In Claire Douglas’ The Wrong Sister, sisters Tasha and Alice couldn’t be more different—Tasha is a busy mom, Alice a globe-trotting scientist. When Alice offers to swap lives for a week so Tasha can take a much-needed break, it seems a perfect arrangement. But the lifeline spirals into a nightmare.

In Karen Dukess' new mystery, WELCOME TO MURDER WEEK, Cath Little finds two tickets to an English "Murder Week” getaway in her estranged, late mother’s belongings--and is stunned to learn the tickets were for the two of them. Hoping to understand the woman she never truly knew, Cath travels to . . .

In BEARER OF BAD NEWS, Elisabeth Dini introduces Lucy Rey, a Las Vegas hairdresser whose life is upended when her fiancé drains her bank account and disappears. Broke and brokenhearted, Lucy accepts a cryptic-and lucrative—job posting as a Bearer of Bad News So, Lucy heads to the Italian Alps. . .

This week on Crime Wave: In A MOTHER ALWAYS KNOWS, Sarah Strohmeyer unravels a gripping thriller about identity, memory, and long-buried secrets. Stella O’Neill has spent years hiding from her past in the Vermont cult where her mother was murdered. But a true-crime podcast reveals her new identity—

In The Medusa Protocol, Rob Hart’s pulse-pounding sequel to Assassins Anonymous, reformed assassin Astrid is kidnapped and imprisoned on a remote island black-site. Her disappearance rocks her 12-step group. Did she relapse? Was she murdered? Astrid manages to send a coded message . . .

In THE DEEPEST FAKE, Daniel Kalla delivers a razor-sharp thriller where deepfake technology turns one man’s reality inside out. Tech CEO Liam Hirsch is reeling from a fatal diagnosis, a crumbling marriage, and sabotage at his AI firm—until he uncovers shocking clues that his illness might be a lie.

This week on Crime Wave: My guest is Carmen Amato, author of the Emilia Cruz series. In BARRACUDA BAY, the latest addition, Detective Emilia Cruz — Acapulco’s first female homicide cop — uncovers the body of the mayor’s sister in a run-down property linked to a covert anti–drug operation.

gonna have trouble sleeping again tonight . . .

This week on Crime Wave: AMBUSH by Colleen Coble grabs you from the first page with a haunted past, a smoldering second-chance romance, and a wildlife refuge teeming with danger. Paradise Alden, a veterinarian, returns to her hometown to work at a wildlife refuge and heal from past trauma . . .

This week on Crime Wave: What if justice isn’t something the legal system is capable of? New public defender Santi Elcano is tasked with defending Michael Atwood, a man arrested for a young mother’s brutal murder. Although Santi’s idealism has begun to wear thin, he believes in Atwood’s innocence.

July 4th on Crime Wave: William Webster and Dick Lochte are co-authors of ROCKETS’ RED GLARE, a high-stakes thriller. When two wilderness guides are killed, FBI Agent Maggie Comstock recruits tribal police deputy Sage Mendiluze and his dog Peak for the task force tracking the perpetrators.

This week on Crime Wave: Katherine Reay’s THE ENGLISH MASTERPIECE opens with an exhibit honoring the recently deceased Picasso. Lily, a gallery assistant, blurts, “That’s a forgery” about a painting. That comment puts her own career at risk, plus that of her mentor. Unless . . . was Lily right?

This week on Crime Wave: Listen to me get blown away by Laura Lippman’s insights into friendship, family, and craft. We chatted about Laura's wonderful new mystery, MURDER TAKES A VACATION. When Muriel Blossom, a 68-year-old widow, takes a river cruise in France, her trip turns deadly.

I definitely have more ideas for her. And thank you, @biblioracle.bsky.social!

This week on Crime Wave: I was hooked in the first lines of the jacket copy for Stephen Eoannou's new mystery, AFTER PEARL: 1942. War rages in Europe. Pearl Harbor still smolders. And alcoholic private eye Nicholas Bishop wakes up on a hotel room floor with two slugs missing from his .38 revolver.

