Suspense Radio

SHOW NOTES:   FORENSIC SCIENCE TIMELINE    Prehistory: Early cave artists and pot makers “sign” their works with a paint or impressed finger or thumbprint.  1000 b.c.: Chinese use fingerprints to “sign” legal documents.  3rd century BC.: Erasistratus (c. 304–250 b.c.) and Herophilus (c. 335–280 b.c.) perform the first autopsies in Alexandria.  2nd century AD.: Galen (131–200 a.d.), physician to Roman gladiators, dissects both animal and humans to search for the causes of disease.  c. 1000: Roman attorney Quintilian shows that a bloody handprint was intended to frame a blind man for his mother’s murder.  1194: King Richard Plantagenet (1157–1199) officially creates the position of coroner.  1200s: First forensic autopsies are done at the University of Bologna.  1247: Sung Tz’u publishes Hsi Yuan Lu (The Washing Away of Wrongs), the first forensic text.  c. 1348–1350: Pope Clement VI(1291–1352) orders autopsies on victims of the Black Death to hopefully find a cause for the plague.  Late 1400s: Medical schools are established in Padua and Bologna.  1500s: Ambroise Paré (1510–1590) writes extensively on the anatomy of war and homicidal wounds.  1642: University of Leipzig offers the first courses in forensic medicine.  1683: Antony van Leeuwenhoek (1632–1723) employs a microscope to first see living bacteria, which he calls animalcules.  Late 1600s: Giovanni Morgagni (1682–1771) first correlates autopsy findings to various diseases.  1685: Marcello Malpighi first recognizes fingerprint patterns and uses the terms loops and whorls.  1775: Paul Revere recognizes dentures he had made for his friend Dr. Joseph Warren and thus identifies the doctor’s body in a mass grave at Bunker Hill.  1775: Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742–1786) develops the first test for arsenic.  1784: In what is perhaps the first ballistic comparison, John Toms is convicted of murder based on the match of paper wadding removed from the victim’s wound with paper found in Tom’s pocket.  1787: Johann Metzger develops a method for isolating arsenic.  c. 1800: Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1828) develops the field of phrenology.  1806: Valentine Rose recovers arsenic from a human body.  1813: Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila (1787–1853) publishes Traité des poisons (Treatise on Poison), the first toxicology textbook.   1821: Sevillas isolates arsenic from human stomach contents and urine, giving birth to the field of forensic toxicology.  1823: Johannes Purkinje (1787–1869) devises the first crude fingerprint classification system.  1835: Henry Goddard (1866–1957) matches two bullets to show they came from the same bullet mould.  1836: Alfred Swaine Taylor (1806–1880) develops first test for arsenic in human tissue.  1836: James Marsh (1794–1846) develops a sensitive test for arsenic (Marsh test).  1853: Ludwig Teichmann (1823–1895) develops the hematin test to test blood for the presence of the characteristic rhomboid crystals.  1858: In Bengal, India, Sir William Herschel (1833–1917) requires natives sign contracts with a hand imprint and shows that fingerprints did not change over a fifty-year period.  1862: Izaak van Deen (1804–1869) develops the guaiac test for blood.  1863: Christian Friedrich Schönbein (1799–1868) develops the hydrogen peroxide test for blood.  1868: Friedrich Miescher (1844–1895) discovers DNA.  1875: Wilhelm Konrad Röntgen (1845–1923) discovers X-rays.  1876:...

SHOW NOTES: Writers, particularly early in their careers, make mistakes. Often the same ones over and over. Here are a few pitfalls to avoid.  OVERWRITING: Too many words  Too cute by far  Strained Metaphors  Purple prose  DIALOG: Tag alert  Characters all sound the same  Inane conversations  “As you know” chatting  SHOW VS TELL: DESCRIPTION: Not too much  Not too little  Just enough—the telling details  SCENES: In and Out quickly—in medias res  Leave question/tension at end  POV: Stay in one at a time  Except Omniscient—hard to do  PACING:  Fast but not too fast  Vary pace  BACKSTORY: How much?  When?  ENTERTAIN:  The one cardinal rule  

SHOW NOTES: It’s hard to believe that it’s been 50 years. Exactly 50 years. This show has nothing to do with crime writing or the science of crime. It is rather a step back in world history. And in my personal history. Yes, I was there. Inside the gates of the Cape Canaveral Space Center. July 16, 1969, 9:32 a.m. I remember it like it was yesterday. Please indulge me and join me for this trip down memory lane. The above picture is more or less the view I had of the launch. The sky was clear, the tension thick, and not a dry eye to be found.

