July News!
Thrillerfest, new covers, book signing, and more!
Inside This Issue
Signed Books Still Available
Thrillerfest
New Covers
What’s Next
Signed books!
There are still signed books available through the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, Arizona. They ship everywhere: You can order through their website.
Christina Estes, Jenn McKinlay, and myself had a great time chatting about our books … and the favorite books we’ve read this year. You can listen at your leisure through YouTube!
Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds is lighter than my other books, but I’ll admit, I had so much fun writing this. It has mystery, it has romance, it has murder … and a protagonist who I genuinely care about. Not to mention it’s set on a tropical island with a full cast of characters who are all keeping secrets!
I hope you love it too.
Thrillerfest
I returned from Thrillerfest last week recharged and ready to go back to writing every day. Usually at conferences, I try to squeeze in a few hours each day to work, but this week only one day offered me three uninterrupted hours. But that’s okay! I had a lot of fun, and learned a few things as well.
Though I have 49 books published and dozens of short stories, I am still trying to make every book better than the last. I picked up several nuggets of wisdom from the panels I attended, as well as a wonderful dinner with other writers where we talked about storytelling and universal themes.
On Tuesday, I taught a MasterClass — ten aspiring (and one published!) author came in for a deep dive into making their stories better. International Thriller Writers offers these classes the day before Thrillerfest officially starts, and this was my third time as a teacher. The class was wonderful, and everyone was engaged. We went over first ten pages, talked about story structure, point-of-view, and most importantly beginnings, as well as how to query agents, how to self-edit, and more.
I was also super lucky to be on a panel with some truly amazing authors, where we talked about series protagonists.
One of my favorite panels was when Gregg Hurwitz, the author of the fabulous Orphan X series, interviewed audiobook narrator Scott Brick. I love the Orphan X series, and listening to how Scott performs, how many books he’s narrated, his process, and more … it was truly interesting. I love audiobooks and now listen to more than I read in print. If I had to guess … I listen to three audiobooks for every book I read.
Speaking of audio books, Hillary Huber is continuing to narrate the Angelhart Investigations series! She did an amazing job with You’ll Never Find Me, which won the Earphones Award, and I’m thrilled she’s returning for Don’t Say a Word.
New Covers
Speaking of the Angelhart Series, I have some big news … my publisher has decided to move the series from mass market original to trade paperback. They also rebranded the series, and I’m thrilled to share these fabulous covers with you!
Coming September 16, 2025, book 2 in the Angelhart Investigations series …
Because of the rebranding, my publisher is reissuing the first book in the new trade format with a fabulous cover that really speaks to me … and clearly says this is a book about a private investigator!
And one more … On August 12, an Angelhart novella will be released, Out of the Shadows. This is mostly Jack Angelhart’s story when he and Margo are hired by wealthy entrepreneur Logan Monroe to protect Logan’s sister, Laura, who was run off the road and had her house broken into. It takes place between book one and book two, but can be read out of order because it stands by itself. It was so much fun to write, I hope you love it.
For links, cover copy, and more check out the Angelhart Investigations page on my website!
What’s Next?
I’m nearly done writing another stand alone thriller — this one isn’t light and cozy like Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds …. instead, it’s more in the vein of my 2023 book North of Nowhere. Set in northeast Texas in the Red River Valley, it’s about a storm … and bad guys … and corruption … and family. No title, cover, no release date yet (other than summer 2026) so stay tuned.
PLUS … the next Quinn & Costa thriller will be out in January! I just saw the first draft of the cover and it is amazing. I can’t share it yet … they are tweaking some details … but it might be my favorite cover of the series. You can read about all the Quinn & Costa books on my website!
Here’s a teaser for MAKE IT OUT ALIVE. This might be the most suspenseful book — so far! — in the series. When I was writing it, I honestly didn’t know how they were going to survive. In fact, that’s how my editor came up with the title. I was telling her that I didn’t know if all my characters would survive to the end of the book, and she suggested the title. It works!
Three newlywed couples have disappeared from an exclusive resort in Florida, only to turn up dead soon after. With the location and the similarities between the female victims as their only leads, it’s up to the FBI Mobile Response Team to catch a serial killer before anyone else ends up dead. And they have the perfect bait—Detective Kara Quinn, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the targeted women.
Undercover as newlyweds pretending to enjoy their honeymoon, Kara and FBI Agent Matt Costa set a flawless trap. When their plan works and they arrest the predator, Matt sends the rest of the team home so he and Kara can have the weekend for some much-needed R&R. But on Monday morning, the couple doesn’t show up to work, and the MRT learns they never checked out of their hotel.
As their team tries to find them, Matt and Kara learn the truth—the killer wasn’t acting alone. He had a partner who succeeded where he failed. Kidnapped and forced into a twisted escape room, they need to find a way out, because if they don’t escape, they’ll die.
I’ll be at Bouchercon in September, so if you’re there, say hi! And don’t forget to check out my upcoming classes through Outliers Writing University.
For all my American readers, have a wonderful and safe Independence Day weekend!
If you have any questions, please ask in the comments. Otherwise, I’ll “see” you next month.
I'm not sure if you have answered this before. I've followed you since the first books of Kincaids came out, before they sentered on Lucy. I'm just wondering if that road is closed or if there will be new books in that universe. Best regards, Jannicke from Norway