Chris Hadfield, author of The Apollo Murders

Goodreads: Summarize your new book in a couple of sentences.

Chris Hadfield: It’s an alternative history/thriller/fiction set in the heart of the space race and the cold war. The last Apollo mission has to deal with a secret Soviet space station orbiting the world and failing. There are Russian experiments on the surface of the moon and a crossover of unexpected crew members that leads to intrigue. It culminates in an action-packed splashdown back to Earth. 

GR: What sparked the idea for your debut novel?

CH: The idea for the novel came from the title, which was suggested to me by a British publisher who thought the Apollo murders would be a fun and interesting book to write. He couldn't think of anybody who had the background that I have and also is a writer. The title is very story inspiring, and the story just had to stay true to the title all the way through. 

GR: What’s your definition of a perfect mystery and/or thriller?

CH: For a mystery or thriller to be perfect, it has to be surprising and completely engrossing so that you can't put it down. The characters must be real, flawed, interesting, and credible people. Ideally, it would be based enough in reality that you’d learn about a time or a place or a way of thinking or a technology or business or people. 

GR: Who are some of your all-time-favorite mystery and thriller writers?

CH: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John D. MacDonald. Ken Follett’s Eye of the Needle is lean and as good as it gets. I also love Dick Francis and his series.

GR: What are some new mysteries and thrillers you've been enjoying and recommending to friends? 

CH: I like series. I recently read the Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery series, by Charles Todd. It was such a period piece he worked to re-create, and it shows what life was like just after the First World War. It's like looking at a beautiful, intricate painting of a place that no longer exists. 

GR: For someone who hasn't read a mystery or thriller in a while, what's a good book to lure them back to the genre? 

CH: The classics can be so beautifully wrought. I really admire the way Travis McGee tells a story and also injects social commentary on the protagonist. It’s worth going back to read Sherlock Holmes. A lot of people are seeing it in its various video and TV forms now, but the way that those were written is fascinating and insightful. 

GR: If you could solve one real-life mystery, what would it be? 

CH: I’d like a better understanding of the Indigenous people of the Americas. They didn't have a detailed written language, but they created things that stand the test of time. We've lost even the word-of-mouth history that existed, and I would love to understand the 18,000 years of human history that existed in the Americas before Europeans arrived here. 
 

Wanda M. Morris, author of All Her Little Secrets

Goodreads: Summarize your new book in a couple of sentences.

Wanda M. Morris: All Her Little Secrets is the harrowing story of a Black female lawyer who gets caught in the crosshairs of a scrupulous circle of executives following the death of her boss. By the time she realizes the extent of the danger, her professional and personal lives collide as she races to protect the brother she tried to save years ago and stop a conspiracy far more sinister than she could have ever imagined.

GR: What sparked the idea for your debut novel?

WMM: There were a couple things that inspired me to write this book. First, my own lived experiences working in toxic offices that underestimated the value that women and people of color can bring to the workplace. Also, I once worked for an organization where company management considered its employees “family.” Someone in my department died unexpectedly. There was nothing sinister about the death, but I was mortified by how quickly everyone went back to normal after the person died. That incident stayed with me for a long time and served as the motivating idea for the theme of family that I explored in the book—specifically, who do we call family and why?

GR: What’s your definition of a perfect mystery and/or thriller?

WMM: I like to read books on an emotional level. So, for me, the perfect mystery and/or thriller is a book that offers insight into the motivation of the characters, both the good characters and the villains. In terms of plot, I love books with layers of mystery. As I peel back each layer, I have this expectancy that I’ve figured out what the story is all about, then the author “pulls the rug out from under me” and the story is not at all what I expected.

GR: Who are some of your all-time-favorite mystery and thriller writers?

WMM: For character-driven mystery, I love Walter Mosley, Attica Locke, Alafair Burke, and William Landay. I also love Zora Neale Hurston. She’s not a mystery writer per se, but her characters are so real and raw that I become invested in their welfare as I do in any mystery where characters are in danger. When I’m looking for a pure adrenaline rush, I turn to Joe Ide, Adrian McKinty, or Joseph Finder.

GR: What are some new mysteries and thrillers you've been enjoying and recommending to friends? 

WMM: I like Yasmin Angoe’s Her Name Is Knight. Yasmin is a debut author like me, and her book about a Black female assassin is barrier-breaking in the thriller genre. I’ve also been recommending Lori Rader-Day’s very atmospheric Death at Greenway. Reading that book was like stepping into the London Blitz of 1941.

