by Susan Van Kirk | Apr 21, 2025 | Blog
Whenever I’m asked about the inspiration for my middle-grade Zahra of the Uwharries series, my thoughts drift to childhood as I explain that hikes with my dad planted the first seeds. We lived smack dab in the middle of the “sticks”—as my New York cousins described...
by Susan Van Kirk | Apr 14, 2025 | Blog
Murder Over Broken Bonds: A Wall Street Mystery (1) by Rebecca Saltzer This is a perfect time to begin reading Rebecca Saltzer’s series of Wall Street mysteries because the theme of the first book is greed. Whatever you currently think about stocks and bonds, this...
by Susan Van Kirk | Mar 31, 2025 | Blog, book reviews, mysteries, suspense, writing
Authors are often told not to read reviews. I don’t fully subscribe to that philosophy because I believe that there is something to be gained from reviews and learning what impresses a given reviewer. A one-star review that says “I didn’t read the book because I...
by Susan Van Kirk | Mar 24, 2025 | Blog
OVER THERE will be released on May 27, 2025. This is perfect timing, as it occurs directly following Memorial Day, a time when Americans reflect on the sacrifices made by those who died serving our country. Building on the success of THREADBARE and IN THE HANDS OF...
by Susan Van Kirk | Mar 10, 2025 | Blog, mystery, suspense, writing
One of the joys of doing research for A Cotswold Crimes Mystery Series is that I find things that I didn’t know that I didn’t know. Even though I lived in England as a teen, I think I’m familiar with how Great Britain works. But whenever I go, I find something...
by Susan Van Kirk | Feb 24, 2025 | Blog, mysteries, reading, suspense
Working on Wall Street is not for the faint of heart, but for a writer, the cutthroat nature of the business provides the perfect setting for murder. The traders are extremely intense individuals, basically a breed unto themselves. They often resort to bullying if...
by Susan Van Kirk | Feb 10, 2025 | Blog, mysteries, suspense
First, thank you to my fellow readers and authors for embracing and promoting the value of literacy. Recent statistics about readership in the U.S. alarm me, and I appreciate your example. I am Richard F. McGonegal, author of four books in the Sheriff Francis Hood...
by Susan Van Kirk | Feb 3, 2025 | Blog, mystery, reading, suspense, writing novels
It’s probably not a good idea to chase an armed burglar. But, in my husband’s defense, he didn’t know the man fleeing our house had a gun. At least not at first. Then the young man stopped, pulled a semi-automatic, aimed it at Danny’s head, and threatened to kill him....
by Susan Van Kirk | Jan 27, 2025 | Blog, mysteries, reading, suspense, writing
I enjoy learning about different subjects, and several years ago, I took some online courses through Open University about archaeology and antiquity/artifact smuggling. The speaker was an archaeologist and her lectures on archaeology were interesting and informative....
by Susan Van Kirk | Jan 20, 2025 | Blog, mystery, suspense, writing
Have you ever created a great character for a story you never finished? If so, have you thought about reusing that character in another book? After my first published mystery, Going Home, came out in 2014, I started writing a sequel. In that novel, my protagonist,...
