August 2023
Publishing update, Maple's origin story (part 2), and mystery recommendations!
Summer’s winding down, but I have some exciting developments to share!
My book has an official title: Death in the Details
Release date is confirmed! April 9, 2024
IT HAS A COVER (!)...but I can’t show it to you yet
I’m currently reviewing my “pass pages,” which is basically a document where the book is laid out exactly how it will look when it’s published.
All of this completely blows my mind.
Maple’s Origin Story
Over the next few newsletters, I’ll share the story of how I came up with this story about Maple Bishop, a WWII widow with a strong moral compass, a unique skill set, and a need to reinvent herself.
If you missed Part 1 last month, you can read it here.
Part 2: Death and Details (in miniature)
It was a cold and gray winter day in DC, and the walk from my hotel to the gallery was long. But I’m a New Englander. We eat cold, gray winters for breakfast up here, and then we ask for seconds.
With syrup.
(And in case you’re wondering—why, yes, I *did* pilfer/ paraphrase that line from the Waze navigation app’s character called “Noir Detective.” If you haven’t allowed him to direct you anywhere yet, I highly recommend that you do. My son and I are in hysterics every time we choose him).
Anyway, back to DC.
I spent several fascinating hours immersed in Frances Glessner Lee’s miniature worlds at the Renwick Gallery (read more about it here). The museum did a great job displaying them so that visitors could peer right in. I studied a dead man hanging in his barn, a woman’s body in a bathtub, and a burned cabin with at least one victim inside.
I felt vaguely guilty, like I was a voyeur intruding on very private (and violent) domestic scenes.
But I didn’t look away, and maybe that’s part of the point.
Before I left, I also bought a copy of Corinne Botz’s book. Its main focus is the artistic, stunning photographs Botz took of all eighteen nutshells, but I found her writing equally compelling.
Botz included a fascinating essay in which she described her own obsession with Captain Lee and her nutshells, tying it all in with extensive historical analysis of women’s roles in domestic spaces.
You can read more here.
In her presentation the next day, Botz elaborated on ideas from her essay, marveling at how Frances Glessner Lee had advanced a male-dominated field (crime scene investigation) by subverting a traditionally feminine art (miniature-making). She said she thought of Captain Lee as her collaborator when she was working on her photography book.
She signed my copy “I hope you find the truth in a nutshell.”
And my imagination was on fire.
Next time: My first nutshell novel (and it wasn’t Maple!)
Recent Reads
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Vera is a lonely widow who runs a tea shop that only has one customer. She’s steadfast, meddlesome, persistent, and passionate. I could not love her more. This book is touching and hilarious; it had some of the funniest lines I’ve read in awhile. I loved the cross-generational friendships she made after she discovered a dead body in her shop and how their lives all intersected; I was sad when it ended because I didn’t get to hang out with these fun characters anymore.
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano
This is the third book in the series, and I can’t get enough of Finlay and Vero’s antics. The opening scenes always feature a wacky, yet relatable, situation involving Finlay’s young children, and this was probably my favorite chapter 1 so far—awkward, mortifying, and adorable all at the same time. Dead bodies, secrets, and a rich cast of supporting characters make this a satisfying, entertaining read—and it’s freakin’ funny, too.