What came to me — finally — were the two titles that, together, both represent the book and that were, in some ways, the genesis of it.

From my first reading when I was a child, The Secret Garden both enchanted and frightened me. Frightened is possibly the wrong word: it’s a book for kids, after all. But there are chilling elements in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s masterful 1911 novel, and the themes of redemption and renewal are everywhere.

Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley Underground (1970) was the book that somewhat inspired the driving narrative in Insensible Loss, even if I didn’t realize it when I sat down to write. When I read a description of Ripley Underground I had not yet read the book. By the time I read it a few weeks later, I was well into crafting my story, one that is entirely different from Highsmith’s novel.

A Preview From the Garden

In celebration of the book’s publication today, and without permission from my publisher (so I hope they don’t get mad) I offer up a brief and garden-related excerpt from Insensible Loss, which is available everywhere books are sold, beginning today!

Excerpt from Insensible Loss by Linda L. Richards 2024 (Oceanview Publishing)

I move in the direction of the sound, still trying to place it. It is light and bright and lovely. Then I realize: it isn’t a mystery at all, but the faintest tinkle of wind chimes. As unmistakable and unlikely as the sound is in this location, I’m sure I’m not wrong, which means some semblance of civilization is nearby. And from the volume, I judge the chimes to be not far ahead.

I pick myself up and head further down the track, toward the sound. The bright, lightness of the chimes invigorate me. Gold-on-brass. I haven’t gone much further before a homestead appears around a bend. I am looking at an oasis. I see a tidy house, a swimming pool, and some outbuildings, all surrounded by shade-giving trees, so precious in the desert. The small river that runs through the homestead appears to be the lifeblood of all that green. Shallow hills nearby provide a feeling of shelter in the little valley. It all appears as idyllic as anything could. A secret garden in the desert. It is beautiful.

As I near the house I see an old woman sitting in the shade of a breezeway attached to the house. The dog is sitting next to her, his head in her lap. My dog. And he is staring up at her in adoration.

“Hullo!” I call out as I approach. “I’m sorry to intrude.”

She smiles a welcome at my approach, reaches up a hand and beckons me forward. It’s as though she is expecting me. Up close I can see that she is even older than I thought at first. She’s as pale as natural silk and her skin looks so thin it is almost translucent. A blue light seems almost to shine through her. At first glance, she seems a magical figure, perched here in her hidden garden, the dog sitting quietly and adoringly at her feet.

“I suspect I know why you’re here,” she says, stroking the dog’s head. Her voice seems creaky, like it hasn’t been used for a while. Close up, she seems to emit the faintest scent of lavender. Present but not unpleasant. It seems to radiate from her, like heat.

“I’m so sorry to disturb you,” I say. “I can’t imagine what got into him. He’s always such a good boy.”

She starts to laugh and then the laugh turns into a cough. I stand by politely, waiting for the cough to subside. When it does, she grins at me apologetically.

“Sorry,” she says. “For the coughing. I never know when I’m gonna go off. Should be okay for now.”

“That’s all right,” I say.

“So the dog,” she says. “Is this the strangest thing? It was like he knew me. Though, of course, I’ve never met him.”

“Certainly.” I don’t know what to say.

“What are you doing in these parts?”

“Drifting,” I say honestly.

“That’s interesting. I didn’t know people still did that. You have nowhere you need to be?”
I shake my head.
“No one waiting for you?”
“Not anymore.” I say it without emotion and am interested tosee her absorb the words. It’s like she is a sponge for them. And it’s like she has been waiting.

“And you didn’t arrive in order to find me?”

I shake my head. “Sorry,” I say. “No. I don’t even know who you are.”

She nods her head, but she only looks half-convinced.

“No really,” I press. “Now I feel as though I should know who you are, but I don’t. I’m sorry.”

“I’m Imogen O’Brien,” she says, and I can tell she’s watching my face closely to see how I react to the name. I know it, of course. Who doesn’t know Imogen O’Brien? She is a legend. I peek at her from under my lashes; wondering if she is pulling my leg. I can’t believe it is her, and yet I don’t doubt. And I don’t tell her that I didn’t even know for sure that she was still alive. She is such a legend that I had probably assumed she was not still among us, if I’d thought of her at all. Which I hadn’t.

“Really?” Is all I say, but of course I believe her. And now I recognize her, as well. She is a recluse, that much I know. She is famous for it. And she has lived “Somewhere in the Arizona forests” forever. Thirty years. Forty. More. She is one of the most famous living painters in the world, and I have stumbled across her. Or my dog has. Either way. Here she is. Looking more like a beautiful and ancient gnome than an icon.

Learn more about Insensible Loss and where to buy it here.

Dead West now in Paperback

Today, also, Dead West (2023) becomes available in paperback. So if you’ve been putting off reading until the easier to carry version was available, your time is now.

