Lori Rader-Day's Blog, page 2

Death at Greenway audiobook wins an Earphones Award!

This is exciting news… Moira Quirk, the audiobook narrator for Death at Greenway, has won an AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award—for performing Death at Greenway! She’s just that good! Take a look at the full review here, or at the book in this fabulous list of audiobooks to keep you warm for winter!

via GIPHY

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Death at Greenway is launched!

It has been a busy week, but Death at Greenway is good and launched! Did you miss my convo with Susanna Calkins for the Book Cellar? Here’s the link! 

I still have a lot to do, including fun conversations this week virtually for The Book Stall with Louis Bayard and for Poisoned Pen with Catriona McPherson. I’m also making a trip to Indiana to speak in Paoli and Thorntown (see the events page for full details)—and go to my 30th high school reunion! Busy busy, but just wanted to get a chance to say thanks to everyone who bought a book this past week, who shared their new purchase with social media, who shared my Tweets and posts, who came out to tea party…

TEA PARTY!!

All photos by John Thomas Bychowski.

Much tea and cake was had! Thanks to Mary Ann Mohanraj for the great food, great location, great time.

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Launch week is here! Help me celebrate?

It’s time at last. Death at Greenway is launching this week! I can’t wait to talk to some friends (and new acquaintances!) about this book, writing historical fiction for the first time, and all sorts of nerdy Greenway-ness. Join me?

 

Full events are listed here, but here are the launch week highlights:

TUESDAY
-4:00 p.m. ET: Hank Phillippi Ryan interviews me about Death at Greenway for A Mighty Blaze! You can stream it here.
-7:00 p.m. CT: Susanna Calkins helps me launch Death at Greenway for the hometown bookstore Book Cellar! Sign up here!

These two events are the best bet if you want to hear all the nooks and crannies about researching and writing this book. There are a LOT of crannies, friends.

WEDNESDAY
-7:30 p.m. CT: Naomi Hirahara and I talk about our newest books, both historical mysteries, with Shane Mullen from Left Bank Books for that store and also Anderson’s Naperville. There are cocktail recipes at the link, inspired by the books! Sign up here!

This event is going to be about writing historical fiction, trying new things, and writing about places where, oops, you don’t live.

THURSDAY
-7:00 p.m. CT: Amy Stewart and I talk about our newest books, both historical mysteries, for Murder by the Books. Info on how to watch here.

I’ve never met Amy before, but I’m a big fan of her Kopp sisters books. We’ll be getting to know each other, talking about writing historical, and watch me poke Amy about things I have read in her author newsletter, which is the best out there.

This event should be laid back, and Amy seems like such an interesting person. She has other interests! I can’t wait to ask her how she does that.

—

If you’re in Milwaukee, the event there is ticketed and includes a copy of the book. Info here!

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The Death at Greenway Playlist is here!

You’ve been waiting, right? Yes, of course there’s a Death at Greenway playlist (you will need to be logged into Spotify but the basic sign-up is free), and it’s a good one, I think. I did write the book to many of these songs, including some of the modern ones.

In particular, the angelic voice of Vera Lynn helped sing this book into existence, as well as 13 or so versions of the song “You Belong to Me.” (Trivia: The working title of Death at Greenway was You Belong to Greenway.) My favorite version is probably Jo Stafford’s. Give it a listen—genius.

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The NYTBR likes Death at Greenway! *fans self*

The morning got very exciting suddenly when friend and amazing author Julia Dahl congratulated me in an email on the NYT!!! with all those exclamation points. And I hadn’t seen it! And now that I have, this is my face:

If you are a subscriber to the New York Times, here’s the entire post, a collection of reviews on “gentler” crime fiction stories for hard times (yes, please).

Here’s what reviewer and Crime Lady Sarah Weinman says about Death at Greenway:

“I applauded Lori Rader-Day’s new novel, DEATH AT GREENWAY, as soon as I realized that, even though the title refers to Agatha Christie’s beloved manse, Dame Agatha doesn’t appear in the book in any significant way; the estate itself is the star. It’s not that Rader-Day couldn’t breathe life into Christie, but why do that when there are other stories to tell? The most interesting tidbit is that Greenway became a home for evacuated children during World War II, and a crime novel with that backdrop proves irresistible.