Too often, fiction writers commit medical malpractice in their stories. Unfortunately, these mistakes can sink an otherwise well-written story. The ones I repetitively see include: Bang, Bang, You’re Dead: Not so fast. No one dies instantly. Well, almost no one. Instant death can occur with heart attacks, strokes, extremely abnormal heart rhythms, cyanide, and a few other “metabolic” poisons. But trauma, such as gunshot wounds (GSWs) and blows to the head, rarely cause sudden death. Yet, how often has a single shot felled a villain? Bang, dead. For that to occur, the bullet would have to severely damage the brain, the heart, or the cervical (neck) portion of the spinal cord. A shot to the chest or abdomen leads to a lot of screaming and moaning, but death comes from bleeding and that takes time. Sometimes, a long time. Ask any emergency physician or nurse. GSW victims reach the ER with multiple holes in their bodies and survive all the time. This is particularly true if it’s Friday night (we called it the Friday Night Knife and Gun Club), during a full moon (yes, it’s true, a full moon changes everything), or if the victim is drunk. You can’t kill a drunk. That’s a medical fact. They survive everything from car wrecks to gunshots to falling off tall buildings. The family van they hit head-on will have no survivors, but the drunk will walk away with minor scratches, if that. Sleeping Beauty: I call this the “Hollywood Death.” Calm, peaceful, and not a hair out of place. As if simply asleep. Blood? Almost never. Trauma? None in sight. The deceased is nicely dressed, stretched out on a wrinkle-free bed, make-up perfect, and with a slight flutter of the eyelids if you look closely. Real dead folks are not so attractive. I don’t care what they looked like during life, in death they are pale, waxy, and gray. Their eyes do not flutter and they do not look relaxed and peaceful. They look dead. And feel cold. It’s amazing how quickly after death the body becomes cold to the touch. It has to do with the loss of blood flow to the skin after the heart stops. No warm blood, no warmth to the touch. Sleeping Beauty also doesn’t bleed. You know this one. The hero detective arrives at a murder scene a half hour after the deed to see blood oozing from the corpse’s mouth or from the GSW to the chest. Tilt! Dead folks don’t bleed. You see, when you die, your heart stops and the blood no longer circulates. It clots. Stagnant or clotted blood does not move. It does not gush or ooze or gurgle or flow or trickle from the body. Trauma? What Trauma?: You’ve seen and read this a million times. The hero socks the bad guy’s henchmen in the jaw. He goes down and is apparently written out of the script, since we never hear from him again. It’s always the henchmen, because the antagonist, like most people, requires a few solid blows to go down. Think about a boxing match. Two guys that are trained to inflict damage and even they have trouble knocking each other out. And when they do, the one on his back is up in a couple of minutes, claiming the other guy caught him with a lucky punch. Listen to me: Only James Bond can knock someone out with a single blow. And maybe Jack Reacher or Mike Tyson. A car-salesman-turned-amateur-sleuth cannot. And what of back eyes? If a character gets whacked in the eye in Chapter 3, he will have a black eye for two weeks, which will likely take you through the end of the book. He will not be “normal” in two days. A black eye is a contusion (bruise) and results from blood leaking into the tissues from tiny blood vessels, which are injured by the blow. It takes the body about two weeks to clear all that out. It will darken over two days, fade over four or five, turn greenish, brownish, and a sickly yellow before it disappears....

SHOW NOTES: A scene-by-scene analysis of The Terminator Each scene is either good (+), Bad (-) or Neutral (0) for Sarah Conner, the protagonist. Watch the movie and rate each scene. You will see that through the first 2/3s of the film things don’t go well for Sarah but she overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to win in the end. This is how a good thriller is plotted. The Terminator (1984) T = The Terminator R = Kyle Reese S = Sarah Conner

 SHOW NOTES: Elements of a Thriller  Open with a Bang or a Chill or a Compelling Question  Establish the 4 Ws Early-------Who, What, When, and Where  Inciting Incident---Sets the protagonist’s story in motion  Establish the Story Question—What does the Protagonist want/need?  Rising Tension  Who/What opposes the Protagonist and Why?  What does the antagonist want/need?   Establish a Time or Situation Endpoint   Scenes advance or obstruct the protagonist’s attaining goal  Each power scene poses a question and ends with:     Yes------------------------------Weak  No-------------------------------Better  Yes, but------------------------Strong  No, and further more———————————-Strongest  Convergence of Space and Time—“Life in a Trash Compactor”  Epiphany---Protagonist grasps the solution  Personal Jeopardy---Protagonist must fear for personal safety  Mano a’ Mano---Protagonist must confront antagonist “face to face”  Resolution---all major story questions are resolved  

From Publishers Weekly: In Lyle’s ingenious third mystery featuring retired major league pitcher Jake Longly (after 2017’s A-List), Jake, who runs a restaurant in Gulf Shores, Ala., is again roped into working for his father Ray’s PI firm. An attorney has contacted Ray on behalf of Billy Wayne Baker, a convicted serial killer. Though Baker pleaded guilty to strangling seven women, he insists that he killed only five of them, and wants that assertion validated. When Jake meets Baker in prison, the murderer refuses to name the other killer, claiming that doing so would lead to accusations that Jake’s inquiries were biased. The investigator’s task is made even harder by Baker’s not even identifying which of the dead women were killed by someone else . (To his credit, Lyle makes this complicated scenario credible.) Along with his girlfriend, Jake travels to Pine Key, Fla., the scene of three of the strangulations, where the couple pretend to be researching a documentary examining the impact of the killings on the small community. The clever plot twists will surprise even genre veterans. This entry is the best in the series so far. https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-60809-336-6

SHOW NOTES:   Gunshot wounds (GSWs) come in many flavors and those to the chest can be particularly dicey. Yet, a chest GSW can be a minor flesh wound, a major traumatic event with significant damage, or deadly. If you have a character who suffers such an injury, this podcast is for you.     Here are few interesting questions about chest GSWs:     Could a Person Survive a Gunshot to the Chest in the 1880s? Q: My scenario is set in 1880. A man in his early 20s is shot in the back by a rifle. He loses a lot of blood and is found a couple of hours later unconscious. Could he survive and if so how long would it take him it recuperate? Also, would it be possible to bring him to consciousness long enough for another man to get him into a buggy. Is any part of this scenario possible?  A: Everything about your scenario works. A gun shot wound (GSW) to the chest can kill in minutes, hours, days, or not at all. The victim would be in pain and may cough and sputter and may even cough up some blood. He could probably walk or crawl and maybe even fight and run if necessary. Painful, but possible. He would likely be consciousness so could even help get himself into the wagon.  If all goes well, he should be better and gingerly up and around in a week or two. He would be fully recovered in 6 to 8 weeks.  After surviving the initial GSW, the greatest risk to his life would a secondary wound infection. Since no antibiotics were available at that time, the death rate was very high---40 to 80 percent---for wound infections. But, if he did not develop an infection, he would heal up completely.     How Is A Gunshot To The Chest Treated? Q: I have a few questions regarding a gunshot wound that my poor character will be sustaining later on in my story. Supposing it's a fairly small caliber bullet (typical handgun fare, not buckshot or anything) and it hits near the heart without puncturing anything important, how long might his recovery time be? He's a strong, kinda-healthy guy in his thirties, although he drinks a fair amount and used to smoke. He'll be rushed to a high-quality hospital immediately and receive the best care throughout recovery...what's his outlook? When will he be allowed to go home, if all goes well? How long before he's healed to normal? When will it be safe for him to walk around, drive, have sex, etc.?  A: In your story, what happens to your shooting victim depends upon what injuries he received. A gunshot wound (GSW to docs and cops) can be a minor flesh wound or can be immediately deadly or anywhere in between. It all depends on the caliber and speed of the bullet and the exact structures it hits. A shot to the heart may kill instantly or not. The victim could die in a few minutes or survive for days or could recover completely with proper medical care and surgery. It’s highly variable but ask any surgeon or ER doctor and they will tell you that it’s hard to kill someone with a gun. Even with a shot or two to the chest.  A small caliber and slow speed bullet---such as those fired by .22 and .25 caliber weapons---are less likely to kill than are heavier loads and higher velocity bullets such as .38, .357, or .45 caliber bullets, particularly if they are propelled by a magnum load---such as a .357 magnum or a .44 magnum. Also the type of bullet makes a difference. Jacketed or coated bullets penetrate more while hollow point or soft lead bullets penetrate less but do more wide-spread damage as the bullet deforms on impact.  All that is nice but the bottom line is that whatever happens, happens. That is, a small, slow bullet may kill and a large, fast one may not. Any bullet may simply imbed in the chest wall or strike a rib and never enter the chest....