The hit woman readers loved in Endings is back

“Linda L. Richards delivers yet another riveting entry in her hired killer series. Set mostly in Arizona desert country, Dead West is a dust devil of a story, twisting in wildly unpredictable ways and with a powerful emotional center. But this book isn’t just a marvelously compelling thriller; it also cries out passionately for protection of the endangered wild horses of the West. Kudos to Richards for seamlessly weaving an important message into the fabric of a terrific tale.” — New York Times bestselling author William Kent Krueger

I’m grateful for your continued support and the caring and energy you continue to ship this way. For the last few years, my bio has indicated that I’ve written “more than a dozen” books, just because the number differs depending on how you count things. There are variables. Do you include anthologies? Non-fiction as well as fiction? And so on. Well, in the way I count things, Insensible Loss brings the actual total to 18. Which somewhat astonishes me. That’s a lot of words. Also some time. Some of those who will read these words have been subscribing to my newsletter — in all its various forms over the years — since the beginning. Knowing that you’re making this journey with me means more than you can know. Thank you.

So, yes: it’s August. And so it’s fall. Or nearly so. And what does that mean? In the context of this note, it means many of us are looking forward to conferences, book festivals, and brand new books! I’m feeling lucky to be anticipating all of that.

Here comes Insensible Loss

Insensible Loss, the fourth book in the Endings series, will be out on September 17th. Award-winning author James L’Etoile says, “Deception, loss, and the past all collide in this propulsive thriller. A skillfully crafted plot combined with memorable characters makes Insensible Loss a must read.”

A bit about the book.

After the events of 2023’s Dead West left her alone and disconnected, she finds herself driving aimlessly in the Arizona desert. In a hidden oasis in a national park, she stumbles upon the hideaway of a reclusive artist who quickly embroils her in a pact of deception and deceit.

Like The Secret Garden meets Ripley Underground, in Insensible Loss our heroine unwittingly becomes involved in secrets too terrible to be left unresolved.

Again, the book is out September 17th, but pre-ordering let’s the publisher know you’re looking forward to the book: a sign they look for in signing authors up to do future things!

You can pre-order Insensible Loss here.

Endings is Free!

In an effort to trick everyone on the planet into reading my books, my publisher is giving away digital copies of book one of The Endings series until Insensible Loss, book four in the series, comes out mid-September. Endings is the one that has been optioned for film. Many good things have been said about this book by some super swell people. (And most of those people are not my friends and are not related to me, so there’s that.)

A couple of reviews are quoted below but, please: don’t take my word for it. Grab it right now for free!

Publishers Weekly (Starred review)

“Richards combines a damaged protagonist readers will root for with a twisted, whiplash-fast plot filled with layers of moral ambiguity. This harrowing tale of love, loss, and the value of life is not to be missed.”

Mystery Scene

“This action-packed, adrenaline-fueled thriller from Richards breathes new life into a genre dominated by brooding male protagonists. The main character may be damaged and the subject matter dark, but the dry, witty tone coupled with the plot’s introspective bent and hopeful conclusion keeps the tale from skewing too bleak. By declining to name the narrator, giving her a prosaic origin story, and writing in the first-person, Richards grounds the tale and suggests to readers that with a cruel twist of fate, this story could be theirs.”

Say “Hey” at Bouchercon

I’m really looking forward to being in Nashville for Bouchercon: the World Mystery Convention which runs from August 28th until September 1st. I’ve never been to Nashville, so I’m looking forward to (among other things) music and barbecue. But, also, every time you attend a conference/festival like this, it’s a delight coming together with old friends and making new ones. That’s one of the aspects I enjoy the most: one of the few times of the year they unchain us from our writing desks and let us hang out with fellow writers. Lots of them!

If you’re at Bouchercon and up and about early on Thursday morning, you’ll find me moderating a super special and star-studded panel featuring some of the sharpest voices writing crime fiction today. I’ll be talking with Thomas B. Cavanagh (Diamond Cut), David Housewright (Man in the Water), Lissa Marie Redmond (Catch Your Death), and Julie Tollefson (Shotgun Honey) about Point of View. With this particular crew, I feel sure every POV during the hour will be super engaging!

New Today!

Here’s a newsflash: Audrey Lee’s debut novel, The Mechanics of Memory, is out today.

Here’s what the publisher says about it:

Never Forget.

Memory is Copeland-Stark’s business. Yet after months of reconsolidation treatments at their sleek new flagship facility, Hope Nakano still has no idea what happened to her lost year, or the life she was just beginning to build with her one great love. Each procedure surfaces fragmented clues which erode Hope’s trust in her own memories, especially the ones of Luke. As inconsistencies mount, her search for answers reveals a much larger secret Copeland-Stark is determined to protect.

But everyone has secrets, including Hope.

Sound fantastic? It is. You can order it here.

So once I learned all of that, I determined to send out a (long overdue but who’s counting) newsletter, but life kept intervening, as has been the case for me for much of this year. (Hence the overdue newsletter!) And then, a few minutes ago, I got a notice that today was the last day to vote. So… um… better late than never? If you’re so inclined, I’d love it if you’d follow this link and vote for Dead West.

Insensible Loss is coming soon!

I’ve been at this writing game for a while now. More than a minute.

