transitions, unpleasant encounters, or ghastly boyfriends and husbands. One woman is a lesbian who sees the man who raped her a decade before, another suffers from bipolar disease, and a third is harassed by her professor. Some of them are grieving and others want vindication but few of them are living the lives they’d imagined. And then there’s Liam, who is devastated by his young son’s death, and who’d always loved the daughter of one of his father’s wives. These are beautifully written, sensitive stories about a range of human reactions to the harsh realities of life and death. Lynda Williams is a freelance copyeditor and short fiction writer based in Calgary, Alberta. Her stories have appeared in Grain, The Humber Literary Review, and The New Quarterly, among others. Her literary influences include Raymond Carver, Pam Houston, and Lorrie Moore. Born and raised on a dairy farm in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Lynda arrived in Calgary after a 40-hour trip on a Greyhound bus, after which she took the best shower of her life. She has called Alberta home ever since. When she’s not writing, Lynda can be found experimenting with gluten-free baking and bingeing New Girl on one of many streaming services. She has been married to her partner in crime for 12 years, and they share their home (and food) with the world’s most adorable mini–Australian Shepherd, Cooper. She is a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award. For more information about Lynda and her work, visit her website here . Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next