GR: For someone who hasn't read a mystery or thriller in a while, what's a good book to lure them back to the genre? 

WMM: I’d recommend Tracy Clark’s Cass Raines series. Her latest book in the series is Runner. I’d also recommend anything by Karin Slaughter or Hank Phillippi Ryan. All three of these women write these fantastically flawed female characters that make you root for them from page one.

GR: If you could solve one real-life mystery, what would it be? 

WMM: I wouldn’t want to solve one. I’d want to solve the thousands of mysteries surrounding the Black women and girls that go missing every single day without big national headlines or extensive manhunts.
 

Hannah Morrissey, author of Hello, Transcriber

Goodreads: Summarize your new book in a couple of sentences.

Hannah Morrissey: Every night, while the street lamps shed the only light on Black Harbor, police transcriber Hazel Greenlee listens as detectives divulge the city’s most gruesome secrets. As an aspiring writer, she believes a novel could be her ticket out of this frozen hellscape, and when her neighbor confesses to hiding the corpse of an overdose victim, she suddenly has a front-row seat to the investigation. Enchanted by the roguish lead detective, Hazel will discover just how far she will go for her story as she follows him into Black Harbor’s darkest parts.

GR: What sparked the idea for your debut novel?

HM: I found inspiration for my debut novel, Hello, Transcriber, while working the night shift as a police transcriber in a city that inspired the apocryphal Black Harbor. I had to keep the specifics of my job confidential, but any time I mentioned my profession, people were intrigued. I remember typing a report, early on, about a man having jumped from the railroad bridge, and I just thought, What kind of place makes people do that? Turns out, I was living in it; I just had to take note. 

GR: What’s your definition of a perfect mystery and/or thriller?

HM: A perfect mystery/thriller has textured characters who all have their own motivations, fears, and conflicts; these characters interact with one another and have an impact on the plot, which is compelling and sprinkled with unexpected twists; and finally, the overall mystery is fair. What I mean by that is, as an author, you don’t get a trophy for outsmarting your reader. If your reader figures out the crux of the mystery, then great! Because that means you’ve given them all the pieces to the puzzle. While, as a reader, I don’t want to figure everything out in the first 30 pages. I don’t like it when a homicidal Joe Schmo I’ve never heard of waltzes in during the 11th hour.

GR: Who are some of your all-time-favorite mystery and thriller writers?

HM: Michael Crichton: a true master of the techno-thriller and speculative fiction, his books are always posing the question, “What if?” Fun fact: I’ve read Jurassic Park 11 times. Gillian Flynn. Her writing is tight and sharp. I love her gritty characters and the dark places they take you. Tana French is brilliant at creating a chilly and penetrating atmosphere as well as untrustworthy protagonists. I’ve lost count of how many copies I’ve bought of In the Woods to give to friends. Lisa Jewell. I love how she takes the reader on a deep exploration of each character and intricately connects their lives. And she isn’t afraid to get violent. I loved The Family Upstairs, and I can’t wait to read The Night She Disappeared. 

GR: What are some new mysteries and thrillers you've been enjoying and recommending to friends? 

HM: Ha-ha! This question is so hard because I feel like as soon as I send this off, I’ll discover a new thriller to be enamored with. Alas: I recently read and loved Megan Collins’ The Family Plot about a true crime–obsessed family who suddenly find themselves at the center of one. I recommend Layne Fargo’s They Never Learn to all my friends who love to root for the villain in a satisfying revenge thriller that takes place at a college campus. Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert gives a tumultuous Clue meets Knives Out vibe when a PTSD-recovering detective is stuck on an island with a potential murderer in the midst. And Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano made me laugh out loud when desperate and down-on-her-luck writer Finlay Donovan is mistaken for a hit woman after discussing the plot of her new novel. I can’t wait for the second one!

GR: For someone who hasn't read a mystery or thriller in a while, what's a good book to lure them back to the genre? 

HM: Honestly, all of the above. That being said, I do believe that The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell is a great reintroduction to the genre. The characters are incredible, and it’s such a fun, twisty ride all the way to the end.

GR: If you could solve one real-life mystery, what would it be? 

