This week: Emily Gray Tedrowe for The Talented Miss Farwell and Lee Goldberg for Bone Canyon - plus a head's up for Nick Petrie's The Breaker

2021 opens with thrills! 

Tuesday, January 5, 7 pm
Emily Gray Tedrowe, author of The Talented Miss Farwell
in Conversation with Valerie Laken for a Virtual Event

Boswell presents a Thrillwaukee event with Emily Gray Tedrowe, author of Blue Stars and Commuters, in conversation with UWM's Valerie Laken. They’ll chat about The Talented Miss Farwell, a novel that’s been billed as Catch Me If You Can meets Patricia Highsmith: an electrifying page-turner of greed, obsession, and one unforgettable female con artist. Register here for this event. 

Chicago-based Tedrowe has a lot of fans, including Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers, who said, "Becky Farwell is one of the most wickedly compelling characters I've read in ages - a Machiavellian marvel, a modern Becky Sharp, a character to root for despite your better judgment - and her story, both topical and timeless, will knock you off your feet." When I saw in the advance reading copy that Tedrowe thanked both Valerie Laken and Liam Callanan, it seemed like a must-host event. Boswellian Kay  confirms that this thriller set in the art world will keep you on the edge of your seat. 

At the end of the 1990s, Reba Farwell has made a killing at Christie’s in New York City, selling her art collection for a rumored 900% profit. But a thousand miles from the Big Apple, in the small town of Pierson, Illinois, Miss Farwell is someone else entirely: a quiet single woman known as Becky who still lives in her family’s farmhouse, wears sensible shoes, and works tirelessly as the town’s treasurer and controller who always finds a way to get the struggling town just a little more money. But as Reba Farwell’s deals get bigger and bigger, Becky Farwell’s debt to Pierson spirals out of control. How long can the talented Miss Farwell continue to pull off her double life?

Emily Gray Tedrowe is author of Blue Stars and Commuters. She earned a PhD in literature from New York University and a BA from Princeton University. She has received an Illinois Arts Council award as well as fellowships from the Ragdale Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Sewanee Writers' Conference. Valerie Laken is author of Dream House and is Associate Professor of English at UWM.

Thursday, January 7, 7:30 pm
Lee Goldberg, author of Bone Canyon
in Conversation with Jon Jordan for a Virtual Event

Goldberg rides again! He’ll join us for a chat about the second installment of his Eve Ronin series in which a cold case heats up fast, revealing a deadly conspiracy. He’ll chat with Jon Jordan of Crimespree Magazine. Register here for this event.

A catastrophic wildfire scorches the Santa Monica Mountains, exposing the charred remains of a woman who disappeared years ago. The investigation is assigned to Eve Ronin, the youngest homicide detective in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, a position that forces her to prove herself again and again. This time, though, she has much more to prove. 

Lee Goldberg's series has been a hit with several Boswellians, including Tim, Chris, and myself. He originally appeared here for his Killer Thriller series, which is a bit over the top. Trade reviewers have noted how well Goldberg has adapted to the police procedural genre. The set-up is that Eve has more fans on the internet than she does in her own department, having broken out with a viral video of her taking on a famous law breaker. I should also note that Goldberg is an entertaining conversation partner. 

Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar Award and two-time Shamus Award nominee and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels. He has also written and/or produced many TV shows, including Diagnosis Murder, SeaQuest, and Monk, and is the cocreator of the Mystery 101 series of Hallmark movies. As an international television consultant, he has advised networks and studios all over the world. 

Tuesday, January 12, 7 pm

Nick Petrie, author of The Breaker
in Conversation with Jim Higgins for a Virtual Event

Peter Ash returns to Milwaukee for his latest adventure! Nick Petrie, winner of the ITW Thriller award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel, also returns, cosponsored by Milwaukee's Boswell Book Company, Oconomowoc's Books & Company, as well as the Whitefish Bay Public Library. For this event, Nick Petrie will be in conversation with Jim Higgins, Books and Arts Editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

Register here for this event. All books from either store will be autographed, and you can request personalizations prior to the event date, too! Please note requests in the order comments for online orders. 

When The Breaker opens, Peter Ash has found a simple, low-profile life in Milwaukee, living with his girlfriend June and renovating old buildings with his friend Lewis. Staying out of trouble is the key to preserving this fragile peace, but when Peter spots a suspicious armed man walking into the crowded Milwaukee Public Market, he can’t just stand by and do nothing.

Peter interrupts a crime, but it wasn’t at all what he’d expected. The young gunman appeared to have one target and one mission, but when he escapes, and his victim vanishes before police arrive, it seems there is more to the encounter than meets the eye. Peter’s hunch is proven correct when a powerful associate from his past appears with an interest in the crime, and an irresistible offer: if he and June solve this mystery, Peter’s record will be scrubbed clean. 

As you can see from the cover treatment, The Breaker is set in and around Milwaukee, including the Third Ward, Riverwest, Walker's Point, Bay View, and the Rufus King neighborhood.

Nick Petrie is author of five novels in the Peter Ash series, most recently The Wild One. His debut, The Drifter, was a finalist for the Edgar and the Hammett Awards and received the IWA Thriller Award for debut novel. He lives in Whitefish Bay. 

Photo credits! 

Emily Gray Tedrowe credit Marion Ettlinger

Lee Goldberg credit Ron Scarbpa

Nick Petrie credit Troy Fox

More on our Boswell upcoming events page.