My first non-fiction book came out in 1994. Several books and a lot of miles later, my first novel, the financial thriller Mad Money, arrived in 2004. It was actually as I was typing that (now!) that I realized that what I figure to be my 18th book is coming out pretty close to the 30th anniversary of my first. And I’m feeling super grateful that, despite the fact that typing that number makes me feel like I should be reaching for a cane, I’m still playing tennis, hitting the downward dogs in yoga and taking steps two at a time. (The fact that the previous sentence makes it sound like you can win at yoga is a conversation for another day. A philosophical one. But let’s move on.)

Before I got derailed, I intended to tell you that it doesn’t seem to matter how many books I write, the arrival of a new one delights me more than I can say. By the time a book actually arrives in the world, so much has gone into it. The solitary writing part, of course. But then a lot of teamwork. The beta readers, the edits, the marketing discussions, and so much else.

But then you stand on the threshold, weeks out, and you start to get excited. You just can’t help it. All that time. All that work. All that anticipation. And now: here we are. Almost.

As I’ve explained in this space before, Insensible Loss is a special one, for so many reasons. Our poor heroine has been through so much by now. This is book four. She is ready for respite. She finds some of that here. And some other stuff, as well. I love this book and I hope you do, too.

If you’d like to preorder the book, you can do so here.

And, as always, I feel so grateful you’re out there. Please stay tuned. As Insensible Loss’s September 17th publication date draws closer, you’re sure to hear more from me.

On September 17th the FOURTH book in the Endings series will be flying into your hands. This year is going so fast, that feels like just a minute away!

The book is called Insensible Loss and it takes the beleaguered hit woman we met in Endings way back in 2021 to places far beyond those I had previously thought possible. Those who have read the book have said it is the most cerebral of this series to date. (And I’m pretty sure they meant that in a good way.)

The book takes place mostly in the desert, in a place so remote it barely has a name. A world class artist plays a part (hence the blood-tipped paintbrush, so there’s a clue) and — of course — the dog survives this episode, too. (Just to reasure you: the dog will always survive. Even if no one else was left standing, he’d still be there.)

If you are curious or want to be kind, you can preorder the book. As I’ve told you before (and as you probably already know anyway) a preorder is every author’s very favorite thing. That’s because it tells all the publishing powers-that-be that people care about this author and their books at a time when decisions about next books might be getting made.

A Softer Way of Doing Things

The week before book four in the Endings series appears, book three, Dead West, will come out in paperback.

Dead West was a heartbreaking book for me to write. I was working on it at the same time I was writing Wild Horses: Running Free and the persecution that American Mustang horses are experiencing at present sometimes filled my heart with tears. At those times it seemed impossible to work on the non-fiction Wild Horses, so I’d turn to fiction and burn off some of the pain. The result is a book that’s filled with a sort of angry, raw passion. In his beautiful blurb for the book, William Kent Krueger said:

“Linda L. Richards delivers yet another riveting entry in her hired killer series. Set mostly in Arizona desert country, Dead West is a dust devil of a story, twisting in wildly unpredictable ways and with a powerful emotional center. But this book isn’t just a marvelously compelling thriller; it also cries out passionately for protection of the endangered wild horses of the West. Kudos to Richards for seamlessly weaving an important message into the fabric of a terrific tale.”

You can preorder the paperback version of Dead West here.

Spring Break for Writers

Don’t get me wrong: I loved the splendid isolation of the pandemic as much as anyone. (!) But, like a lot of people, I’ve been really digging the gradual reintroduction to the things we all took for granted in the time before.

Remember all those small, sweet, and entirely valuable writer’s conferences we used to take part in on a regular basis? Well, they’re back. I’m looking forward in particular to one I will take part in next weekend, Spring Break for Writers: Creating a Career of Success as an Author! April 26 to 28 at the Scottsdale Marriott Old Town in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This will be the first ever in-person event hosted by Grand Canyon Writers, a chapter of Sisters in Crime that was actually formed during the pandemic. (Which, I guess, is why all these pandemic-time memories are rolling in. It’s been a long road, kids. I’m happy we made it here.)

If you’re planning on being at the event, I’ll be on hand for pretty much the whole thing. I don’t know the schedule yet, but when they tell me to start talking, I’ll be hosting a session on finding your path to publishing success. (See image above.)

If you’d like more information on the event, you can find it here.

And Speaking of My Sisters…

It’s good to have friends. Good, also, to be part of something larger than oneself. I have been on the national board of Sisters in Crime for a couple of years now, and I am still astonished to find that the available resources through this organization seem bottomless. Just when you think you know pretty much everything possible and on offer, something else appears. That’s a rich and wonderful feeling.

If you are on any part of a path to finding your way in publishing, it is not possible to go wrong with a membership in Sisters in Crime. Whatever questions you have, there are answers here. It is nothing short of incredible and includes full access to a web site that Writers Digest recently ranked as a top writing resource.

Feel like racing off to sign up? You’ll find out how to do that here.

Thanks for hanging around! I remain grateful for your attention. Have a beautiful day!

I was pleased and surprised to discover that Dead West, the third book in the Endings series, has been selected as one of the Best Books of 2023 by Amazon editors.

