Category: murder mystery

Guest Blogger ~ Jerry Aylward

~ patyjag

The Victim’s, Victims.

   Being the second oldest in a family of seven children and growing up impecunious during the mid-50s in rural Middle America, where occupying one’s time for entertainment was left to their imagination. I often busied myself trying to solve problematic riddles and puzzles, starting with the most basic and subjective ones like what came first the chicken or the egg, or, did Humpty-Dumpty really have a great fall, or was it simply a Kings premeditated design for fresh egg salad?

      I was never enthused with those rainy-day picture puzzles that give away the reveal by displaying the completed puzzle’s image all shiny and pristine on the face of its cardboard container. No, I thoroughly enjoyed a deep dive into complex brainteasers, ones that would pique my curiosity, while challenging its solvability. Ones like: I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I? Or the immemorial murder mystery where a lifeless victim is discovered in a windowless room, and the only door is dead bolted from the inside.

   Fast forward a multitude of years, after turning twenty-one, I moved to the east coast, to New York. Where I joined the police department and honed my skills as a detective in the creative art of criminal investigations.

   It’s where I learned the meaning of a true mystery, where a mystery can be nothing more than an unanswered question, or where something is difficult or impossible to understand, or even to explain, or where something not understood or beyond understanding remains an enigma, until it’s solved.

   I also learned the difference between a mystery and a secret, which most often will be conjoined in a crime. A secret is usually just information that needs to be ferreted out before revealing the hidden mystery.

   While the mystery of any homicide is usually limited to who, what, where, when, how, and why, it rarely focuses its investigative depth on the murder victim’s family back story, or it may modestly skim its veneer. I’ve come to learn there is more often a burly and expansive personal history cloaked somewhere beyond the surface pedigree of the victim. By digging deeper into the victim’s background and uncovering hidden or forgotten secrets will often reveal a forewarning to their own impending crisis, of course that can only be exposed through an extensive investigation, and obvious hindsight. Though by unmasking hidden or untold historical family secrets will oftentimes reveal a clear and sharper image of the victim and their significant loved ones, it will frequently divulge the motive for the victim’s demise.

   I further learned most homicide victims leave behind palpable shards of their living lives, along with their unintentional victims, (collateral damage) unwittingly of course, but nevertheless, they leave behind living victims, such as loved ones, family members, and loyal friends. These unforeseen victims, who are mostly overlooked and quickly forgotten victims themselves, though portentously significant in the life of the murdered victim, possess a fundamental account of their own that needs to be shared.

   I’ve written both fiction and nonfiction, though all could be considered mysteries, at some point in time. My nonfiction books are True Crime. My latest True Crime chronicle takes place in 1955, in an affluent community located on the north shore of Long Island, in Nassau County, New York, commonly referred to as the Gold Coast, with the murder of a thirty-five-year-old multimillionaire, hence the title of the book Murder on the Gold Coast, conjointly narrating details of the living victims.

   Consequently, I learned that conducting research into even a seventy-year-old controversial homicide case requires obtaining accurate and minute details of pertinent information that can only be attained by extreme digging into the crime itself, while not being stifled by intentional information barricades, despite some present-day law enforcement officials attempts at continuing to thwart the truth.

   Another interesting detail I discovered while conducting my research in this aged homicide case was the compelling theory of the six degrees of separation. A persuasive philosophy that anyone on Earth can be connected to anyone through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries. This means that on average, everyone on this planet is only six introductions away from each other.

   I found in my current true crime commentary I was only three degrees-of-separation away from the victim himself, and only two degrees away from some of the essential witnesses, without ever knowing.

   I also believed that just because some of the facts and physical evidence in this 1955 homicide investigation had been passed over or not addressed, it didn’t necessarily mean the investigators were merely incompetent.

   It should also be noted that exposing any aged criminal mystery to the prism of a new day will always require accurate documentation and absolute certainty based on official police reports, court records, historical witness testimony, common logic, and above all, perceptual principle. 

