Unreliable Narrators & Other Fall News

In praise of twisty tales

Dear Friends,

Happy fall! You know autumn is my favorite time of year. Summer is sweltering season in New York, and I usually feel like I’m (barely) surviving it, rather than thriving in it. But fall means cooler weather, breaking out my beloved tall boots, travels near and far, and family get-togethers.

This fall also brings with it my new course for Brooklyn’s Center for Fiction. It’s called “Unreliable Narrators in Crime Fiction,” and it starts next Wednesday, October 9th. The reading list is a doozy: it’s filled with twisty classics including Agatha Christie’s The Death of Roger Ackroyd, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. Even if you don’t sign up, I’d encourage you to read the novels on the syllabus (but really, you should sign up). The 90-minute sessions are broadcast via Zoom, so you can join from anywhere. More details and registration can be found here.

Speaking of twisty… if you haven’t picked up Twisted Voices: Stories from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine yet, add it to your list to read ASAP! Edited by Janet Hutchings and Jackie Sherbow, it’s a phenomenal collection that includes short stories by Joyce Carol Oates, Ian Rankin, Gary Phillips, and other greats. I’m honored that my story “Hedge Hog” is included in the book. It was a little bit controversial when Ellery Queen first published it because of its sexual content, but story ended up being a reader favorite and placing in EQMM’s Readers Choice Awards.

I don’t know if fall is really a prime season for deals on books, but I have one hot tip: my novel Don’t Look Down is a Kindle deal for the month of October! Grab it now for $2.49.

Have you read anything lately that you’ve loved? I adore the Apple TV series “Slow Horses” and that got me reading Mick Herron’s spy novels this summer. Treat yourself and do the same! I’m deliberately staying behind the TV show, but since there are standalones and novellas that the show doesn’t cover, there are a lot of great stories to get through. Other books I read this summer and loved: Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart, Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett, The Last Hope by Susan Elia MacNeal, and Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (which just won the 2024 Virginia Literary Award for Fiction). I also read an advance copy of Alex Segura’s Alter Ego, the follow-up to his award-winning Secret Identity. It was smart and suspenseful and romantic, and I loved it. It comes out on December 3rd, and I’d recommend pre-ordering.

Thanks for reading!

Hilary

PS Fall also feels to me like a time for new beginnings (blame the school calendar I grew up with). Last October, I brought back the Gluten-Free Guidebook on Substack, and it would be tough to overstate how glad I am that I did. If you know anyone with celiac disease or gluten intolerance, please share it with them. It’s also full of general travel advice for cities including Athens, Barcelona, London, New York, and Toronto.