Most of my social media posts promote other authors' books! Today, I'm asking friends who haven't yet read my thrillers to try them. TOWARD THE LIGHT and DISAPPEARED make great summer reads, whisking you off to faraway places for adventures with heroines you'll love to root for. ON SALE NOW.

This week on Crime Wave: We dive into IT’S NOT EVEN PAST, Anna Scotti’s wonderful collection of short stories chronicling the journeys and changing identities of Lori, a Ph.D candidate librarian who suddenly must enter the Federal Witness Protection Program.

This week on Crime Wave: Jenny Morris dishes about her buzzy debut novel, AN ETHICAL GUIDE TO MURDER. It’s full of unexpected twists, well-timed humor, and a propulsive plot. Thea enters a moral minefield when she discovers she can tell how long someone has left to live just by touching them.

This week on Crime Wave: Anthony Horowitz joins me for an inside look at MARBLE HALL MURDERS, his captivating third mystery featuring editor Susan Ryeland who gets caught up in yet another crime.Three mysterious deaths. Multiple motives and possible murderers.

This week on Crime Wave: Tori Eldridge has a new book! KAUA‘I STORM launches a dynamite new leading lady. After ten years as a park ranger in Oregon, Makalani Pahukula returns to Kaua‘i for her grandmother’s birthday, she finds a bickering family and news that two cousins have gone missing.

Zero

This week on Crime Wave: On the first page of Rick Mofina’s new thriller, IF TWO ARE DEAD . . . while Luke Conway is driving home on a stormy night—he hits something? Or someone? When he can’t find anyone, Luke leaves, deciding to investigate secretly rather than report the incident. Bad decision.

This week on Crime Wave: Current events got you down?Here’s a great idea—pick up STEALING TIME, a smart, funny caper that will steal your heart. Tilia Klebenov Jacobs’ and Norman Birnbach’s time-travel jewelry heist is the story of Tori, a teen during the 2020 pandemic, whose parents are divorcing.

This week on Crime Wave: Andrew Welsh-Huggins’ THE MAILMAN is a pulse-pounding thriller that starts with a bang and never lets up. Mercury Carter is a freelance courier who prides himself on never missing a delivery. All he wants to do is deliver a package to attorney Rachel Stanfield—but . . .

This week on Crime Wave: Matt Goldman, NYT bestselling author has a great new book, THE MURDER SHOW. Ethan Harris returns home to Minnesota looking for inspiration after his pitch for the fourth season of his hit television crime drama, The Murder Show, is rejected. And inspiration he finds . . .

This week on Crime Wave: G.T. Karber, author of the bestselling Murdle puzzles, shares his insight into the puzzle universe, how his logic puzzles fit in, and how he creates them. He even gives us armchair detectives hints on how to solve them. I wish we’d had hours more to chat! Links in comments

Portsmouth hands off protest is hopping. #Handsoff

This week on Crime Wave: Nick Kolakowski and WHERE THE BONES LIE. Dash Fuller is a cynical Hollywood fixer, burnt out after years of making the film industry’s worst secrets disappear. Madeline Ironwood is the daughter a notorious smuggler and murderer who vanished twenty years ago.

What a lovely treat to see this today!

Paris was invigorating, but Crete is warmer! I walked up to Nikos Kazantzakis' tomb this afternoon. It's at the highest point on the old Venetian walls of Heraklion, looking out over the mountains and sea. His epitaph reads "I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free."

This week on Crime Wave: Killer Nashville’s 20th Anniversary! Clay Stafford talks about what inspired him to start Killer Nashville and dishes on his favorite parts about the conference these days. He also speaks eloquently about the value of diversity and his joy in helping writers reach success.

Because the first question shifts the blame to the desperate, making their morality the focus, while the second question demands accountability from the powerful. It's easier to question survival than to challenge greed.

This week on Crime Wave: Bonnie Kistler joins me to talk about her Edgar-nominated psychological thriller, SHELL GAMES. Julie’s wealthy mother, Kate Sawyer, might be the victim of an elaborate con or might be losing her mind.

This week on Crime Wave: Seraphina Nova Glass weaves yet another tantalizing tale of suspicion, murder, and revenge in NOTHING EVER HAPPENS HERE. Shelby and Mackenzie are long-time friends whose lives change forever one night when Shelby almost dies in a violent attack and Mack’s husband vanishes.