 MURDER ON THE GOLD COAST

In the early hours on a rainy autumn night in 1955, on a lavish country estate in Oyster Bay Cove, esteemed New York socialite Ann Woodward fired both barrels of her custom-made shotgun into the head of her husband, multimillionaire William J. “Billy” Woodward Jr., killing him. She mistook him for a notorious prowler who preyed on the privileged class. At least that was what the official reports stated. The police focused on catching the prowler, as they cast an impenetrable dragnet around the “Playhouse” for the elusive intruder. However, as with many other aspects of Billy and Ann’s social circle, things were not always as they appeared. Local author and retired detective Jerry Aylward uncovers the uncomfortable truths behind one of the Gold Coast’s most notorious murders.

Murder on The Gold Coast… pre-order is now available at the following online sites.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Gold-Coast-Killing-Woodward

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/murder-on-the-gold-coast-jerry-aylward/1147090484?ean=9781467157490

Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/True-Crime-Murder-on-the-Gold-Coast-The-Killing-of-William-Woodward-Paperback-9781467157490/15485624051

Target: https://www.target.com/p/murder-on-the-gold-coast-true-crime-by-jerry-aylward-paperback/-/A-1004984063

The History Press/Arcadia Publishing:  https://www.arcadiapublishing.com

Jerry Aylward is a retired detective with thirty-two years of service with the Nassau County (NY) Police Department. He served another ten years in federal law enforcement with the United States Department of Homeland Security as a criminal investigator with the OCSO (Office of the Chief Security Officer) at a high-level, secret, government research facility. Jerry has a bachelor’s degree in behavioral science from NYIT and is a New York State–licensed private investigator. Jerry has also authored nonfiction: Francis “Two Gun” Crowley’s Killings in New York City & Long Island. And a pictorial history of the Nassau County Police (NY) Department. Jerry’s first mystery novel was “The Scarlet Oak” was released in July of 2022.
Jerry’s genre has been mainly local history and true crime. With The Scarlet Oak, he throws a twist of murder, spies, and spirits into an American Revolution time travel mystery that takes place in historic Oyster Bay, New York.

Website: www.jerryaylward.com

Email:    jerryaylwardauthor@yahoo.com

Stories – Imagination at its best

~ patyjag ~ 5 Comments

I’m in the middle of judging at county fairs with one today, and next week, judging at the Oregon State Fair. What could judging at county and state fairs have to do with writing? Let me tell you.

There is a plethora of people I work with when judging. From extension agents, volunteers, other judges, parents, and the kids. All of these give me fodder for characters in my books. I never truly learn all about the people, but I get descriptions, sometimes names, and characteristics that help me flesh out main or minor characters.

There are the items I judge. Why did that person use that color, make a dog coat, raise such exotic plants, or wish they could have brought in a poisonous plant? What people make or bring (there are some fairs that have collections as exhibits) to the fair to express who they are. So many times, I look at what a person has brought in and wonder what do they do when they aren’t crafting, sewing, or cooking.

I must say, my favorite thing to judge is the writing. Whether at the county or state level. 4-H members can now enter creative writing to be judged. When I read a good story and feel excited for the child who put this effort into telling a good story. I love seeing children expressing themselves in words and ideas on paper.

There have been stories that make me laugh, ones that make me sad, and ones that tear at my heart. One year, there were a lot of stories about death. That was hard to keep reading so many stories like that. But other years I’ve read about pirates, talking animals, fairies, ghosts, and even read a few mysteries.

I love that kids are learning to express themselves with words and sharing their imaginations with others. As a child, I wrote plays that my younger brother and I acted out with our stuffed animals. In junior high, two friends and I wrote an ongoing story that we passed around, adding to it. The story was an adventure set in the mountains where we lived.

Story has been a part of my life for as long as I started learning to read over my older brother’s shoulder. Words put together in a way to make someone want to read what I write is thrilling.

I will continue to write until my brain or my hands fail me. Because it is the best way I know to convey information to people in an entertaining way.

It’s early in the month but I have a Chirp Deal coming out on August 13th. If you want to listen to the first box set of my Gabriel Hawke Novels, it will be available for $2.99 from there from 8/13 – 9/10. You can find it here: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/gabriel-hawke-box-set-1-3-by-paty-jager

    Join Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke as he performs his duties with the Fish and Wildlife Division while finding a body with a wolf collar, tracking a lost child, and hunting down a poacher in the wilderness of Wallowa County.