SHOW NOTES: For years it was felt that the DNA of identical twins was indeedidentical. Since they come from a single fertilized egg, this would seem intuitive. But, nature likes to throw curve balls—and the occasional slider. After that first division of the fertilized, and after the two daughter cells go their way toward producing identical humans, things change. And therein lies the genetic differences between two “identical” twins.  LINKS: One Twin Committed the Crime—but Which One?: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/01/science/twins-dna-crime-paternity.html  The Claim: Identical Twins Have Identical DNA: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/health/11real.html  The Genetic Relationship Between Identical Twins: https://www.verywellfamily.com/identical-twins-and-dna-2447117  Identical Twins’ Genes Are Not Identical: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/identical-twins-genes-are-not-identical/  Rare Australian Twins Are “Semi-Identical,: Sharing 89 Percent of Their DNA: https://www.inverse.com/article/53633-semi-identical-twins-share-78-percent-of-dna  

 From HOWDUNNIT:FORENSICS    Toxicology is a relativelynew science that stands on the shoulders of its predecessors: anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and medicine. Our knowledge in these sciences had toreach a certain level of sophistication before toxicology could become areality. It slowly evolved over more than two hundred years of testing,starting with tests for arsenic.   Arsenic had been a commonpoison for centuries, but there was no way to prove that arsenic was the culprit in a suspicious death. Scientist had to isolate and then identify arsenic trioxide—the most common toxic form of arsenic— in the human body before arsenic poisoning became a provable cause of death. The steps that led to a reliable test for arsenic are indicative of how many toxicological procedures developed.   1775: Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742–1786) showed that chlorine water would convert arsenic into arsenic acid. He then added metallic zinc and heated the mixture to release arsine gas. When this gas contacted a cold vessel, arsenic would collect on the vessel’s surface.   1787: Johann Metzger (1739–1805) showed that if arsenic were heated with charcoal, a shiny, black “arsenic mirror” would form on the charcoal’s surface.   1806: Valentine Rose discovered that arsenic could be uncovered in the human body. If the stomach contents of victims of arsenic poisoning are treated with potassium carbonate, calcium oxide, and nitric acid, arsenic trioxide results. This could then be tested and confirmed by Metzger’s test.   1813: French chemist Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila (1787–1853) developed a method for isolating arsenic from dog tissues. He also published the first toxicological text, Traité des poisons (Treatise on Poison), which helped establish toxicology as a true science.   1821: Sevillas used similar techniques to find arsenic in the stomach and urine of individuals who had been poisoned. This is marked as the beginning of the field of forensic toxicology.   1836: Dr. Alfred Swaine Taylor (1806–1880) developed the first test for arsenic in human tissue. He taught chemistry at Grey’s Medical School in England and is credited with establishing the field of forensic toxicology as a medical specialty.   1836: James Marsh (1794–1846) developed an easier and more sensitive version of Metzger’s original test, in which the “arsenic mirror” was collected on a plate of glass or porcelain. The Marsh test became the standard, and its principles were the basis of the more modern method known as the Reinsch test, which we will look at later in this chapter. As you can see, each step in developing a useful testing procedure for arsenic stands on what discoveries came before. That’s the way science works. Step by step, investigators use what others have discovered to discover even more.   Acute vs. Chronic Poisoning At times the toxicologist is asked to determine whether a poisoning is acute or chronic. A good example is arsenic, which can kill if given in a single large dose or if given in repeated smaller doses over weeks or months. In either case, the blood level could be high. But the determination of whether the poisoning was acute or chronic may be extremely important. If acute, the suspect list may be long. If chronic, the suspect list would include only those who had long-term contact with the victim, such as a family member, a caretaker, or a family cook. So, how does the toxicologist make this determination?   In acute arsenic poisoning, the ME would expect to find high levels of arsenic in the stomach and the blood, as well as evidence of corrosion and bleeding in the stomach and intestines, as these are commonly...

