Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Seven hot mysteries set in the Midwestern winter

Deborah E. Kennedy is a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her debut, Tornado Weather, came out with Flatiron Books in 2017 and was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe best first novel prize by the Mystery Writers of America. Kennedy has worked as a reporter, teacher, and editor, as well as a cookie packer, ice cream scooper, and children’s baseball coach. She also holds a Master’s in Fiction Writing and English literature from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She currently lives in Forest Grove, Oregon with her mother and young son.

[My Book, The Movie: Tornado WeatherThe Page 69 Test: Tornado WeatherWriters Read: Deborah E. Kennedy]

Kennedy's new novel is Billie Starr's Book of Sorries.

At CrimeReads the author tagged seven page-turners that run red-hot in the deep Midwestern cold, including:
The Hunger by Alma Katsu

Much has obviously been written about the Donner Party, probably too much at this point, but in the skilled hands of Alma Katsu, that infamous family finally gets the truly spine-tingling treatment it deserves. Katsu borrows much from the historical record for her story, but she allows herself just the right amount of poetic license as well, and you’ll want to keep the lights on for this one. Here’s a taste of what Mary Graves, one of the would-be pioneers, encountered when the wagon train hitched up outside a cabin in Ash Hollow, Nebraska: “She could still picture the tiny makeshift shack, boards bleached bone-white by the relentless prairie sun. A sad, lonely place, like the abandoned farmhouse she used to pass every Sunday on her way to service. Stripped nearly bare by the elements, dark empty windows like the hollow eye sockets of a skull.” Strap in. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
Read about the other entries on the list.

The Hunger is among Meagan Navarro top ten scary good horror novels, Jac Jemc's top ten haunting ghost stories and Mallory O'Meara's top thirteen spine-chilling books written by female authors.

My Book, The Movie: The Hunger.

The Page 69 Test: The Hunger.

--Marshal Zeringue