    Books 1-3 in the Gabriel Hawke Novels

    Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke is part of the Fish and Wildlife Division in Wallowa County. He not only upholds the law but also protects the land of his ancestors.

    Murder of Ravens

    Book 1

    State Trooper Gabriel Hawke is after poachers in the Wallowa Whitman National Forest. When he comes across a body wearing a wolf tracking collar, he follows the trail of clues.

    Mouse Trail Ends

    Book 2

    Dead bodies in the wilderness. A child is missing. Oregon State Trooper Hawke is an expert tracker, but he isn’t the only one looking for the child.

    Rattlesnake Brother

    Book 3

    State Trooper Gabriel Hawke encounters a hunter with an illegal tag. The name on the tag belongs to the Wallowa County District Attorney and the man holding the tag isn’t the public defender. 

    Guest Blogger ~ Susie Black

    ~ patyjag ~ 1 Comment

    The Perils of Creating a Teen Amateur Sleuth

    I am the author of seven published humorous cozy mysteries. While my adult female protagonist in The Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series is younger than I, the age difference between us did not present any verisimilitude issues when I created her personality, lifestyle, or career. One key element that made it easy was that she was based on me.

    But writing a series with a teen amateur sleuth who was again based on me, this time as a high school newspaper investigative reporter, presented several challenges that had to be overcome to make the tale realistic. The Case of the Croaked Coach, the debut title of The Hannah White Mystery Series, was simultaneously the easiest and most difficult manuscript to write.

    How much danger could I/should I put my young sleuth into?

    Would she tell her parents what she was doing or lie to them?

    Who would take a teenage amateur sleuth seriously? If she interrogated an adult suspect, would they even give her the time of day, much less answer her questions? How would she know what questions to ask?

    If she had suspects in mind, how would she go about investigating them? How would she know what to do? How would she gain access to conduct her investigations?

    If she did somehow discover proof that a suspect was the killer, would the homicide detective take her information and look into it, or blow her off?

    The scene where the protagonist discovered her classmate holding the bloody murder weapon over the victim was harder to write than any other. While the series is based on my experience as a high school newspaper investigative reporter, I thankfully had never made such a gruesome discovery as Hannah White did. How should she react? Terrified? Shocked? Faint?

    So, how did I overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges?

    1. I created two adult characters who interacted with the teenage sleuth:

    Bart White: Hannah White’s uncle and the defense attorney for the teenage murder suspect.

    H.S. Whiperski: A Private Investigator, Bart hired. H.S. tailored Hannah’s questions & the steps the teenage sleuth could realistically and safely take.

    1. I incorporated Hannah’s investigative reporter skills into how she approached suspects and the methods she employed to question them. Hannah questioned several teacher/ suspects under the guise of interviewing them for a story she was writing for the school newspaper.
    2. I created a group of Hannah’s friends called the Young Yentas. This group served as a sounding board for Hannah to bounce ideas off of. They were also enlisted as assistant sleuths at the victim’s funeral.
    3. I created a teenage sidekick for Hannah who gave her access to a key site at the high school to search for proof that a teacher had committed the murder.
    4. I created a janitor who served as a trusted source of information—a see-all, know-all adult at the school to bounce ideas off of.
    5. Lastly, I relied on Hannah’s self-reliant personality and moral compass to dictate how she conducted her investigation. As such, I created a “rope-a-dope mechanism Hannah employed to interview suspects without them realizing what she was doing until it was too late and they had answered her questions already.

    The Case of the Croaked Coach

    There wasn’t an honest bone in Buzz Bixby’s body. The Encino High School’s head football coach was an equal-opportunity scoundrel. Bixby cheated and lied his way to the top and screwed anyone and everyone in his wake. So, the question wasn’t who wanted the bastard dead. The question was, who didn’t? Student reporter Hannah White’s interview with the coach is a nonstarter when she discovers varsity football hero Dean Snyder standing over Bixby’s battered corpse holding a bloody trophy.