SHOW NOTES: You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The same is true for your fictional characters. So, make them vivid and memorial. How do you do this? There are many ways. Let’s explore a few of them.  Riding the Rap--Elmore Leonard Ocala Police picked up Dale Crowe Junior for weaving, two o’clock in the morning, crossing the center line and having a busted tail light. Then while Dale was blowing a point-one-nine they put his name and date of birth into the national crime computer and learned he was a fugitive felon, wanted on a three-year-old charge of Unlawful Flight to Avoid Incarceration. A few days later Raylan Givens, with the Marshals Service, came up from Palm Beach County to take Dale back and the Ocala Police wondered about Raylan. How come he was a federal officer and Dale Crowe Junior was wanted on a state charge. He told them he was with FAST, the Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team, assigned to the Sheriff’s Office in West Palm. And that was pretty much all this Marshall said. They wandered too, since he was alone, how you’d be able to drive and keep an eye on his prisoner. Dale Crowe Junior had been convicted of a third-degree five-year felony, Battery of a Police Officer, and was looking at additional time on the fugitive warrant. Dale Junior might feel he had nothing to lose on this trip so. He was a rangy kid with the build of a college athlete, bigger than this marshal in his blue suit and cowboy boots -- the marshal calm though, not appearing to be the least apprehensive. He said the West Palm strike team were shorthanded at the moment, the reason he was alone, but believed he would manage. The Long Goodbye--Raymond Chandler When I got home I mixed a stiff one and stood by the open window in the living room and sipped it and listened to the groundswell of traffic on Laurel Canyon Boulevard and looked at the glare of the big angry city hanging over the shoulder of the hills through which the boulevard had been cut. Far off the banshee wail of police or fire sirens rose and fell, never for very long completely silent. Twenty four hours a day somebody is running, somebody else is trying to catch him. Out there in the night of a thousand crimes, people were dying, being maimed, cut by flying glass, crushed against steering wheels or under heavy tires. People were being beaten, robbed, strangled, raped, and murdered. People were hungry, sick; bored, desperate with loneliness or remorse or fear, angry, cruel, feverish, shaken by sobs. A city no worse than others, a city rich and vigorous and full of pride, a city lost and beaten and full of emptiness. It all depends on where you sit and what your own private score is. I didn’t have one. I didn’t care. I finished the drink and went to bed. Trouble Is My Business—Raymond Chandler (Marlowe meets Harriett Huntress—Chapter 3) She wore a street dress of pale green wool and a small cockeyed hat that hung on her left ear like a butterfly. Her eyes were wide set and there was thinking room between them. Their color was lapis-lazuli blue and the color of her hair was dusky red, like a fire under control but still dangerous. She was too tall to be cute. She wore plenty of make-up in the right places and the cigarette she was poking at me had a built-on mouthpiece about three inches long. She didn't look hard, but she looked as if she had heard all the answers and remembered the ones she thought she might be able to use some time. The Neon Rain—James Lee Burke My partner was Cletus Purcel. Our desks faced each other in a small room in the old converted fire station on Basin Street. Before the building was a fire station it had been a cotton warehouse, and before the Civil War slaves had been kept in the basement and led up the stairs into a dirt ring that served both as an auction...

SHOW NOTES: Somerset Maugham: There are three rules for novel writing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.  Terry Brooks Rules Read, Read, Read  Outline, Outline, Outline  Write, Write, Write  Repeat  Dave Barry: Don’t Be Boring Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing 1-Never open a book with weather  2-Avoid prologues  3-Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue  4-Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said”  5-Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose  6-Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose  7-Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly  8-Avoid detailed descriptions of characters  9-Don’t go into great detail describing places and things  10-Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip  LINKS: Elmore Leonard: “What a Guy,” says Jackie Collins  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/21/elmore-leonard-what-a-guy-jackie-collins  Writers On Writing: Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points, and Especially Hooptedoodle by Elmore Leonard  https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/16/arts/writers-writing-easy-adverbs-exclamation-points-especially-hooptedoodle.html  Jack Kerouac’s 30 Tips:  http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/kerouac-technique.html  6 Writing Tips From John Steinbeck:  https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/03/6-writing-tips-from-john-steinbeck/254351/  

SHOW NOTES: One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small   And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all   Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall  White Rabbit, The Jefferson Airplane    And then there was this excellent question from my friend and wonderful writer Frankie Bailey that was published in SUSPENSE MAGAZINE as part of my recurring Forensic Files column:  What Drugs Might Cause Side Effects in My Character With Alice in Wonderland Syndrome?  Q: I have a question about Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS) My character is in his mid-30s. From what I've gathered from reading about this syndrome, it is fairly common with children and with migraine sufferers and it is controllable. However, I want my character to have side-effects. In other words, even though the AIWS and his migraines are under control, he is increasingly erratic. Insomnia, impotence, and irritability would all be a bonus. Could he be dosing himself with some type of herb that he doesn't realize would have these side-effects when combined with the medication prescribed for AIWS. Or is there a medication for AIWS that might cause these kind of side-effects but be subtle enough in the beginning that the person becomes mentally unstable before he realizes something is wrong?   FY Bailey     A: Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is also known as Todd’s Syndrome. It is a neurologic condition that leads to disorientation and visual and size perception disturbances (micropsia and macropsia). This means that their perception of size and distance is distorted. Much like Alice after she descended into the rabbit hole and consumed the food and drink she was offered.   AIWS is associated with migraines, tumors, and some psychoactive drugs. It is treated in a similar fashion to standard migraines with various combinations of anticonvulsants, antidepressants, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers. Both anticonvulsants (Dilantin, the benzodiazepines such as Valium and Xanax, and others) and antidepressants (the SSRIs like Lexpro and Prozac, the MAOIs like Marplan and Nardil,, and the tricyclic antidepressants like Elavil and Tofranil, and others) have significant psychological side effects. Side effects such as insomnia, irritability, impotence, confusion, disorientation, delusions, hallucinations, and bizarre behaviors of all types–some aggressive and others depressive. Beta blockers can cause fatigue, sleepiness, and impotence. The calcium channel blockers in general have fewer side effects at least on a psychiatric level.   As for herbs almost anything that would cause psychiatric affects could have detrimental outcomes in your character. Cannabis, mushrooms, LSD, ecstasy, and other hallucinogens could easily make his symptoms worse and his behavior unpredictable.  Your sufferer could easily be placed on one of the anticonvulsants, one of the antidepressants, or a combination of two of these drugs and develop almost any of the above side effects, in any degree, and in any combination that you want. This should give you a great deal to work with.   What is Alice in Wonderland (AIWS) Syndrome?  A neuropsychiatric syndrome—also know as Todd’s Syndrome after Dr. John Todd, the physician who first described it in 1955—in which perceptions are distorted and visual hallucinations can occur. Often objects take an odd size and spatial characteristics—-just as Alice experienced. They can appear unusually small (micropsia), large (macropsia, close (pelopsia, or far (teleopsia).  It can be caused by many things including hallucinogenic drugs, seizures, migraines, strokes, brain injuries, fevers, infections, psychiatric medications, and...

