Kiddo is back and a decade older. At 23, he's not much wiser or thinner, but the family business needs him, and so does the woman of his dreams. It's time to grow up--whatever that means.
These days, I live in a 200-year-old carriage house in a quaint, ultra-WASPY little historic New England village. Not surprisingly, I've taken to writing a series of five (and counting) retro-cozy murder mysteries set in a quaint, ultra-WASPY little historic New England village. I call it Dorset. It's a place where everyone knows everything about everyone ' or at least they think they do. Trust me, they don't. Dorset is a place full of secrets, many of them deadly. That's where my deliciously mismatched heroes come in, both of them strangers in a very strange land. Mitch Berger, a pudgy Jewish widower, is the lead film critic for the most prestigious and therefore lowest paying of New York's three daily newspapers. Desiree Mitry is an alluring beautiful Connecticut State Trooper who happens to be black, a gifted artist and strangely drawn to Mitch. Under normal circumstances, these are two people whose paths would never cross. But absolutely nothing about Dorset is normal.
I started the series in 2001 with The Cold Blue Blood , which was nominated for a Dilys Award. My most recent hardcover, The Sweet Golden Parachute came out in the spring of 2006. The latest paperback is The Burnt Orange Sunrise , which I'm happy to report made a few bestseller lists. You absolutely don't have to read the Berger-Mitry books in order, but you'll find it a kick to follow the unfolding romance if you do. Personally, I've found them to be a real treat. I get a chance to dissect the village and the people where I actually live. Absolutely everyone in town reads them. And I have fun bringing my own subversive contemporary edge to the classic old-school village murder mystery. The books feel real fresh to me. I hope you like them.
The Berger-Mitrys are my second crime series. My first foray, which you may remember, featured the dapper celebrity ghostwriter Stewart 'Hoagy' Hoag and his faithful, neurotic basset hound Lulu. I wrote eight novels about Hoagy, a fallen literary wunderkind turned pen for hire who travels the underbelly of show business helping famous stars tell their life stories, secrets and all. Generally, there are plenty of people who wanted those secrets to stay safely buried. Generally, our jaded hero knows how to dig them out. My first Hoagy, The Man Who Died Laughing , was nominated for an Anthony Award. My best known in the series, The Man Who Would Be F. Scott Fitzgerald , won an Edgar and an American Mystery Award. Sadly, several of the Hoagys are out of print right now -- so you may have to do a little on-line detective work to track them down. But go for it. You'll never find another wise-cracking hero quite like Hoagy.
Do you like political thrillers? If so, I took some time off between series a few years back to co-author an international bestselling page-turner called Gideon under the name Russell Andrews. I promise you it'll knock your socks off.
I've also taken the time to write some short fiction. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine has published several of my short stories since 2001. Two have been included in anthologies ' Opening Shots Volume Two , edited by Lawrence Block, and A Hot and Sultry Night for Crime , edited by Jeffrey Deaver.
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