    Despite how guilty Dean looks, Hannah is convinced he’s innocent. When Snyder is arrested for Bixby’s murder, the wisecracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to flesh out the real killer. But the trail has more twists and turns than a slinky, and nothing turns out how Hannah thinks it will as she tangles with a clever killer hellbent on revenge.

    UNIVERSAL BOOK LINK: https://books2read.com/u/m20yWk

    Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, multi-award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. She has published eight books as of May 2025.

    She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and is the mother of one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.

    Looking for more? Contact Susie at:

    Website: www.authorsusieblack.com

    E-mail: mysteries_@authorsusieblack.com

    Blue Sky: @hollysusiewrites.bsky.social

    Facebook: Susie Black, author of The Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series | Facebook

    Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheHollySwimsuitMysterySeries

    Instagram: Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) • Instagram photos and videos

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorsusieblack-61941011

    Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hollysusie1/

    X: Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) / X

    Guest Blogger ~ Carmen Amato

    ~ patyjag ~ 2 Comments

    Writing the Only Woman in the Room

    “Beat it,” Silvio said.

    He shoved both Castro and Gomez aside and came into the office. He slammed the door and pressed his back against it.

    “I never wanted a woman detective in here.” Silvio was a big man and if he wanted to make Emilia feel trapped, he was succeeding. “I’ll do everything I can to f**k you over until you quit.”

    Emilia couldn’t help but laugh. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

    Silvio gave a start, obviously not expecting her to say that.

    When I wrote this dramatic moment in Cliff Diver, the first Detective Emilia Cruz thriller set in Acapulco, Silvio’s dialogue was already scripted.

    I’d already been there and done that.

    An identical conversation occurred when I worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. About five years into my career, I moved to a new office, recruited by a manager trying to breathe new life into a stodgy team of PhD analysts. All male, as was our manager.

    “Pete” was assigned as my mentor. This gave him ample opportunities to sabotage my work. When I finally confronted him, he confessed that he’d never worked with a woman before, didn’t want to work with one now and would do everything he could to get me to leave.

    He delivered his threat as if he expected to shock me. I couldn’t help but laugh and deliver  the same line that Detective Emilia Cruz would say years later in fiction.

    Long since retired, I recently recalled the encounter when recording an episode of the Amato2Berrick Crime Conversations on YouTube with UK crime writer Jane Harvey-Berrick (Dead Water, Dead Reckoning) for our buddy read of The Trespasser by Tana French.

    In The Trespasser, Antoinette Conway is the only female police detective on the Dublin Murder Squad. She’s convinced that all her male colleagues are out to get her.

    Her point of view is a soul-eating combination of rage, paranoia and scorn. In every situation, Antoinette is looking for a fight, whether physical, verbal or emotional.

    In contrast, Detective Emilia Cruz follows the pragmatic approach I took during my CIA career when I was the only woman in the room. A tiny minority of male co-workers acted like jerks and had to be dealt with, the faster the better. Like me, Emilia stands up for herself.

    Although she grew up on Acapulco’s streets and knows how to use her fists, Emilia isn’t propelled by rage like Antoinette.

      In Barracuda Bay, the ninth and latest release in the series, the chief of police is the jerk who doesn’t want Emilia in the room.

    In the series’ prequel, Made in Acapulco, he was loath to shake her hand at a badge ceremony. Fast forward a few fictional years and Emilia wants to get married. It’s the chief’s chance to boot her off the force.

    Even worse, the chief recruits her former partner and current boss to help.

    And who is the former partner and current boss? You guessed it. The very same Lieutenant Silvio who gave her such a rough time in the first book in the series, Cliff Diver.

    In Barracuda Bay, the plot against Emilia unfolds after she finds a woman’s body in a derelict building. The murder case is explosive—the victim is the mayor’s sister, and election season is heating up.

    Meanwhile, the crime scene holds secrets. The building once housed a covert government operation targeting a brutal drug lord that went sideways.

    Before Emilia can zero in on her prime murder suspect, she’s dispatched to Washington, DC where she becomes a target of killers disguised as cops. Alone and desperate, Emilia is caught in a lethal web of corruption, betrayal, and political intrigue.