SHOW NOTES: Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is as much as 300 times more powerful than morphine sulfate. It can be injected, ingested, inhaled, and will even penetrate the skin. It is used in medical situations frequently for pain management, sedation, and for twilight-anesthesia for things such as colonoscopies.  Fentanyl is the number one cause of drug ODs. Americans have a slightly higher than 1% chance of ultimately dying of an opioid overdose. That's better than one in 100 people. In fact, 60 people die every day from opioid ODs. That translates to over 22,000 per year. In fact, US life expectancy dropped slightly between 2016 and 2017 due to opioid overdoses. Thirteen people suffered a mass OD at a party in Chico, Ca in January, 2019. It is often added to other drugs such as heroin to “boost” the heroine effect. Unfortunately, Fentanyl is much more powerful than heroin and when the two are mixed it becomes a deadly combination. It’s also often added to meth and cocaine. How powerful is fentanyl? A single tablespoon of it could kill as many as 500 people; 120 pounds as many as 25 million people. A recent bust, the largest in US history, recovered over 250 pounds of Fentanyl secreted in a truck crossing the US-Mexico border-—enough to kill 50 million people.  When cops arrest people who possess or are transporting fentanyl they must take precautions not to touch or inhale the product as it could prove fatal. The opioid crises is the reason many cops carry Narcan (Naloxone) with them as either an injection or a nasal spray. It reverses the effects of narcotics very quickly.  The “Dark Web” is a source for many things that can’t be purchased or the open market. Weapons, hitmen, and drugs. But even many of these dealers won’t deal Fentanyl.  Could fentanyl be used as a weapon of terror? Absolutely. A fentanyl aerosol sprayed into a room of people could easily kill everyone present in a matter of minutes. It is a powerful narcotic that acts very quickly and depresses respiration so that people die from asphyxia.  In 2002 a group of around 50 Chechen terrorists who took 850 people hostage in a Moscow theater. Many of the attackers were strapped with explosive vests. The standoff lasted 4 days until the Russians pumped Fentanyl-maybe carfentanil or remifentanil—through the vents and took everyone down. All the terrorists were killed but unfortunately over 200 of the hostages died before medical help could reach them.  Carfentanil—-Been around since 1974 but just now entering the world of drug abuse. Used in darts as a large animal tranquilizer. AN analog of fentanyl but is 100X stronger. The famous Kristin Rossum “American Beauty” case involved fentanyl. LINKS: Fentanyl Deaths Top Car Accidents: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/01/15/accidental-opioid-deaths-top-car-accident-deaths-for-the-first-time/ Mass OD in Chico, CA: https://www.ems1.com/overdose/articles/393267048-Calif-mass-overdose-highlights-severe-new-phase-of-opioid-epidemic/ Narcan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naloxone Even many “Dark Web” Dealers won’t sell Fentanyl: http://www.newser.com/story/268019/even-dark-web-dealers-refuse-to-sell-this-drug.html Fentanyl As Terror Weapon: https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2019/01/03/report-experts-insist-opioid-fentanyl-could-be-used-as-tool-of-terror/ Fentanyl as WMD: https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/killer-opioid-fentanyl-could-be-a-weapon-of-mass-destruction#gs.UwnsSzO8 Carfentanil Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carfentanil Kristin Rossum Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristin_Rossum

 SHOW NOTES:   Here in the 21st century we know a great deal about infectious diseases. We can treat bacterial infections with antibiotics, immunize people against numerous diseases, understand how viruses work, and have a huge fund of knowledge about surgical sterility and disease prevention. This was not always the case. In fact, in the history of medicine, all of this is fairly new.      During the 14th century, Europeans didn’t understand infectious diseases so when the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death, struck, they had no understanding of what was going on, how to prevent it, and, more importantly, how to treat it. They were at the mercy of a bacterium that currently is easily treatable. The Black Death killed between a third and a half of the population of Europe and dramatically altered the trajectory of world history.    Simply put they say:  1-If an organism is causing a disease, it must be present in those who suffer from the disease and not in those who are healthy.  2-The suspected organism must be isolated from the diseased individual and grown in culture.  3-The cultured organism must then be given to a healthy individual and reproduce the disease.  4-The organism must then be isolated from this newly diseased individual and identified.  Each of these steps is necessary to show that a particular organism causes a particular disease and is transmissible from one person to another. Basically, this is how infectious diseases work.  Unfortunately, Koch’s Postulates were not put forward until the 1880s, a couple of decades after the Civil War.   During the Civil War, almost any battlefield injury could lead to death, most often from a secondary wound infection. A gunshot to the leg, or arm, or really anywhere could become infected quite easily and this infection could spread through the entire body causing sepsis, which would ultimately lead to death. More soldiers died from infection than from their injuries. Surgeons at that time understood the danger of infections, even though they didn’t know what caused it, and had no clue how to prevent or treat them. This meant that serious limb injuries were treated with amputation. Get rid of the injured limb and hopefully lessen the possibility of a secondary infection. Of course, post-surgical infections were also common and also lead to death.  Not only were sterile techniques and antibiotics unavailable at that time, but also any form of anesthesia was not to be found on most battlefields. Ether was around, having been first demonstrated by William T. G. Morton in 1846, but it’s use and availability wasn’t widespread. This means that a battlefield surgeon’s best skill was speed. Sort of the surgical equivalent of "ripping off the Band-Aid." Any surgery was agony and the quicker it was done, and the sooner it was over, the better for the victim. And the amputated limbs piled up.   It seems that Virginia's Manassas National Battlefield Park has yielded what can only be called a "limb pit." It is a place where surgeons deposited removed limbs. This discovery underlines the state of surgical treatment and its brutal nature during the 1860s.     LINKS:  http://www.newser.com/story/260874/first-civil-war-limb-pit-is-excavated.html  Germ Theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease  Koch’s Postulates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch%27s_postulates  Joseph Lister: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Lister  Ignaz Semmelseis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis  John Snow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Snow  Louis Pasteur: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Pasteur  William...

