Lori Rader-Day's Blog

Why is Agatha Christie still so popular?

I think I’m officially the Agatha Christie expert of Chicago. The Midwest? I’ll take it. All that research for one book should be useful for something else! I was asked by Elisa Shoenberger for Murder and Mayhem to theorize on why Agatha has such staying power. *cracks knuckles* Oh, yeah, I have theories. 

 

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Cover reveal for WRECK YOUR HEART!!

Time to show you Wreck Your Heart’s pretty face! Chicago Review of Books is hosting a cover reveal for us today, along with a little behind-the-scenes about the design and illustration. Minotaur Books hired an illustrator from Anderson Design Group, the artists behind a postcard I bought when I was in Nashville last year—I already loved their work, and now you will, too.

Go meet Dahlia Devine!

Here’s a little taste of Wreck Your Heart, to celebrate.

When the guy across the aisle on the crowded 56 bus gave me a wary look, I realized I’d been singing.

It happened, okay? Sometimes I caught myself acting out earnest Grammy Award acceptance speeches, too.

But I was hugging a bulging thirty-three-gallon garbage bag and I could suddenly see what I looked like hunched in my window seat, clutching my oversized go bag and dancing like no one was watching, as the country song goes. Except they were. Watching. Just trying not to, obviously. The other passengers on the bus were huddled into their own body heat, studying their phones, napping, surfing the bus’s movements, their heads bobbing as the bus hit another pothole. They all had Christmas shopping bags in their laps and the proper, calculated disregard of their fellow man that public transportation demanded.

“What’s your deal?” The guy had leaned toward me, smiling a little. He pulled the Bluetooth earmuff off his ear.

“My deal?”

He was going to have to be far more specific.

“You in a play or something?” he asked. “Your . . . costume?”

The guy didn’t know how close to the surface my every emotion was. “I beg your Parton?”

“Dolly Parton,” the guy agreed, pleased with himself. He gestured a gloved hand, but generally, as though he didn’t know where to start pointing. With my hair, already backcombed and pinned into victory rolls for the show tonight, or my fringed-arm black leather jacket, much too thin and short for a white-cold Chicago winter day. At my silver toe-capped queen of the rodeo boots, probably, better onstage than on icy sidewalks. Or if he was one for details, maybe he’d picked out the faded picnic-basket gingham of my shirt showing at the collar of the sweater I had to borrow from Alex.

It’s complicated. I’ll tell you who Alex is later.

My deal was none of this guy’s business, but okay, here we go: I’d had bad roommates before and villainous boyfriends for sure—but until now, never at the same time, in the same person. Never had a guy take off, oh, hey, with the rent money—and now here’s your girl, dead of winter in Chicago, evicted the week before Christmas and, trying to get that sorted, missing a shift at the music shop, strike three, and now unemployed, too.

My deal, and you are welcome to it.

—

I hope you want to learn more about Doll Devine’s DEAL.

Pre-orders are OPEN everywhere you book books, but I hope you will ask your local independent bookstore for a copy. If you want a signed and PERSONALIZED copy, you can order from one of *my* independent bookstores in Chicago. From The Book Cellar or New Book Joy—women-owned Chicago stores!

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I interviewed country legend Neko Case!

 

Sometimes this writer thing really pans out. Like the time I got to stay at Agatha Christie’s house, Greenway, in order to write about it? And this? THIS IS AMAZING. I got to interview country (yes, country, read the interview) legend Neko Case for Chicago Review of Books, and you can read it here. We talked about her new memoir, The Harder I Fight the More I Love You, which is stunning and brutally honest, about being a woman in a creative field, and about county fair ribbons. Country girls, having a chat.

Get a copy of the book! If you’re local to Chicago, she’s talking at Exile at Bookville next week.

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Free! Read my story, “[The applause dies.]”

I got started writing through short stories. I truly believe they are the best thing to write if you want to become a stronger writer quickly.

But once I stared writing novels, the discipline of writing short fell away. Atrophied, to be honest. About two years ago I decided to get back to writing short stories, and to use the shorter form to write nasty little ideas that I probably wouldn’t spend an entire novel on. Speaking of nasty little ideas…

“[The applause dies.]” was published by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in their September/October issue last year, and I’ve been given permission to share it out. It’s really short but, as you might be able to tell when you read it, I had a blast writing it.

Give it a read! And thanks to EQMM for all they do to give short crime stories a home!

PDF at this link:

Rader-Day_Lori [The Audience Dies.] EQMM SepOct 2024

If you’re in the position of nominating short stories for mystery awards, please consider Miriam!

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The Death of Us gets noticed… by you!

Hello, pretty blue baby!

