Mystery/Thriller Episodes

In this interview, Julie and I discuss The Lies I Tell, why con artist stories are so popular right now and creating a female con artist who uses gender stereotypes to her advantage, writing dual timeline stories, the nod to her characters from The Last Flight, the hardest character to write in this book, how to get an additional chapter for The Last Flight when purchasing The Lies I Tell, and much more.

In this interview, Joey and I discuss The Local, how Marshall, Texas came to be the patent lawsuit capital of the U.S., how he learned about Marshall and decided to write this book, writing a book versus writing for the screen, his fabulous book cover, and much more.

In this interview, Erica and I discuss Girl in Ice, how she likes to "follow her fascinations," writing an arctic setting, hovering on the cusp of what is real and what is imaginary, her incredible research trip, the incident that inspired this story, and much more.

In this interview, Landis and I discuss Deadly Declarations, the Mecklenberg Declaration of Independence, setting the series in a retirement community, his Charlotte Readers Podcast, using letters written between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, crafting an Author's Note, and much more.

Simone and I discuss The Book of Cold Cases, creating an accused female serial killer, how swapping the gender roles changes every aspect of the story, the true crime phenomenon, the recent discovery by a reader of the actual motel sign used for The Sun Down Motel cover, and much more.

Peng and I discuss The Cartographers, the true story about an event with a gas station map in the early 1900s that inspired a portion of this story, phantom settlements and how they have fallen out of favor now that people have moved to relying on electronic maps, how the use of maps changed once online maps became popular, why writing a mystery differs from writing other fiction, the hardest part of writing the book for her, and much more.

Peter and I discuss Nine Lives, writing his take on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, why Agatha Christie has stayed so popular and relevant, his writing process, pacing in thrillers, and much more.

Louise and I discuss The Heights, including her own phobia in the novel, how she created the format for this one including writing a book within a book, building a story based on the lengths parents will go to for their children, which character she voiced in the audiobook, and much more.

Lisa and I discuss Woman on Fire, the 2013 event that inspire this book, how the ownership of certain pieces of art is one of the only remaining issues left from World War 2, her favorite and least favorite characters to write, creating her Carpool Care-Aoki series on Instagram, the book's stunning cover, and much more.

Nicole and I discuss Everything We Didn't Say, researching cold cases for inspiration, rewriting this book three times, setting books in her home state, being selected as one of the October Book of the Month selections, what she has learned while writing ten books, and much more.

Kimi and I discuss These Silent Woods, living off the grid, the book's original title, her tweak to the cover design, how writers need to have both the thickest and the thinnest skin, her writing process and how it has changed, and much more.

Alice and I discuss A Blizzard of Polar Bears, working as a wildlife researcher and bioacoustician, how she believes strongly in including accurate science in her novels, the animal she is focusing on in her third book in the series, Barnes and Noble's selection of A Solitude of Wolverines as its October mystery pick, and much more.

Megan and I discuss The Family Plot, exploring what it is about true crime that fascinates people, what that fascination does to a person and whether it can help or hurt them, plotting a thriller with all of the twists and turns, and much more.

Taylor and I discuss Down Range, how Garrett became his protagonist, creating a believable main character, bringing the Texas landscape to life, crafting his exciting ending, and much more.

Stephanie and I discuss her new book Fatal Family Ties, the complexity of researching individuals who fought in the Civil War, her favorite secondary characters to write, how her title came about, how the theme of second chance ended up winding through this book, and much more.