SHOW NOTES: “Good fences make good neighbors”—Robert Frost,”Mending Wall”   I suspect Ryan Felton Sauter’s neighbor, Keith Monroe, would agree.   People commit murder for a host of reasons. Things like financial gain, revenge, lust, anger, to cover another crime, and many other motives. It seems that these motives can even include a dispute with the dude who parked his RV next to yours.   All sorts of weapons are used for committing murder. Guns, knives, poisons, explosives, ligatures, drownings, and gentle pushes off buildings or cliffs. Oh, don't forget rattlesnakes. This seems to be what Mr. Sauter decided to employ. Simply slipping the reptile into his neighbors RV might not work since rattlesnakes make that buzzing noise to warn people away. So, wouldn't it be best to simply remove the rattle. And I guess the best way for that is to bite it off. You simply can't make this stuff up.  But snakebites are not always the result of some criminal activity. In fact, they rarely are. Most snakebites occur accidentally. Hunters and hikers know this all too well. As a kid growing up in Alabama, and stomping around in the woods on a daily basis, I knew snakes well. I knew which ones to avoid and which ones were harmless. A black racer was scary and fast, but harmless. Stumble on a rattlesnake or a copperhead and that's a different story. And until you've seen a water moccasin, or as we call them cottonmouth, you haven't seen an evil looking serpent. These guys are thick, dark, and prehistoric looking. And very dangerous. Yes, they can bite you in the water. So before you jump into that swimming hole deep in the woods, you better make some noise and shake up the water run off any cottonmouth might be around.   But other people are bitten while they are handling snakes. I don't mean just biologist or herpetologist, those that study these creatures, but also those who use them in religious ceremonies. You might think that snake handling is a thing of the past and something that is only found in the South, but that's not true. There are still several snake handling churches from coast-to-coast. Even though in many locations snake owning and handling is not legal, the laws get shaky when it's under the guise of religion.  Their justifications come from Mark 16:17-18   "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”  Snake handling in churches is often traced back to 1910 when George Went Hensley began incorporating them into his services at his Church of God with Signs Following. Many others have followed in his footsteps. And many have been bitten such as John Wayne, “Punkin” Brown and Jamie Coots, whose son Cody was also bitten while preaching but saved when friends defied the church dictates and got him medical treatment.  For the most part, medical treatment is not offered in the circumstances because it is felt that it's up to the Lord whether the preacher survives or not. After all, it is religion and the Lord can save you then what's the point? Not to mention, that many of these groups feel that sipping strychnine is also good for you and will prevent you from dying if you are bitten by a snake. Yeah, that makes good medical sense. Add another poison to the poison authority in your system.   I use much of this in my third Samantha Cody book, Original Sin. One of the bad guys in this story is a snake handling preacher. During my research for this book I stumbled across a wonderful book titled Salvation on Sand Mountain....

SHOW NOTES: Head Trauma (Direct, Infectious, Anoxic, Vascular)  Physical Abnormalities  Behavioral Changes  Language/Communication  Brain Lobes: Frontal: Controls personality, emotions, intellect, judgement, problem solving, attention, organizing, social skills Broca’s Area: Speech, writing, particularly expressing Parietal: Controls motor and sensory functions, and helps with vision and hearing Temporal: Language, memory, emotions, perceptions Wernicke’s Area: Impacts speech formation and understanding Occipital: Vision  Aphasia: Receptive and expressive   Memory: Short Term: Prefrontal Cortex  Long Term: Hippocampus in Temporal Lobe  Amnesia: Global Partial, Retrograde, Anterograde     LINKS: Brain Anatomy: https://mayfieldclinic.com/pe-anatbrain.htm  Head Injury and Communication: https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/effects-of-brain-injury/communication-problems/  Aphasia: https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/individuals/effects-of-brain-injury/communication-problems/language-impairment-aphasia/  Hannah Jenkins Case: Newser: http://www.newser.com/story/266094/she-woke-up-from-bike-crash-and-couldnt-speak-english.html  BBC Story: https://www.bbc.com/news/disability-45804613  Mac Fedge Case: NBC News Story: https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/different-person-personality-change-often-brain-injurys-hidden-toll-8C11152322  Subdural Info:  Subdural Hematoma Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/intracranial-hematoma/symptoms-causes/syc-20356145  Personality and Behavior Changes: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/personality-and-behavior-changes-subsequent-to-traumatic-braininjury-a-review-of-the-literature-1522-4821-1000196.php?aid=52259  CareGiver Post: https://www.caregiver.org/coping-behavior-problems-after-head-injury  

SHOW NOTES: The opening passages tell the reader the type of world they are entering and what they can expect. The opening might give character insights, setting, and the basics of the crime—and reveal the voice. What’s the difference between mood and tone? Tone is the author’s attitude Mood is the atmosphere and emotion the author creates So, tone reflects the author’s attitude while mood is how the reader feels about the story. Mood and Tone can be revealed through word choice, sentence structure, formal vs informal writing, point of view, objective vs subjective, rhythm, setting, action, dialog, voice—in short, all the tools of storytelling. Like other fiction, mood and tone in crime stories runs the gamut—dark, light, noir, cozy, suspenseful, humorous, quirky, creepy, supernatural, you name it. Examples: The Long Goodbye--Raymond Chandler When I got home I mixed a stiff one and stood by the open window in the living room and sipped it and listened to the groundswell of traffic on Laurel Canyon Boulevard and looked at the glare of the big angry city hanging over the shoulder of the hills through which the boulevard had been cut. Far off the banshee wail of police or fire sirens rose and fell, never for very long completely silent. Twenty four hours a day somebody is running, somebody else is trying to catch him. Out there in the night of a thousand crimes, people were dying, being maimed, cut by flying glass, crushed against steering wheels or under heavy tires. People were being beaten, robbed, strangled, raped, and murdered. People were hungry, sick; bored, desperate with loneliness or remorse or fear, angry, cruel, feverish, shaken by sobs. A city no worse than others, a city rich and vigorous and full of pride, a city lost and beaten and full of emptiness. It all depends on where you sit and what your own private score is. I didn’t have one. I didn’t care. I finished the drink and went to bed. Ernest Hemingway—A Clean, Well-Lighted Place It was very late and everyone had left the cafe except an old man who sat in the shadow the leaves of the tree made against the electric light. In the day time the street was dusty, but at night the dew settled the dust and the old man liked to sit late because he was deaf and now at night it was quiet and he felt the difference.