The Death of Us is a “most anticipated mystery/thriller for fall” on Goodreads, and I can’t help thinking some of you have made this happen. Thanks for clicking “Want to Read” on the Goodreads page, for signing up for the Goodreads Giveaway—oh hey. Are you signed up for the new one? Do that now.

Anyway, thanks for anticipating The Death of Us! Dates for the book tour to come soon. Hoping to see some of you out on the road!

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Death at Greenway is a nominee for the Macavity Award!

A nice surprise to learn that Death at Greenway has been nominated for a Macavity Award, given out by Mystery Readers International/Mystery Readers Journal!

A little trivia for us all: Macavity the Mystery Cat, also called the Hidden Paw, is a fictional character in T. S. Eliot’s 1939 poetry book Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.

So… a mystery award named for a cat? I’m all in. The full list of nominated works is amazing and has lots of friends in it. Take a look!

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Death at Greenway won an Agatha Award!

I’m so excited. First, I got to wear this amazing hat.

AND while I was wearing that hat, Death at Greenway was named the Best Historical Novel at Malice Domestic! That’s the Agatha Award, for my book about Agatha’s house—quite fitting and proper, don’t you think? I’m thrilled, of course.

It was a great conference, a wonderful chance to see friends for the first time in two years (for me), and to talk about my research for Death at Greenway. (I will probably shut up about my research at some point but maybe not, maybe never.)

Congrats to all the Agatha nominees and winners! Check out the full list here! And if you love traditional or cozy mysteries, get on the Malice Domestic mailing list to be sent info about next year’s conference!

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Death at Greenway is an Agatha Award nominee!

Well, this seems like a full circle moment! I’m so excited that Death at Greenway is a nominee for the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel! I’ve long attended Malice Domestic, where the award is voted upon by its attendees, and I really hope I can attend this year. In person? That’s what they are saying!

Best Historical Novel—it makes me think of how seriously I took that word, “historical.” What IS a historical novel, especially when you’re playing with fiction within a truly historical context? How historical do ya need to be? Well, for Death at Greenway, I went all in on the research in a way I still don’t fully understand, when people said, hey, why don’t you just FICTIONALIZE IT, like the fiction writer you are? And I did! But when I could know the truth, I sought it, and I used it. There was just… so much to know. I wanted to know it all!

And that deep dive into Agatha Christie, into her house and its role in the war, into that community, those people, and all they went through and did for the war effort? That is what I’m most proud of. Award nominations are very nice, don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t be more excited to have this nomination for this book.

And with some serious contenders and fellow nominees! Check out the full list here.

Who wants to have tea in Bethesda?

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Death at Greenway is a Lefty Award nominee!

A very good morning for me and for some very talented mystery authors! The Left Coast Crime Lefty Award nominations went out this morning—and Death at Greenway is a nominee for the Best Historical Novel! Isn’t that lovely? It’s also lovely to see so many friends’ names on this list. It’s actually quite a good list of books for you, if you deserve LIKE I DO a present.

The full list is here.

Treat yo’self, as Donna from Parks and Rec would say. And if you’re interested in a good time come April and have all your vaccinations, you should think about attending the con itself. It’s such a fun time and just the right size for getting to meet lots of new people but also see and spend time with friends… and plenty of books, as far as the eye can see. That’s my idea of heaven.

Thank you to all the nominating voters. I’m so pleased to see Death at Greenway recognized alongside so many great books and people.

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Death at Greenway is named 2021 Best Historical Novel by Crimereads!

A Best Historical Fiction for 2021 list featured Death at Greenway, and I couldn’t be more pleased! Here’s the full list, with some stellar books as company! It was also listed by several review sites as a best read of the year, notably at Deadly Pleasures, Bolobooks, The Reading Room, and (chuffed to bits) on this end-of-year list made by one of MY favorite writers, Catriona McPherson for 7CriminalMinds!

I’ve been very pleased with the reaction of the historical fiction press. Death at Greenway was also named an Editor’s Choice by the Historical Novel Society! Here’s the full review.

Of course my two favorite reviews for this book still remain the New York Times Book Review, which called it “irresistible” (still not over that) and the STARRED Publishers Weekley review which said in part “richly nuanced … Through multiple viewpoints, Rader-Day nicely evokes the isolation and dislocations of people in WWII Britain while revealing her characters’ complexities. Despite the many allusions to Christie’s life and work, she eschews an artificially neat conclusion. Fans of both Christie and Rader-Day will relish this.”

It’s been really fun to launch this book. Thanks to all reviewers, all the readers who take the time to send notes or leave reviews, all those who bought Death at Greenway for someone for the holidays!

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