by Susan Van Kirk | Oct 30, 2023 | Blog, historical fiction, mystery, writing novels
I’m welcoming back Marlie Wasserman, historical fiction crime writer, who has a wonderful new book out from Level Best Books. Her new novel is inspired by an 1899 New York City fire at a luxury hotel in Manhattan. Historical crime fiction includes both novels...
by Susan Van Kirk | Sep 11, 2023 | book reviews, historical fiction, mystery
I love history, and when you add “mystery” to the description, I’m hooked. I had the opportunity to read Skye Alexander’s latest story, The Goddess of Shipwrecked Sailors, which is now out from Level Best Books. It’s sensational. Set in December 1925, the mystery...
by Susan Van Kirk | Aug 7, 2023 | Blog, mystery, suspense
One of the things I love about writing is that I get to research things that interest me under the guise of work. When I was planning Murder in Trastevere, one idea that kept calling me was the sport of ultra running. I can’t tell you how I got this bug in my bonnet....
by Susan Van Kirk | Jun 1, 2023 | Blog, book reviews, mystery, small towns, Susan Van Kirk, suspense
Death in a Bygone Hue Susan Van Kirk Level Best Books 978-1-68512-336-9 $16.95 Paper/$5.99 ebook The second book in the Art Center Mysteries, Death in a Bygone Hue, continues the story of artist Jill Madison’s return to and new life in her hometown,...
by Susan Van Kirk | May 15, 2023 | Blog, mystery, Sarah Bewley, suspense
Today, I’m welcoming Sarah Bewley, a mystery writer with her debut novel recently launched from Level Best Books. She’s written a harrowing story that’s part mystery, part police procedural, and she’s created a fascinating place: Eden County....
by Susan Van Kirk | Feb 11, 2022 | mysteries, mystery, reading, small towns, Susan Van Kirk, suspense
“In the heartless cruelty of my sixth-grade year, I sat behind Ned Fisher in English class, joining in the snickers of my friends. Ned had ears that stuck out from his head like Dumbo the elephant, and he probably wished he could fly away. Now, decades later, I...
by Susan Van Kirk | Jun 26, 2021 | Blog, mysteries, mystery, Susan Van Kirk
Lesson Plan for Murder by Lori Robbins What’s not to love when an English teacher like me reads a mystery where the chapters are titled Things Fall Apart or Heart of Darkness and the protagonist is a high school English teacher? First, I loved the clever, intelligent...
by Susan Van Kirk | Jun 2, 2021 | Blog, mysteries, mystery, publishing
When I first began writing mysteries, I didn’t know a great deal about copyrights, publishers, or self-publishing. My first series, the Endurance Mysteries, was published by a traditional publisher. After putting out Three May Keep a Secret and Marry in Haste, that...
by Susan Van Kirk | Jan 4, 2021 | Blog, mystery, reading, writing
(The True Story of New York City’s Greatest Female Detective and the 1917 Missing Girl Case that Captivated a Nation) by Brad Ricca [St. Martin’s Griffin Books 2016] I loved the history in Brad Ricca’s book about Grace Humiston, a lawyer and advocate for the voiceless...
by Susan Van Kirk | Nov 12, 2020 | Blog, mysteries, mystery, reading, Susan Van Kirk, writing
Arabella Carpenter and business partner Emily Garland find themselves in a world of legal entanglements in this newest addition to the Glass Dolphin series, Where There’s a Will. Arabella is hired to do an appraisal of a vintage photograph for the executrix of an...