SHOW NOTES: FAMOUS AND ODD DNA CASES Colin Pitchfork: The Beginning  http://aboutforensics.co.uk/colin-pitchfork/ Timothy Wilson Spencer, The Southside Strangler” First US DNA Conviction (David Vasquez—first to be exonerated by DNA) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Wilson_Spencer http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/352011 Brown’s Chicken Murders: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown%27s_Chicken_massacre https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/01/08/browns-chicken-massacre-25-years-anniversary/ Lonnie Franklin, The Grim Sleeper: Familial DNA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_Sleeper https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/grim-sleeper-serial-killer-everything-you-need-to-know-252246/ James Lynn Brown: Familial DNA  https://www.ocregister.com/2012/12/04/family-members-dna-solves-1978-killing/ Gary Ridgway, The Green River Killer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Ridgway Pierre G: Kiss DNA Foils Jewel Thief https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10616806/French-jewellery-thiefs-fate-sealed-with-a-kiss-after-conviction-from-DNA-on-victim.html David Stoddard: Dog Bite DNA Case https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/akron-canton-news/dna-from-dogs-mouth-solves-barberton-home-invasion-suspect-david-stoddard-also-charged-with-murder Maggot DNA Case: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22971153 Willow Martin Arson Case and Potato DNA:  http://www.courant.com/breaking-news/hc-strippers-arson-drugs-0713-20160712-story.html https://www.mycitizensnews.com/news/2018/05/woman-sentenced-to-8-years-for-arson/

SHOW NOTES: Do modern forensic science and police investigative techniques make creating compelling crime fiction more difficult? Are there simply too many balls to keep in the air? Too much to consider? Or is now little different from then? The Past, the present, and the future Forensic Science timeline—-a fairly knew discipline Basic Science, then Medicine, finally forensic science Personal ID Visual Bertillon West Case Facial recognition Behavioral Profiling Prints, ABO type, DNA, DNA Phenotype Fingerprints—-then and now Vucetich—the Rojas case Stella Nickell Case Touch DNA Touch Toxicology Toxicology From arsenic to GC/MS Blood Typing ABO can exclude but not ID DNA Nuclear Mitochondrial Familial—Grim Sleeper case Phenotypic Analysis Electronics—cell phones, computers, emails, texts, VMs LINKS: Forensic Science Timeline: https://www.dplylemd.com/post/forensic-science-timeline  History of Fingerprints: http://onin.com/fp/fphistory.html Brief History of Poisons and Forensic Toxicology: https://www.okorieokorocha.com/poisons-and-forensic-toxicology/ History of Forensic Ballistics: https://ifflab.org/the-history-of-forensic-ballistics-ballistic-fingerprinting/ FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES: http://www.dplylemd.com/book-details/forensics-for-dummies.html HOWDUNNIT:FORENSICS: http://www.dplylemd.com/book-details/howdunnit-forensics.html Stella Nickell Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_Nickell DNA Profiling: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_profiling Mitochondrial DNA: http://www.dplylemd.com/articles/mitochondrial-dna.html Familial DNA: http://www.dnaforensics.com/familialsearches.aspx Grim Sleeper/Lonnie Franklin case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_Sleeper Is DNA Phenotyping Accurate: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-accurately-can-scientists-reconstruct-persons-face-from-dna-180968951/ DNA Phenotyping Examples: https://snapshot.parabon-nanolabs.com/examples Bertillon and the West Brothers: http://www.nleomf.org/museum/news/newsletters/online-insider/november-2011/bertillon-system-criminal-identification.html

SHOW NOTES: Coercion and ThreatLeverage Trauma: Trauma is time limited Unconscious vs Pain/Fear of death Drugs: Drugs have variable timelines Drugs don’t have timers Alcohol and Mickey Finn Narcotics and sedatives Date Rape Drugs Rohypnol GHB—Gamma Hydroxybutyrate E, Ecstasy, MDMA—3.4-Methylenedioxy Methamphetamine Ketamine LINKS: Date Rape Drugs: http://www.dplylemd.com/articles/date-rape-drugs.html  ROHYPNOL: https://www.drugs.com/illicit/rohypnol.html  GHB: https://www.drugs.com/illicit/ghb.html  ECSTASY: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/mdma-ecstasymolly  KETAMINE: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/302663.php  CASES: Andrew Luster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Luster  Dr. Grant Robicheaux: http://www.newser.com/story/264806/calif-surgeon-girlfriend-may-have-raped-hundreds.html   

SHOW NOTES: Who is telling the story? Is he/she also the protagonist or an observer? Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird Nick in The Great Gatsby Is he/she reliable? How many POV characters is too few/too many? Which characters know too little to drive the story/or know too much and might spoil the story? TYPES: FIRST PERSON POV: The “I” Character Advantages: Close tie to reader Narrator is the “Star” Good for mysteries-reader learns as the I character does Disadvantages: I character must be present Can lead to awkward plotting Can’t supply suspenseful information to reader Not good for thrillers SECOND PERSON POV: The “You” character—very tricky to use THIRD PERSON POV: The “He/She” Character SINGLE: Similar to First person except he/she is used Similar Advantages/Disadvantages as First Person MULTIPLE: Jumping from head to head Allows reader to get inside several characters Allows reader to have “Superior Knowledge”--Suspense Great for thrillers CLOSE: Camera in character’s head DISTANT: Camera external and watching the action These distances aren’t either/or but rather a continuum. The “camera” can shift along a line from far behind or above the character to inside the character’s head. OMNISCIENT POV: The AUTHOR as GOD Jump from head to head at will Can be confusing Requires more writing skill than seems apparent MIX & MATCH: Can combine POVs if you are good and careful EXPOSITION AND POV: FIRST: I’m a cop. Rather a homicide investigator. Have been for many decades. Not easy decades. Not at all. I’ve lost partners to the misdeeds of others. I’ve lost my family to long hours away and the neglect that engenders. I’ve even lost my soul to alcohol and planted evidence. I’ve grown to hate the job I once loved. SECOND: You’re a detective. Have been for decades. You know others think that the life of a detective is fascinating, and easy. That investigators are mostly out of the line off fire and come to the crime later when the who, how, and why must be discovered. That this time lag distances the investigator from the emotional impact of the crime. You know they’re wrong. THIRD: Mac was a homicide investigator. Had been for many decades. Early in his career he loved the job, the deciphering of the who, what, and why. But lately things had changed. He no longer jumped from bed in the morning, eager to attack the case, but rather rolled out slowly, hung over, depressed, no fire in his belly. God, he hated being trapped in this existence. OMNISCIENT: Homicide investigators are problem solvers. Puzzlers, who work to fit each evidence item into a bigger and cleared picture. Most have skills in this arena but none are immune to the effect such investigations lay on their souls. The dead and damaged, the inhumanity one person inflicts on another, the innocents who are caught in the wake of heinous crimes, each takes a toll on every detective’s mental faculties and stability. Makes cynicism a way of life. Such was the case with Mac Wilson. Less so for Amanda Sims, his partner, a rookie who was just beginning her tenure in the pressure cooker. She still believed in her fellow man. That wouldn’t last long. NOTE: In choosing your overall POV and POV character look for where the real story drama lies. This is true for not only the entire manuscript but also, if multiple POVs are used, for each scene. ELMORE LEONARD: What is the purpose of this scene and from whose POV should it be told? How Do You Choose the Right POV Character(s)? Who has the most at stake/faces the greatest conflicts? Who will the reader most empathize with/worry about? Who drives the story? Who is effected most by the story? Who is the most interesting? ...

