The Crime Lady: Reboot, Redux
I'm back with updates on my new book, moving platforms, and plans for fresh essays!
Dear TCL Readers:
Well, it’s been quite a while. And a lot has happened since I last sent an email in…checks notes…December 2023.
So I’ll get right to the point: I spent 2024 finishing the draft of my next book, WITHOUT CONSENT, which will be published by Ecco/HarperCollins in the fall of 2025. This work included two life-changing residencies at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and MacDowell, for which I am profusely grateful. I’m looking forward to sharing more details about the book, including the cover (!), but as my editor’s notes are about to land in my inbox imminently, that’s going to occupy much of my brainspace for the next few months.
One of the reasons it took so long to send a newsletter this year is that, frankly, I didn’t want to stay on Substack, but I couldn’t figure out where to move, and it was easier not to post, and I had a book to finish, and then suddenly, nearly a year has passed. But after the election — sigh — it became clear, and easy, to switch to Buttondown. So here I am, again, planning and hoping to be a semi-regular presence in your inbox once more.
The column continues, too. In fact, I have an extra one up today, reviewing recent and forthcoming reissues of vintage crime novels by Christianna Brand, Nancy Barr Mavity, Lawrence Treat, Seichi Yokomizo, and the incomparable Dorothy B. Hughes. Plus I have a big feature story for a new-to-me publication that should land shortly, one I am very excited about, and which augurs another new direction for my journalism.
I also plan, once book edits are done, to get back to some original essays on here. Like the Crime Novel Catch-Up (see the first two, on Caitlin Mullen’s PLEASE SEE US and Jacqueline Bublitz’s BEFORE YOU KNEW MY NAME), some investigations of things that obsess me, and, when the time is right, material that relates to my next book.
Lastly, I have no idea what the future holds. I’d rather be clear-eyed than in denial. But I also know that even if no actual place is safe, good things emerge from the heart, the mind, and the community you build and foster. I’m thankful this community exists, and it’s time to rebuild it. So thanks, as always, for reading.
Until next time, I remain,
The Crime Lady