This novel, a mystery, was written in collaboration with my friend and fellow novelist, Rebecca Hill. For years we had threatened to write a book together and when Rebecca moved from Minnesota to Georgia we decided this would be a perfect way to keep us joined across the miles.

We had never collaborated on a piece of writing, so, in addition to thinking up a plot and a set of characters, we were figuring out how in the world two writers parceled out the various tasks of creating, editing and organizing a book. Rebecca thought we ought to be writing a book about that at the same time, but I nixed that idea. “Yeah, and while we’re at it, let’s write a book about how two writers wrote a book about how to write a book while they were writing a book together.” Rebecca’s rule was that we’d do this project only as long as it continued to be fun. “The thing was,” she said later, “we had to keep redefining what our idea of fun was.”

It’s the story of Charlie Carmody (the good brother) and Simon Carmody (the bad brother), and Charlie’s friend, Nicky Uhler (the imp of the perverse) and Marty Voight (the wronged woman), and how everyone in a small town somehow ends up either knowing everything there is to know about you or else being family.

We had a great time writing it and keep threatening to write another mystery together. This time if she asks me to write a book about how to write a book with someone else, I think I’ll say yes.


Critical Acclaim

“Chilling…full of unexpected twists…holds your attention to the very last paragraph.”
The Pittsburgh Press

“Captures the incestuous nature of a small town that protects its own and barely tolerates the slightest deviant behavior.”
Los Angeles Times