HM: There’s a cold case in the city where I live that’s over 30 years old now, regarding a woman named Helen who was cut up into pieces, her head left on the shore of Lake Michigan. After the second suspect died (there were two brothers), my husband led a team of investigators into his home. They had to wear hazmat suits because the man had been a hoarder and who knew what could be in that place. This case is so vivid to me, when I transcribed the reports, I felt as though I had been there, sifting through the garbage and clearing a path from room to room. In their search, they discovered a pair of red glasses that may or may not have belonged to Helen, an anatomy book with notes on how to cut up a human body, and an apology letter that was too vague to pin to that case specifically. They still don’t have enough to name him as the killer and close the case. If he did it, though, karma got him in the end. He was a diabetic, and maggots were eating him alive. I think about Helen a lot—probably more than I should.
 

Rachel Kapelke-Dale, author of The Ballerinas

Goodreads: Summarize your new book in a couple of sentences.

Rachel Kapelke-Dale: Delphine, a former ballerina in her 30s, comes back to her hometown of Paris after more than a decade in St. Petersburg, hoping to revive old friendships while making a name for herself as a choreographer at the Paris Opera Ballet. But secrets from her adolescence refuse to stay hidden, threatening her plans. Following her journey, The Ballerinas looks at the nuances of female friendship, repressed rage, and the passions that drive—and complicate—ambition.

GR: What sparked the idea for your debut novel?

RKD: I started The Ballerinas after moving back to Paris in my mid-30s, during the period when the dancers I had trained with years ago were beginning to retire. I felt like my artistic career was just beginning, and I had a glimpse into this alternate timeline, where artists have to end their careers so young because of the strain on the body. As I thought about them and reunited with other old friends here in France, I had this strange sense of living in the past and the present simultaneously, and I started writing!

GR: What’s your definition of a perfect mystery and/or thriller?

RKD: A larger-than-life character in a compelling situation, where their own desires lead to increasingly escalating consequences and ultimately show the extremes of human behavior. The outcome should feel simultaneously unexpected and utterly inevitable.

GR: Who are some of your all-time-favorite mystery and thriller writers?

RKD: I'm a sucker for the classics: Agatha Christie and P.D. James are two of my favorites. I also had an alternate life as a horse girl, and I think I've read almost everything Dick Francis ever wrote! In terms of contemporary authors, Kate Atkinson and Liane Moriarty are at the top of my list. 

GR: What are some new mysteries and thrillers you've been enjoying and recommending to friends? 

RKD: Mexican Gothic is one that I keep giving to friends—it's so dark and compelling, with some supernatural (yet completely believable) elements. I'm currently in the middle of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, and it's already topping my recommendations list; I love a campus story, and the dual timelines are both so well done.

GR: For someone who hasn't read a mystery or thriller in a while, what's a good book to lure them back to the genre? 

RKD: Kate Atkinson's When Will There Be Good News? is a crime novel and mystery that's so incredibly well-crafted—the Jackson Brodie stories all are. And I dare anyone not to be totally charmed by Reggie.

GR: If you could solve one real-life mystery, what would it be? 

RKD: I have too many answers for this, depending on the kind of mystery you mean. For something frivolous, I'd love to know who the other people Carly Simon sang about in "You're So Vain" are. On a more serious note, it would be fascinating to know what happened to Amelia Earhart. And then again (except in the case of crime), I also think there's something beautiful about the unknown—what would life be without a little mystery? 
 

  
Erin Mayer, author of Fan Club

Goodreads: Summarize your new book in a couple of sentences.

Erin Mayer: Fan Club is part psychological thriller, part satire. It follows an unnamed narrator who, bored at her job as a web producer for a women’s website, develops an unhealthy obsession with an international pop star. When she falls in with an enigmatic group of super fans, she soon finds that they are bound together by something darker than devotion.

GR: What sparked the idea for your debut?

EM: The idea came from a few places: I started exploring the modern workplace, inspired by my own experience in women’s media. At the same time, I’d begun frequenting online forums for fans of musicians. The internet has provided unprecedented access to our favorite stars, and I noticed the possessive way some fans pick apart every move these celebrities make under the guise of concern or constructive criticism. I realized these two concepts actually fit together quite well—that someone working a dead-end job might project her deepest desires for a more fulfilling life onto a mega star whose life appears perfect from the outside. Plus, a dose of toxic friendship!

GR: What’s your definition of a perfect mystery novel?

EM: My perfect mystery/thriller has lush, atmospheric writing, complex characters, and a plot that keeps the reader wondering what’s real and what’s not. 

GR: Who are some of your all-time-favorite mystery and thriller writers?