    Barracuda Bay adds a heady dose of tension to Emilia’s situation as the only woman in the room. As one reviewer wrote: “The hits keep on coming as Detective Cruz is spun through a whirlwind that links cartels, crooks, and various government agencies.”

    Before I sign off, you might be wondering what happened to “Pete.”

    Six months after our confrontation, he left the CIA because his wife got a job in another state. He’d be a house husband until he found a job there.

    Ironic, right? I couldn’t have written a better ending.

    Barracuda Bay

    Political corruption turns Acapulco’s first female police detective into a fugitive on the run in Washington DC.

    “A thrilling series” — National Public Radio

    In a derelict building for sale, Acapulco police detective Emilia Cruz stumbles on the body of a woman brutally shot to death. Incredibly, the victim was the sister of Acapulco’s ambitious mayor, who is running for re-election against an opponent with deep pockets.

    The victim’s ex-boyfriend has a suspiciously weak alibi but is the crime scene the key to finding the murderer? The building was once used for a secret Mexican government operation targeting a ruthless drug lord.

    Meanwhile, there’s a conspiracy within the police department to force Emilia out.

    Before Emilia can save her job or arrest her prime suspect, she’s sent on an errand of mercy to Washington, DC. There she becomes a fugitive hunted by killers masquerading as cops. Alone, desperate and on the run, Emilia turns for help to a human trafficker she once vowed to murder. Her brother.

    From Acapulco’s beaches to the streets of Washington, DC, the stakes couldn’t be higher in this electrifying, page-turning thriller.

    2019 and 2020 Poison Cup award, Outstanding Series – CrimeMasters of America

    BUY:

    Amazon: https://geni.us/barracuda2025

    Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/barracuda-bay-carmen-amato/1146877496

    Books-a-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Barracuda-Bay/Carmen-Amato/9798989140374

    Carmen Amato is the award-winning author of 18 mysteries and thrillers, including the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series pitting the first female police detective in Acapulco against Mexico’s cartels, corruption, and social inequality. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. Optioned for television, National Public Radio hailed it as “A thrilling series.”

    Her Galliano Club historical fiction thrillers include Murder at the Galliano Club, which won the 2023 Silver Falchion Award for Best Historical.

    Her standalone thrillers include The Hidden Light of Mexico City, which was longlisted for the 2020 Millennium Book Award.

    A 30-year veteran of the CIA where she focused on technical collection and counterdrug issues, Carmen is a recipient of both the National Intelligence Award and the Career Intelligence Medal. A judge for the BookLife Prize and Killer Nashville’s Claymore Award, her essays have appeared in Criminal Element, Publishers Weekly, and other national publications. She writes the popular Mystery Ahead newsletter on Substack.

    Originally from upstate New York, after years of globe-trotting she and her husband enjoy life in Tennessee.

    Website: https://carmenamato.net/links

    Substack: https://mysteryahead.substack.com

    Facebook: https://facebook.com/authorcarmenamato

    Instagram: https://instagram.com/authorcarmenamato

    Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Carmen-Amato/author/B007UA1J8U

    Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6154479.Carmen_Amato

    Email: carmen@carmenamato.net

    Guest Blogger ~ Laury A. Egan

    ~ patyjag

    Our guest Laury A. Egan answered interview questions.

    1. Why you write the genre you do?

    Good question! Though my dominant genre is psychological suspense/crime fiction, I also have written and published literary titles, comedy, romance, and a few children’s stories. In other words, I write the book that comes to me rather than focus on specific genres. Psychological suspense is indeed a favorite, however, and was originally inspired by Patricia Highsmith’s books in which she usually features a sociopath and does so with gleeful enthusiasm. (It is my suspicion that she herself fell into this sociopathic category). I also find that “bad guys” make for fascinating studies and Fair Haven has its share and some “bad girls” as well.