This week on Crime Wave: Jacqueline Faber joins me to talk about her debut novel, THE DEPARTMENT. On the surface, it’s an elegant and straightforward mystery about Lucia, a reckless college girl who goes missing, and Neil, the philosophy professor who becomes obsessed with finding her.

A BONUS Crime Wave: Scott Turow talks about life, writing, and PRESUMED GUILTY, the long-anticipated third thriller in his Rusty Sabich series. Rusty comes out of retirement to defend his soon-to-be stepson, the lead suspect in the death of a young woman with whom he had a tumultuous relationship.

This week on Crime Wave: We celebrate the launch of Carter Wilson’s TELL ME WHAT YOU DID. On Poe Webb’s true-crime podcast, you can anonymously confess to crimes you’ve committed. When one guest claims to have murdered Poe’s mother years earlier, Poe knows his man can’t be telling the truth.

This week's Flash from @nkolakowski.bsky.social

If you haven't had the pleasure of listening to Mysteries To Die For, head over there right now! It's Tina and Jack's 8th season of reading and detecting mysteries --with some great musical accompaniment! My story, GOING TO THE DOGS, is this week's feature. Listen and let me know what you think!

This week on Crime Wave: Alex Hay is your pitch-perfect guide as you journey back to 1898 with THE QUEEN OF FIVES. Quinn le Blanc, London’s most talented con woman, has five days to pull off her most ambitious plot: trap a duke into marriage and lift a fortune from the richest family in England.

If you didn't get yesterday's newsletter, you can read it here: mailchi.mp/josephfinder...

This week on Crime Wave: Joseph Finder’s new thriller, THE OLIGARCH’S DAUGHTER, is a thrill-ride! When Paul Brightman falls in love with a Russian oligarch’s daughter, he ends up on the run. living under a false name, and pursued by Russian killers.

James L’Etoile has new mystery, RIVER OF LIES, which debuts this week. It’s the second book in his Detective Emily Hunter series, with Emily and her partner, Javier Medina, investigating deadly arson fires in Sacramento’s riverside homeless camps.

Happy New Year, my friends!! I betcha there are still a couple of Crime Wave podcasts you haven't managed to hear yet (amirite?) so check out the whole list, sit back, and enjoy . . . We'll be back next week with a great lineup of authors for 2025!

This week on Crime Wave: The way we treat our planet is a crime—fifteen of them, in fact. The always entertaining Rob Lopresti joins me to talk about his new gig as editor of the great short story anthology, CRIMES AGAINST NATURE. Give a listen, reduce your carbon footprint, buy the book!

This week on Crime Wave: Erik Meyers and the newest book in his Sally Witherspoon mystery series—Murder on the Mississippi. Sally books a river cruise down the Mississippi - and ends up sleuthing to get to the bottom of a mysterious death that occurs on board. Move over, Miss Marple!

This week on Crime Wave: Pip Drysdale talks about THE CLOSE-UP. Sparks fly when Zoe reconnects with an old boyfriend who inspired her debut novel. Only problem: he’s now a big-time actor, and she’s still working at a flower shop while she tries to figure out a plot for her sophomore novel.

We are closing the Break-Up series at Punk Noir Magazine with the perfect final punch. It's "Sunset Sail" by @snakelst.bsky.social - punknoirmagazine.wordpress.com/2024/11/30/s...

I have a new #crimefiction flash story out today with Punk Noir! Just a 3-minute read, so you can read it as you slip into a Thanksgiving food coma. Grateful to @meproctor.bsky.social for accepting the story for her fantastic “Break-Up” series! punknoirmagazine.wordpress.com/2024/11/28/s...

This week on Crime Wave: I spoke with Ellen Kirschman, author of the wonderful Dot Meyerhoff series, about Dot’s latest case, CALL ME CARMELA. Dot helps a teenager locate her birth parents, but healing one family will ruin another. on.soundcloud.com/7EM1zn7m3DXw... open.spotify.com/episode/2oTU...