Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of the Bibliophile Mystery series, which launched in 2009 with HOMICIDE IN HARDCOVER. The latest Bibliophile Mystery is PERIL IN PAPERBACK, available now wherever paperbacks or ebooks are sold. The Bibliophile Mystery series follows book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright as she attempts to restore classic texts to their former glory, and to solve the contemporary murders that are linked to each book.
I attended a party last night. A writer’s conference party, so for me, it was about both fun and business. Because it was a large publishing industry party, it was an opportunity to connect faces to names I recognized, an opportunity to reconnect with friends I see just once or twice a year, and – mostly – an opportunity to make small talk with dozens of strangers.
I’m a people person. I find parties like this invigorating, and I love meeting new people. (Probably why I had such a good time working on game shows, back in my TV days. If you’re interested, you can read more about that here.
Even so, there were moments when I needed to step out of the crowd and find a quiet corner in which to regroup. When I did this, the running monologue in my head got a little louder. In other words, I could hear myself think… and I gotta tell you, my thoughts are pretty entertaining! I had to guard against laughing out loud. I don’t mind being the eccentric in my neighborhood, but this was an industry party, and I didn’t want to be labeled as “the crazy writer in the corner.”
Mostly, my inner monologue was speculation about what others in the room might have been thinking at any given moment. A bestselling author might be sizing up the wait staff, looking for a potential lover. An editor might be wondering whether she can sneak another piece of cheesecake from the buffet without being seen by her boss.
I’m convinced that everyone hides a world of thoughts behind a socially acceptable mask. My husband insists that sometimes he’s thinking about nothing, but that can’t be true. Can it? Can men truly have nothing on their minds?
I refuse to believe it.
Most people’s thoughts are benign, but danger lurks in some souls. Whenever I hear about a killer who just “snapped,” I know that cracks were forming beneath the surface for some time… only no one saw it. No one guessed at the dark thoughts festering.
PERIL IN PAPERBACK, Bibliophile Mystery book 6, takes place at a weeklong house party in the Tahoe mansion of Grace Crawford, an oddball billionaire who made her fortune designing video games. Ostensibly, everyone is there to celebrate Grace’s birthday, but not everyone is in the mood to celebrate… at least one guest is determined that Grace won’t live to see her big day.
Bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright can feel the tension in the air, but she doesn’t know Grace well enough to understand why so many of her closest friends and family members seem to feel such hostility toward her. Brooklyn has restored a few rare books for Grace, and she accepted an invitation to the party so she could catalog the woman’s prized collection of pulp fiction. Little did she realize that before the week is over, someone would be dead… and that she would be trapped in a snowbound mansion with the killer.
Trapped with a killer… only a little scarier than being trapped in a room full of crazy writers.
Do you find that when you’re moving through life, you have a constant inner monologue going on inside your head? What kinds of things do you think about? Do you ever watch other people and try to guess what they’re thinking?