I love this book. I guess I’ve been telling you that for a while now. It delves into areas of great controversy while still maintaining a bone chilling calm and bringing an edge-of-the-seat adventure. Achieving that distance while writing about a topic I have passion for wasn’t easy so I’m proud to find others have noticed it, too.

Writing for Foreword, Ho Lin said the book ends “with a bittersweet cut-off to easy paths toward happiness that leaves other ways open, Dead West is a rare thriller that is both tough and tender.”

It’s worth mentioning that Dead West is also an Amazon pick for December, which means you can snag a Kindle copy for very little dough for the rest of the month.

Looking for a signed copy? Poisoned Pen Press has them here.

“One of the top writers to read in 2023”

Earlier this year, LA Weekly proclaimed me to be one of the top writers to read this year. That made me blush enough that I haven’t really said much about it, but it dawned on me that we’ve nearly run out of 2023, so if I’m ever going to crow (even just a little bit) I’d better get around to it. Stat. So here I am.

Not much to say about that, but in case you feel like figuring out who else you should be reading, that link is here.

(BTW: I did think about it enough to pop those words onto a coaster in time for this year’s Bouchercon mystery conference back in September. As I still have a giant stack of them, if you’d like one, please let me know and I’ll ship it out to you. A holiday gift for you, faithful reader!)

We’re better together

One of the super fun things I did this year was host write-ins during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and throughout the year. Prior to 2022 I’d never taken part in NaNoWraiMo, but as part of the National Board of Sisters in Crime, a call was put out for people to host these sessions. I dipped a toe in, enjoyed it so much, and have been a part of this process ever since.

For an explanation of what a Write-in actually is and how you can take part, follow this link. While you’re at it, if you’re not a member of SinC you can get information about joining on the same web site. Annual membership is $60 US per year. If that isn’t, like, the best deal on the planet, I don’t know what is

Cover reveal?

I have now seen the cover for Insensible Loss, the fourth book in the Endings series. I was considering sharing it with you here, but I ended up having more news than anticipated and, in any case, sharing it next time gives me something to get excited about. (Which seems to be the only way I actually put these newsletters together: being excited enough to share something!)

So I’m going to keep you in suspense, and me in anticipation, but I will just say it’s gorgeous: my lovely team at Oceanview Publishing has really outdone themselves.

And on that note of extreme tease, and also gratitude, I will wish you the best of everything through the holidays and beyond. Stay sane, stay focussed, and read, read, read.

Thank you so much for sticking around. Your comments and caring make it all worthwhile.

xo

L.

On the path to publication, Wild Horses: Running Free (Orca) nearly broke my heart a few times. When I began writing the book several years ago, I skipped blithely forward, thinking it was going to be a walk in the park. After all, as an accomplished horsewoman, I know quite a bit about horses; their care and feeding. Even their habits and something about their behaviors in the wild. Plus, writing Return From Extinction: the Triumph of the Elephant Seals a few years earlier had been such a joy, I wanted more of that.

So I got the assignment; secured the contract; then started to research in earnest. I quickly discovered that just about everything I thought going in was wrong. Not only that, but the wild horse space in North America is filled with violence and politics. Suddenly, the project that was supposed to be all about joy was anything but.

The resulting book is, I think, very good. (Despite my zany face above. Apparently, I’m irrepressible.) I did an even-handed job of presenting all of the controversy around all aspects of wild horses in the Americas, while also managing to make it both accurate and interesting reading for its intended market and beyond. Along the way, too, and in the way my brain works, that research also lead to a novel. Dead West takes place in this same space, but it’s for adults and also I got to make things up.

On the other hand, the book we are celebrating today, Wild Horses, is aimed at young readers. It’s critical to get it right for them. Also, I feel it's important to deliver some hope. I had to dig a little deeper to find that on the wild horse book, but find it I did.

If you think you know anything at all on this topic, read this book. I’m pretty sure you'll be surprised. Also, you’ll learn a bunch.

Grab Endings. Because you can.

I don’t really know how my publisher managed it, but Endings, the first book in the Endings series, remains a Really Good Deal (tm) at Amazon. This is super because, with Dead West, the third book in the series, out recently and doing really well, it’s kind of awesome for readers new to the series to be able to grab the first series book at a super reasonable price.

All of the books in the series stand alone, but if you loved the books after and still haven’t read this one, it’s a worthwhile journey.

You can order the electronic version of Endings here, for not much loot.

Be Good to You

We are living in extraordinary times.

You’ll have guessed that I don’t mean that in an entirely good way.

It’s never been more important to schedule some time just for you. Take a yoga class. Have a bubblebath. Meditate. Read a book. (My answer to everything!) Whatever you do to decompress, give yourself permission to do it. There is nothing easy about all of what is going on in the world.

One thing I’m certain of: you didn’t bring this on. Take the time now to be kind to yourself and others. ◊

Hey and welcome to a whole slew of new subscribers. I’m grateful you’ve decided to stop by.