    2. How did you came up with the mystery/murder/premise in the book you are promoting?

    Actually, this was my first novel, one I began when I bought my first computer in the mid-80s. I made some headway then, but life got in the way as it often does (actually a new romantic relationship and a house move), and I delayed work for a few years. When the relationship flamed out in spectacular fashion, I moved nearer my parents on the coast of New Jersey, and though still working full time as a book designer and photographer, I picked up Fair Haven and finished a first draft. But once again life intruded so the manuscript was shelved into the closet. Finally, I began another novel, Jenny Kidd, inspired by Highsmith and set in Venice, and thus began a series of new books until my new and delightful publisher, Andrew May of Spectrum Books in London, began accepting my manuscripts at a furious pace, publishing four books in thirteen months. Once he cleared my desk and closets, I looked around and saw Fair Haven, but oh, my, it was a mess! Plot errors, amateur formatting, and tons of mistakes. It took me forever to whip this complicated, yet intriguing, novel into shape…which hopefully I did!  

    3. How you came up with the main character in your book or series?

    The cast of Fair Haven is generously large, but probably the most significant character is the forensic photographer, Chris Clarke, a handsome woman who is involved with Kate, a primary suspect in the murder. Because of my own background as a professional photographer, it was an easy task to handle the details of Chris’ work. She also lives by the river in the neighboring town of Fair Haven, and owns a sailboat, which I also did in my younger days. Chris has an obstreperous beagle who rules the house—Cagney is modeled on my own dog. He often steals the show in the novel, so hound and dog lovers should enjoy his escapades.

    4. Any interesting research you did for the book?

    Originally, I thought the local police force would oversee the murder investigation, which was one of the huge errors I committed during the first stages of writing. In fact, though they do some coordination, interviews, etc., the Monmouth County’s Major Crimes Bureau and the prosecutor’s office are in charge of everything, including gathering forensic evidence. I interviewed a former Fair Haven policeman as well as a retired director of the county’s Economic Crime Unit, both of whom set me straight on a number of misconceptions. In addition, after a few glasses of wine, a friend, a financial analyst, grinned and answered my question about how a broker would commit fraud, cheerfully providing details about the Cayman Islands, offshore accounts, and the like.

    5. A post on your process of writing a mystery book.

    As mentioned above, this book took a long and arduous journey from its inception to its submission to my publisher. Quite honestly, I never thought the manuscript was good enough to publish, but there was something charming about the plot and its characters that kept drawing me in. I also loved the irony of a murder in the quiet, serene village of Fair Haven. After hundreds of hours of revision, I hope this murder mystery will be an enjoyable read, one that harkens to some British series such as Midsomer Murders in that the residents of small towns are the focus even more than the crime. Despite this, have fun figuring out “who done it!”

    Fair Haven: A picturesque riverside town. A safe, friendly place. And then, one summer afternoon in 1994, Sally Ann Shaffer is electrocuted in her hot tub. Who did it? One of her many lovers? Her husband? A thief? A jealous colleague at her tennis club? The town is suddenly embroiled in suspicion, interpersonal conflict, blackmail, fraud, and murder. 

    “When is a murder mystery more than a who-done-it? Answer: When it is written by Laury Egan. This wonderful mystery kept me en-tranced, as her characters drug me around the town of Fair Haven and through their inter-woven lives. In an ever more complex web of intrigue, jealousy, hatred and lust the plot was revealed. Though its difficult to write a review of a murder mystery without giving away too much, I couldn’t figure it out, even with some well-placed clues, until the end and then I was amazed by the reveal. You will be too.”

    —CA Farlow, author of The Paris Contagion

    Amazon: https://geni.us/fairhaven Published by Enigma Books, an imprint of Spectrum Books, London

    Laury A. Egan is the author of fifteen novels, a story collection (with a new collection, Contrary: Stories and a Play, due May 2025), and four volumes of poetry. Her psychological suspense/crime fiction novels are: Jack & I, The Psychologist’s Shadow, Doublecrossed, The Ungodly Hour, A Bittersweet Tale, and Jenny Kidd (a revised edition will be released October 18, 2025). Ninety of her stories and poems have appeared in literary journals and anthologies. She is a reviewer for The New York Journal of Books, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, and a 2024 recipient of a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Award in prose. Website: www.lauryaegan.com

    LauryA.Egan@EganLaury

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