This year marked the end of a mystery
series and the beginning of a project that falls in the middle of another
series. If that seems confusing, believe me, I’m confused too.
Level Best Books published The Art Center Mysteries, a trilogy of novels about Jill Madison, an oil painter who returns to her hometown of Apple Grove and begins a new job as the executive director of an art center named after her mother. The first two books in the series are Death in a Pale Hue and Death in a Bygone Hue.
The
final book, which came out this year, is Death in a Ghostly Hue. The
senior group at Jill’s art center is doing a reader’s theater of Oscar Wilde’s The
Canterville Ghost. In the meantime, Quinn Parsons, the young man who killed
Jill’s parents in a head-on collision years earlier returns from prison hoping
to live in Apple Grove once again. Parsons left multiple angry people with
reasons to kill him, including Jill’s hot-tempered brother, Andy. When his body
turns up, Andy is arrested by a mean sheriff’s deputy who has a history with
him that isn’t pleasant. Can Jill and her other brother, Detective Tom Madison,
keep Andy safe while finding out the identity of the killer?
During
her investigation, a charming ghost shows up at the art center with quite a
history, and new facts come out about the “accident” that killed her parents
years earlier.
Now that the series is complete, what’s my next project? I am writing a new Endurance mystery (my first series), with a fifth book called Fabric of Lies. The previous book, The Witch’s Child, ended with (spoiler) Jeff Maitlin asking Grace Kimball to marry him. When Fabric of Lies begins, the couple have been married a year, and they’re living in Lockwood House, a bed-and-breakfast. A long-ago tragedy returns in the form of a young man, Anthony Blackburn, whose parents completely disappeared from Endurance back in 1983. The family were next-door neighbors of Grace Kimball. They were never heard from again. Their two-year-old baby was in the hospital in 1983, and the police took him away. That baby, now a young man, has found his way back to Endurance and wants to discover what happened to his family. Grace has spent years wondering what happened the night they disappeared.
Unfortunately,
there are people in Endurance who would prefer the puzzle stay buried.
Late
spring of 2025 will see the launch of Fabric of Lies. A journey of a
thousand steps…
Susan
Van Kirk is the author of the Endurance Mysteries and the Art Center Mysteries.
You can read about her novels at https://susanvankirk.com
or follow her on Facebook, Instagram, or Threads.
ReplyDeleteSounds to me like a fine way to end the year and start the next.
Thanks, Jim. I agree! Happy writing in 2025.
ReplyDeleteLove this, Susan. Can't wait to read!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lori. Time to get my brain out of Christmas and back to work.
DeleteWhile I'm sorry to see the end of the Art Center series, I'm eager to see a new Endurance mystery on the horizon!
ReplyDeleteThe Endurance characters have been calling to me. Time to figure out what they want.
DeleteSounds like you're well on your way to a great 2025. Sorry to see the Art Center series end, but as the author, you know when it should be wrapped up and your energy concentrated on other projects.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kathleen. This was always meant to be a three-book series since the contract was for a trilogy. However, I will be happy to settle back in Endurance for another story.
DeleteWhile I will miss the Art Center series, I'm so happy that there will be a new installment of the Endurance series. It's long been a favorite.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Kait. Sadly for you, there are no oceans to snorkle in around Endurance, but the Mississippi River isn't too far away.
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