An Editor’s Tribute to Lea Wait

As part of Maine Crime Writers’ promotion of Lea Wait’s last book, Thread and Buried, we’re delighted to welcome John Scognamiglio to the blog.

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We asked him to say a few words about what it was like to be Lea’s editor at Kensington Books. Take it away, John.

Lea Wait and I worked together for five years on her Mainely Needlepoint mystery series.  It was always one of my favorites for many, many reasons. First, the setting. Who doesn’t want to read about Maine? Lea always brought the state vividly to life, no matter what season the story was taking place in. Then there was the food! All those yummy Maine dishes like lobster and chowder and blueberry pie–I always found myself hungry while editing one of her manuscripts. Then there was the historical information about needlepointing that opened up each chapter. I always found those little tidbits to be fascinating. And then there were the characters. Angie and her gram and the rest of the residents of Haven Harbor were always a joy to visit and revisit in each book. I’m sad that THREAD AND BURIED is going to be the last book in the series. It took Lea a while to deliver it, but eventually she did and it was worth the wait. If you haven’t taken a visit to Haven Harbor, start with TWISTED THREADS, the first book in the series. I guarantee you’ll want to dive into the rest of the books in the series after that. Lea will be missed, but her books will live on.

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Thank you, John, for that lovely tribute. For readers who want to pre-order Thread and Buried, which will be published on November 26, here’s a link that will take you to links to all the major booksellers.

https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/39279

You can also purchase this book from your favorite independent bookstore and request that your local library order copies. If you want to know more about Lea and her books, including a list of all her titles, her webpage is http://www.LeaWait.com