Greenway is an immediate haven for Bridey Kelly, a nurse fleeing terrible mistakes and looking to salvage her professional pursuits. She feels herself recovering through looking after nearly a dozen children, and finds fast friendship with another nurse, the glamorous and mysterious Gigi. The war casts plenty of dark shadows, but the discovery of a body floating in the river near the estate rips apart Bridey’s calm. What follows is a Golden Age homage, an elegantly constructed mystery that on every page reinforces the message that everyone counts.”

Irresistible. Says the New York Times Book Review. I’m so happy. I’m especially happy that she got it exactly—the house is the story. It is preserved in part by Agatha Christie and her legacy, but each person who ever passed through its doors has a legacy, too.

I’m going to celebrate by working on some book club items and maybe buying some pants because apparently I’m going out to meet some readers very very soon?

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Death at Greenway is an IndieNext pick!!!

Are you tired of good news? Look away.

Death at Greenway is a IndieNext pick for November!!!

IndieNext is a list of 25 new books out each month, decided by recommendations from independent booksellers across the country. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have Death at Greenway on this list. The program puts out a print list for bookstores to offer their customers and shares the list widely with indie stores so that more booksellers hear what’s coming up. It’s an honor to be on this list, and this PLUS being on LibraryReads is—well, I don’t know what it is, because it’s never happened to me before! New territory! I can’t wait for readers to get their copies.

If you know you want to read Death at Greenway, you can pre-order with any independent or brick-n-mortar store (ideal) or online retailer. OR you can catch me at one of my events… check out that list and make your plans! OR request it at your local library—that’s great for me, too.

TWELVE DAYS until book launch!

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Death at Greenway is a LibraryReads top 10 pick for October!!

I’m so excited that library staff ACROSS THE COUNTRY have voted Death at Greenway onto the LibraryReads list for October!! Library staff, I love you, too!

What does it mean? LibraryReads collects the top ten books being published each month, based on votes form library staff. It means library staff already know about Death at Greenway and are excited to put it into the hands of patrons soon—and now, thanks to this list, a lot more librarians now know about Death at Greenway! LibraryReads helps libraries sort through all the many wonderful books published each month so they can make sure to get copies ready for loaning out. It’s exciting in a publishing/promote-y kind of way, and my publisher is indeed chuffed about it. Here’s the top of their email this morning:

And the blog post, which features a link to a few snippets of excitement from the Harper authors on the list, including me! That’s excellent company to keep… I was last on the LibraryReads list for my first novel, The Black Hour, so that feels right, too. This is my first historical crime novel—I’m back to being a bit of a baby on knocking knees about the whole enterprise. A few good pieces of news helps a writer breathe a little… and being on the LibraryReads list is such gift. Thanks, Libraries!!

Libraries have been such a huge part of my life as a reader and a writer, but also specifically while writing this book!

 

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Parade Magazine says you should read Death at Greenway…

…and who am I to argue?

Parade magazine! You get it; almost everyone does. If you get the Sunday newspaper and the comics section, you get Parade magazine. I’m thrilled to see Death at Greenway included in a “picks” round-up that mentions Clue, The Thin Man, Knives Out AND Murder on the Orient Express! And me!! And three more books I should definitely read.

See what they said here! Who knew Martin Short was such a mystery nerd?? Marty, don’t hide your love for Clue under a bushel. Come to Bouchercon and hang out with the rest of us!

Death at Greenway also got this tremendous STARRED review from Publishers Weekly! I’ll give you the headline: “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.”

RELISH. What a great word. No ketchup.

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The Lucky One is having a lucky year…

…The Lucky One is an Anthony Award nominee for Best Paperback Original! And with so many friends in the list, I can’t wait to celebrate the winners!

I have been very lucky indeed this year—and always. Thrilled to see this book on the list. Thanks to all those who nominated!

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Mary Higgins Clark Award panel video if you missed it

Did you miss the virtual panel with Brookline Booksmith and all the Mary Higgins Clark Award finalists? Never. You. Fear. You can watch it here!

[Stop that rhyming now, I mean it.]

And then go click through and show some love to Brookline Booksmith for hosting us.

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