EM: Tana French, Gillian Flynn, and Megan Abbott are my go-tos. I have also recently fallen in love with Dan Chaon and Oyinkan Braithwaite.

GR: What are some new mysteries you've been enjoying and recommending to friends?

EM: I just inhaled Mrs. March by Virginia Feito, which came out this summer and is one of my favorite books of the year. Other recent releases I’ve been raving about to everyone I know: The Push by Ashley Audrain, The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris, and When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole.

GR: For someone who hasn't read a mystery in a while, what's a good book to lure them back to the genre? 

EM: If you love character-driven stories, I recommend the books that really got me into the genre: Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series (you can read them in any order, but the first, In the Woods, is a great introduction). For more plot-driven readers, I couldn’t put Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough down when I read it, and more or less haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

GR: If you could solve one real-life mystery, what would it be?

EM: I have literally lost sleep wondering what happened to Elizabeth Short (a.k.a. the Black Dahlia).
    

Flora Collins, author of Nanny Dearest

Goodreads: Summarize your new book in a couple of sentences.

Flora Collins: A young woman makes the fatal mistake of reuniting with her childhood nanny.

GR: What sparked the idea for your debut?

FC: My own family’s experience with a creepy babysitter! And my yearning to write about a codependent relationship that wasn’t romantic.

GR: What’s your definition of a perfect mystery?

FC: A story that sits deep in your brain and bones long after you’ve read it, whose imagery is so vivid and grotesque that years later you’re still thinking about specific scenes or the haunting atmosphere that the author evoked.

GR: Who are some of your all-time-favorite mystery and thriller writers?

FC: Megan Abbott, Leila Slimani, Sarah Pinborough, Gilly Macmillan, Ruth Ware, Kimberly McCreight, Jessica Knoll, Lois Duncan, Julia Heaberlin, R.L. Stine.

GR: What are some new mysteries you’ve been enjoying and recommending to friends? 

FC: Call Me Mummy by Tina Baker, Nanny Needed by Georgina Cross, The Turnout by Megan Abbott, We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin.

GR: For someone who hasn't read a mystery in a while, what’s a good book to lure them back to the genre? 

FC: Anything by Ruth Ware! Her books are both well-written and fast-paced, so they are entertaining for people who enjoy great prose and commercial fiction.

GR: If you could solve one real-life mystery, what would it be?

FC: This is dark, but one mystery that has always confounded me is what men like Chris Watts are thinking when they annihilate their families, especially since divorce seems like a much simpler solution!
    

Tamron Hall, author of As the Wicked Watch

Goodreads: Summarize your new book in a couple of sentences.

Tamron Hall: My new book is As the Wicked Watch. We follow Jordan Manning, a crime reporter who works in Chicago and is pulled into an investigation after the body of a young Black girl is found on the South Side of Chicago. Jordan is faced with many dilemmas as a woman covering the story, as a person of color covering the story, and also as a reporter in training, and a person of passion. We follow Jordan as she works to solve the case and find justice even when it puts her at odds with people in the newsroom.

GR: What sparked the idea for your debut novel?

TH: I covered two cases in 1997, one in Texas and one in Chicago, that haunted me all these years even after the death of my own sister, and after covering crime stories on my show Deadline Crime. There were many details and observations I made as a journalist and as someone whose family was impacted by crime that sparked and inspired me to create a character who pushes the boundaries in ways I wish I had.

GR: What’s your definition of a perfect mystery and/or thriller?

TH: It’s one that you, early on, can imagine yourself in the shoes of the storyteller. You can almost smell the streets or the textures of things they describe or touch. You are so into solving it with the storyteller that your heart races in anticipation of what’s next.

GR: Who are some of your all-time-favorite mystery and thriller writers?

TH: Too many to name them all, but lately I’ve been loving Attica Locke, Alafair Burke, Ruth Ware, and Karin Slaughter.

GR: What are some new mysteries and thrillers you've been enjoying and recommending to friends? 

TH: I recently read and couldn’t put down a debut thriller called Nice Girls by Catherine Dang. Did not see that ending coming!

GR: For someone who hasn't read a mystery or thriller in a while, what's a good book to lure them back to the genre? 

TH:  Anything Walter Mosley

GR: If you could solve one real-life mystery, what would it be? 

TH: If I could solve one real-life mystery it would be the Black Dahlia; it has always been so intriguing and fascinating to me.