Hmmm. That gets me thinking. How many, exactly, is a slew? Like any self-respecting journalist, first I Googled. And I learned that, among other things, a slew can be a batch, deal, flock, good deal, great deal, hatful, heap, lot, mass, mess, mickle, mint, mountain, muckle, passel, peck, pile, plenty, pot, quite a little, raft, sight, spate, stack, tidy sum, wad. Which, any way you slice it, is a pretty ambiguous number.

What it really means is, whatever the case, I’m so grateful you’re here!

Horsin’ Around

Right now in my little world, everything is coming up horsey. It’s just extraordinary that it’s all happened in this way.

On October 17th (next week!) Wild Horses: Running Free will be published by Orca. It’s non-fiction for middle school-aged readers and if you’re expecting yet another book about wild horses, you will be surprised: there is a lot here that is controversial and outside of traditional thinking about this subject, at least as things relate to wild horses in North America.

Along with photos by the wonderful and renowned equine photographer Lori Sortino, the work of a host (not a slew) of other talented photographers is represented, and there are even a few taken by yours truly. Plus, in the introduction to the book, you will find a photo of me on horseback taken when I was around 12. The same photo was used in a recent article in the Autumn 2023 issue of BC Bookworld, and so I am thus immortalized in print, forever cute and precocious. There are worse fates!

If you’re in BC, and see the issue, grab it: you’ll see crime fiction pal Sam Wiebe (newly minted Writer-in-Residence at SFU) and me, right on the cover! We’re there on the bottom. Activist and journalist Angela Sterritt, who is SFU’s Non-Fiction Writer in Residence, has top spot and that’s a great piece about a terrific book, as well.

The Setting Is the Thing

Setting in fiction is one of those topics those of us with fiction on the brain talk about pretty endlessly. What makes it? How do you create it? What do you do with it or without it? For some of us, setting is everything (eg: Ray Bradbury in “There Will Come Soft Rains”.)

I’m feeling super lucky because I get to talk about all of that this coming Saturday (Wait. Is that tomorrow?) with Grand Canyon Writers and friends. You can access the registration page here:

https://grandcanyonwriters.com/

Just scroll down until you see my smiling mug. I’m speaking from 10:30 AM PST/1:30 EST until whenever they make me stop.

Listen to This

Just as I was putting these words together, I got a note from my publisher that the audio book version of Dead West is now on sale wherever fine audio books are sold. You can grab it right now from your favorite audio book place, or here.

Writers on the Trail

Back in September, it was my delight to attend Bouchercon in San Diego. Bouchercon is the largest annual gathering of crime fiction fans and authors on the planet. My brand new novel, Dead West, the third book in the Endings series, came out a few days after Bouchercon, so I got to sign the very first copies of the book.

It was great to catch up with old friends, make some news ones and also spend some quality time with my Sisters in Crime sisters, who were there en force, of course.

I was staying on the 16th floor of the convention hotel, the San Diego Marquis, a Marriot right on the water in San Diego. Several times, when venturing to and from my room, I ran into a very nice man staying on the same floor. We’d share a friendly word on the elevator. He was never wearing a name tag, but somehow I figured he was connected to the convention anyway. I imagined that, maybe, he was there to offer support to his wife. Maybe she was a struggling cozy writer and he wanted to be there for her, but was still going off on convention-time adventures of his own. I remember thinking he seemed very sweet. And how nice of him to be there for her! Doing everything he could to help her struggling new career. (Sorry. I’m a storyteller. I make things up.)

So imagine my confusion and surprise when, at the closing ceremonies, I see my floor mate up on the dias, cheerfully fielding questions. It took me a second to put aside my assumptions (where was he cozy writing wife, anyway?) and realize that the man I’d felt sympathy and admiration for because of the stalwart support of his crime writing wife was ill-placed. Because, of course (have you figured it out yet?) the object of my sympathy was none other than crime fiction superstar David Baldacci, who just happened to be the 2023 Bouchercon Lifetime Guest of Honor.

I felt a little silly, but also amused because that’s a little of who Baldacci is: a superstar, with millions of books sold and he is so charming and self-effacing one could easily mistake him for the staunchly supportive husband of a much less well known author. He seems like a good guy, is what I’m saying. And it seemed too good a story not to share. And so here we are.

Here Comes NaNoWriMo!

A lot of people I know — yours truly included — are gearing up for National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo. It begins November 1st.

Until last year, I’d never done anything with NaNoWriMo beyond write about it. But as part of my involvement with Sisters in Crime, I agreed to host Write In events during NaNoWriMo in 2022… and I fell in love.

NaNoWriMo is maybe more than it’s cracked up to be. The flagship program of the non-profit NaNoWriMo organization is an annual, international creative writing event. Participants attempt to write a 50,000-word manuscript during the month of November. Sisters in Crime is one of the sponsors of the event, and also gets involved on a very grassrootsy level by holding actual Write In events for people to come on in, sit down and… write. I host some of those.

While Write Ins can provide structure in the writing life, Sisters in Crime is just so much more than that.

Wanting to feel supported in your creative and writing business life? SinC can help. Wanting to be introduced to new writers working in the crime fiction genre? Sisters in Crime can help with that, too. SinC proves, time and time again, that all of us are more than the sum of our parts. We really are better together. You can find membership information here. Tell ‘em I sent you.

In this issue:

So many books, so little time, right? Here are books by the authors mentioned in this issue of my newsletter. Choose any or all: you’ll have no regrets!

The Edge by David Baldacci (November 2023, Grand Central)

Sunset & Jericho by Sam Wiebe (April 2023, Harbour Publishing)

Unbroken by Angela Sterritt (May 2023, Greystone)

Dead West by Linda L Richards (September 2023, Oceanview Publishing)

Wild Horses: Running Free by Linda L. Richards (October 2023, Orca Publishing)

Here’s the excerpt.

CHAPTER ONE

I’m sitting on a beach. It’s a ridiculous proposition. Fluffy white clouds are scudding through a clear, blue sky. Surfers are running around carrying boards, often over their heads. Then they plunge into a sea that looks deadly to my non-surfing eyes. Palm trees are waving, and the air is so neutral, you don’t have to think about it. Soft, welcoming air. You just float right through.

The view is beautiful. It’s like a movie backdrop. A painting. Something skillfully manufactured to look hyper-real. Textbook paradise, that’s what I’m talking about.

I’m sitting on this beach, trying not to think about the reason I’m here. But it’s hard. Difficult. To not think about it, I mean. I’m here, in paradise, because someone has to die.

Someone will die.

I got the assignment a few days ago. I flew to this island to pull it off.

My target is a businessman who lives on this island in the South Pacific. He is the kind of self-made guy who has achieved every goal in life and would seem to have everything to live for. Only now, apparently, someone wants him dead because here I am, ready for business.

So I stake him out. You need to understand at least the basics of who someone is before you snuff them out. This is the idea that I have. I’m not going all sensitive on you or anything, that’s just how it is. In order to do the best possible job in this business, you need to understand a little about who they are.

His name is Gavin White, and I researched him a bit before I got here. He made his fortune in oil and wax, which is an odd enough combination that you perk up your ears. Only it doesn’t matter: the source of the income would seem to have nothing to do with the hit. Would seem to, because there is only so much I can learn about that, really. On the surface, anyway, I can find no direct connection between Gavin White’s livelihood and the death that someone has planned for him and that I am now further planning.

I follow him and his S560 cabriolet all over the tropical island. He makes a few stops. I watch what he does, how he moves, and who he interacts with. Some of it might matter. I’m not doing it for my health. I’m watching him so I can determine when I might best have advantage when I go to take him out. There are always multiple times and different places to fulfill my assignment and usually only one—or maybe two—that are virtually flawless. Sometimes not even that.

And it’s more than an opportunity I’m looking for, though that can play a part. It’s also a matter of identifying what will make my job not only easier, but also safest from detection. And so I watch. And I wait.

As I follow him, he stops first at a bank. Does some business— I’ll never know what. After that he visits his mom. At least, I guess it is his mom. An older woman he seems affectionate with. From my rental car, I can see them through a front room window. There is a hug and then a wave. It could be a bookkeeper for all I know. But mom is what I guess.

After a while he heads to the beach. He sits on the sand, seems to contemplate. I think about taking him there; full contemplation. But it is crude and much too exposed.

More time passes before he takes off his shoes, leaves them on the beach, and walks into the surf. I leave my car and take up a spot on the sand, just plopping myself down not far from his shoes.

I watch him surreptitiously. It is obvious he did not come to the beach to swim. He is fully clothed and he hasn’t left a towel be- hind there with his shoes. There is none of the paraphernalia one associates with a visit to the beach, even if this were one that is intended for swimming, which it is not. Signs warn of possible impending doom for those who venture into the water.

“Strong current,” warns one sign under a fluorescent flag. “If in doubt, don’t go out.”

“Dangerous shore break,” warns another. “Waves break in shallow water. Serious injuries could occur, even in small surf.”

I don’t know if Gavin White read the signs, or noticed them, but even though he is still fully clothed, he steps into the water anyway.

First, he gets his feet wet. Not long after, he wades in up to his knees. He hesitates when the water is at mid-thigh, and he stops there. For a while, it seems to me, it is like a dance. He stands facing the horizon, directly in front of where I sit. His shoulders are squared. There is something stoic in his stance. I can’t explain it. Squared and stoic.

Waves break against him, push him back. He allows the push, then makes his way back to the spot where he had stood before.

Before long, he ventures deeper still. The dance. I watch for a while, fascinated. I wonder if there is anything I should do. But no. The dance. Two steps forward, then the waves push him back.

And now he is in deeper still, and farther from shore. I see a wave engulf him completely, and I hold my breath. He doesn’t struggle, but then I see him rise, face the horizon, square his shoulders.

The waves are strong and beautiful. And they are eerily clear, those waves. Sometimes I can see right inside them. Careful glass tubes of water, I can even observe that from shore.

For a while he stands like that, facing the horizon—a lull in the action of the waves. And then he is engulfed once again. I hold my breath, but this time he doesn’t rise.

I sit there for a long time, considering. And waiting. My breath- ing shallow. But he doesn’t reappear.

After half an hour, I text my handler.

“It is done,” is all I say, just as I know she will expect.

It was not my hand, but the mission has been accomplished regardless. No one knows better than me that there are many ways to die. ◊

I'm about as excited about the upcoming publication of Dead West, the third book in the Endings series, as I have been about any of the more than dozen books I have written. That debut will happen on September 5th.

In anticipation of that, the electronic version of Endings, the first book in the series, is free for just a few more days, until the end of August. If you have yet to read it, grab it free now!

Dead West is here!

It has kind of surprised me to discover that I honestly think Dead West is the best book in the series so far. It’s one of the things that has made writing book four so difficult! Dead West is a hard act to follow. (But that’s a story for a different day.)

You can preorder now and you won’t have at all long to wait for your copy.

Thank you for all of your support. I hope you love this one as much as I do! Meanwhile, I’d like to give away a half dozen coasters. (Shown below.) If you’d like one, please write and tell me why. There are no country restrictions.

On the road again…

I'm heading off to Bouchercon in San Diego in about a minute. (Actually, about 24 hours from the time I’m writing this, but who’s counting?)

I will be doing so many fun things at Bouchercon, I really don’t even know where to begin.

So I’ll just begin. If you’re at Bouchercon, look for me at the Author Speed Dating at the ungodly hour of 7 am. (You’ll be getting a Dead West coaster, too! See above right.)

On Friday, I’ll be participating in the Oceanview Publishing Author Signing Event (hmmmm…. that’s kind of a mouthful. But anyway…) right after the close of the opening ceremonies. (The close of the opening ceremonies? But, yes.)

On Saturday at 1:05 pm, I’m excited to be on the Dark Villains Shining a Light at Human Nature panel. This is going to be a doozy, I think. (Yes. I said “doozy.” Please forget I said that now.) It will be moderated by Joshua Moehling (Where the Dead Sleep and Where he Kept Her). My fellow panelists are Yasmin Angoe, Mark Greaney, Thomas Perry, and Sam Reaves. This is going to be a killer conversation! (I’ll also be signing with these superstars in the signing room after the panel.)

If you’re there and you see me, please say hi!

That sounds so trite, so predictable. But hear me out. It’s worth considering.

The narrating character in the Endings series is a hit woman, a contract killer. She kills people for money. That isn’t the sum of who she is or even anywhere near the totality of the story she stars in, but it’s an easy way for us to begin to understand her.

She is not a bad person. I mean, she should be, right? She kills people; takes their lives. What kind of good person does stuff like that? But, like all of us, she has been forged by the situations that brought her to the point in her life when we meet her.

While writing Endings, the first book in the series, I researched these things: good and evil. Do they even exist as forces in the world? While I researched, a political vortex composed of both of these things seemed to shift around my feet, like so much sand. For a while over the last couple of years, it would seem as though evil was reflected every day on the evening news. I still emerged from the experience as I went into it: we are—all of us—the sum of our parts. We are created not only by DNA, but also by circumstance.

People have asked me how I managed to make the protagonist in Endings relatable. I think it’s because I didn’t try. She exists in the world on her own steam, as it were. Her world. Like all of us, she was forged by her circumstance.

So: relatable. The protagonist in the Endings Series reacts to things in a human way. Early in the first book, Endings, she loses her child, and ultimately her husband, in a freak accident. And these things alter her.

In fact with the third book coming out in a few months, and while I’m just completing the fourth book in the series, I find she is still reeling from those events. They have changed her in ways she doesn’t understand. In ways, honestly, maybe even I don’t fully understand on a conscious level. But readers are getting it.

And, of course, Endings is a thriller. One is not to lose sight of that. All of the books in the series are intended to make you catch your breath, and there are certainly whole chunks of these books when the reader is meant to be perched on the edge of her seat. So it is meant to be all of that, and also more.

Many years ago I interviewed a very famous crime fictionist for January Magazine who told me about a super fancy German photographer who was taking her picture for a big deal magazine. He instructed her to stand erect and then pull her leg up behind her, by the heel. She told him it hurt. “Of course it hurts,” he said, or something very like that. “That’s the point. It must hurt. There is no art without pain.”

I’m not entirely certain I believe all of those words: that there is no art without pain, but I certainly believe in what they represent. To be satisfied with art—a book, a movie, a painting, whatever—there must be more than what can be seen on the surface. There must be layers. Depths. Did I reach those depths and layers with Endings and the books that followed it? I hope so. If you read them, maybe you will let me know.

The fourth book in the Endings series, Dead West, comes out on September 5, 2023. You can preorder it from your favorite bookseller, or order from one of the links here.

New to this Series?

What if you’re looking forward to reading Dead West, but you haven’t read the first two books in the series? NBD! First of all, the books are intended to stand alone: each book is a complete story. There is nuance that readers who have read the earlier books will get that a new-to-the-series won’t, but that won’t detract from your enjoyment if you’re starting with book three.

That said, if you’d like to read those earlier books, now is a super time. Both Endings and Exit Strategy are Kindle deals of the moment (or whatever they’re calling it this month). What it really means is, during July, you can get both of those books (or either) in e-book form for not much loot.

Right now I am working hard to put the fourth Endings series installment to bed. I am so pleased with the third book in the series, Dead West, which comes out September 5th, 2023. I honestly think it’s the best book in the series. So far. In fact, I love it so much, I’m having a tough time topping it. We’ll see how that turns out next year. (Well, I’ll see sooner than that, of course. But you know.) Meanwhile, you can preorder Dead West here. (And, of course, I’d be ever so grateful if you did!)

LA Weekly Sez…

This week LA Weekly calls me “One of the Top Authors to Read in 2023.” Okay. I’m blushing. But you can see the piece here.

Here’s the “Read My Friends” Part

A few of my friends have books coming out right now and soon. Here are a few of them.

THE GET by Dietrich Kalteis (ECW Press)

I’m excited get my hands on this caper novel set in the 1960s by one of my favorite authors, Dietrich Kalteis. I’ve loved everything Kalteis has written. He has this scratchy, hardcore voice that gets in your head and stays there. I’m imagining GET will be no exception. It came out June 3rd.

THE DROWNING WOMAN by Robyn Harding (Grand Central)

Harding’s books are always intelligent, well-plotted and gripping. This one has all the good stuff: redemption, betrayal, friendship in a layered edge-of-seat package. Bring it! The book came out June 13th

A REAL SOMEBODY by Deryn Collier (Lake Union)

It’s been too long since we had fiction from Collier, whose work is always smart and charming and even her publisher is promising this historical novel set in postwar Montreal will be both. July 11th.

So, yeah, okay: welcome to my Substack. I have no intention on charging anyone for stuff, but Substack just seems like a better (more au courant ) “place” from which to reach out to interested readers, fans, and old friends. So if this newsletter looks exactly the same only different, that’s why.

Two new books for 2023

This seems like this most exciting year for me ever. I have two books coming out in 2023. Since there is some connective tissue between them I couldn’t be more excited.

Wild Horses: Running Free will be published by Orca Publishing in October. I pitched

the book to Orca right before Return From Extinction came out in 2020. The whole process of creating that first work of non-fiction book for kids was so joyous, and I got the tone quite naturally, that I found I wanted to do it again. So I pitched a book on wild horses because I know a lot about horses, I thought I knew a lot about wild horses and figured it would be a nice companion to the seal book.

The manuscript was initially due mid-2021, but by the time the date rolled around, not only was I being fully broken by the reality of wild horses in North America at present, we were also then in negotiations for the film rights for my 2021 novel, Endings. I was distracted at best and I asked Orca to postpone the book, which they agreed to do.

The book that resulted is Wild Horses: Running Free. Aimed at 9-13 year olds, it includes all of the heartbreak, controversy and wonder that is the current picture of wild horses North America, as well as a view of wild horses around the world. (Turns out there’s a lot of them!)

I’m very proud of this book. It was not easy to write. How do you convey all of the politics and greed involved here for that age group without bogging things down or making stuff up? I think I’ve accomplished that. I hope readers do, too.

In the course of writing Wild Horses, I was also working on the Endings series. A segment that included some mustang backstory started as a subplot for book two in that series, Exit Strategy. After a while, though, I realized it was more than a subplot, so I disconnected all of it from book two and it became the core of book three, Dead West, which will be out September 5th, 2023.

Those of you who have been following me for a while know I never say “this is my best book yet” but, honestly, I think this is my best novel yet. It’s twisty, nuanced and heartfelt. I think a lot of the tears I shed when I was writing Wild Horses ended up in this book, and not in a pedantic way. Dead West is not about wild horses, but they’re in there and when you get to the end you will wonder how there can ever be a fourth book in the series. But since that book, Insensible Loss will be published in 2024, you’ll get to see for yourself before long. I’m still working on Insensible Loss, trying to make it as good as I know Dead West to be. If you pre-order Dead West now, you’ll be among the first to read it when it comes out so you can judge for yourself. Also, pre-ordering is a huge gift for authors. It helps all the decision-makers decide what our future looks like, so thank you in advance for that gift! [End sales pitch, on to still more business…]

Speaking of Exit Strategy…

There’s not much of May left, but if you have yet to read the aforementioned Exit Strategy, you can currently buy the e-book version for very little loot. So, okay: I’ve just told you that I think book three in this series is the best ever, but Exit Strategy is still very good! Run don’t walk. We’re nearly in June! (And how did that happen anyway?)

And another thing

I’m much too candid and tell too many secrets on a recent episode the SinC Writer’s podcast. Interviewer Julie Hennrikus did too good a job! (Spoiler alert: if you listen long enough, I cry.) You can find the podcast on your favorite app, or download it here.

Speaking of Sisters in Crime

It’s a terrific organization, supporting all writers on their journey. It seems likely we will reach our goal of 5000 members this year. If you aren’t yet one of them, join us now.

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