The ME’s 3 most important determinations: Cause, Manner, and Time of Death Part II: Time of Death Notes DETERMINATION OF THE TIME OF DEATH Determining TOD is critical Both an art and a science The sooner after death the more accurate the estimate Changes death variable and unpredictable. Physiologic TOD, Estimated TOD, Legal TOD Always a best guess None of the methods are very accurate Body temperature Rigor mortis Livor mortis (lividity) Degree of putrefaction Stomach contents Insect activity Scene markers BODY TEMPERATURE Normal body temperature is 98.6F Body loses or gains heat until it equilibrates with that of the surrounding medium. The formula is: Hours since death = 98.6 - corpse core temperature / 1.5 Cold/wind/water increase heat loss Obesity, heavy clothing, warm still air, exposure to direct sunlight, and an enclosed environment slow heat loss. RIGOR MORTIS Spasm due to chemical reactions within the muscle cells after death. Loss of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to adenosine diphosphate (ADP) causes the muscles to contract and stiffen. Later loss of rigidity from the putrefaction process. Rigor begins throughout the body at the same time Appears first in smaller muscles- face, neck, and hands Relaxes in same pattern General rule for rigor mortis is 12-12-12 Changes due to: activity, body temp, ambient temp, Cadaveric spasm LIVOR MORTIS (Lividity) Purplish—exceptions for CO (carboxyhemoglobin), Cyanide (cyanohemoglobin), Freezing Dependent areas—lying, sitting, hanging Pale support areas Gravity, then leaking into tissues Shifting vs Fixed—Onset 1/2 to 2 hours/fixed by 8 hours Mismatch of pattern and body position THE RATE OF BODY DECAY Time Since Death Putrefaction—ambient temp/humidity Internal bacteria—sepsis hastens Water X2/BurialX4 Ultimately skeletonize Floaters Mummification Adipocere-from chemical process called saponification-reaction between certain bacteria and the body’s adipose (fatty) tissues. Stomach Contents Stomach empties in 2-3 hours—protein, fatty meals Intestine transient @ 24 hours INSECT ACTIVITY Forensic entomologist Insects help in two basic ways: Predictable developmental stages (blowfly); succession of insect species Changed by body location, weather, season, night SCENE MARKERS Includes information at the scene or from witnesses or family and friends. Missed appointments, uncollected mail or newspapers, and dated sales receipts Victim’s clothing—dressed for work, or morning jog

Bestselling Author and forensic expert D.P. Lyle hosts the show. The ME’s 3 most important determinations: Cause, Manner, and Time of Death Part I: Cause and Manner of Death Notes CAUSE/MECHANISM OF DEATH: Cause of death is why the individual died Heart attack, GSW, traumatic brain injury, diseases Mechanism-physiological derangement that causes death One cause—several mechanisms Example: MI-arrhythmia, cardiogenic shock, rupture Example: GSW—heart or brain damage, exsanguination. wound infection One mechanism—several causes Example: Exsanguination—GSW, ulcer, meds, disease Just as a cause of death can lead to many different mechanisms of death, any cause of death can have several different manners of death. A gunshot wound to the head can’t be a natural death, but it could be deemed homicidal, suicidal, or accidental. MANNERS OF DEATH: For what purpose and by whose hand NATURAL: Natural deaths are due to the workings of Mother Nature in that death results from a natural disease process. Heart attacks, cancers, pneumonia, and strokes are common natural causes of death. This is by far the largest category of death that the ME sees. ACCIDENTAL: Accidental deaths result from an unplanned and unforeseeable sequence of events. Falls, automobile accidents, and in-home electrocutions are examples of accidental deaths. SUICIDAL: Suicides are deaths that come by the person’s own hand. Intentional self-inflicted gunshots, drug overdoses, or self-hangings are suicidal deaths. HOMICIDAL: Homicides are deaths that occur by the hand of another. Note that a homicide is not necessarily a murder. Homicide is a determination of the ME; murder is a legal charge that is determined by the courts. Though each would be ruled a homicide by the ME, the legal jeopardy is much different for a court verdict of negligent homicide as opposed to first- or second-degree murder. UNDETERMINED OR UNCLASSIFIED: This extra category is used in situations where the coroner can’t accurately determine the appropriate category. Examples: Car/pedestrian Heroin/Drug OD GSW Psychological Autopsy Manner determines whether there is an investigation Manner not fixed—can change Proximate cause—cascade of events

Types of Crimes: theft, burglary, robbery, embezzlement, assault, rape, ID theft/ransom, extortion, forgery, arson, kidnapping, DUI, drug dealing, trafficking, pimping/prostitution Motives for Murder: Financial – – insurance, inheritance, business takeovers, avoidance of alimony Property disputes Revenge Political Cults & Religions Murder for hire Empathy and sympathy Crimes of passion Domestic Protect self-image or secrets To protect others Blackmail To cover another crime Social and hate crimes Sex, jealousy, obsession Mental illness – – delusions and hallucinations Drugs and alcohol

Kate White is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of eighteen novels of suspense: ten standalone psychological thrillers, including the upcoming The Last Time She Saw Him (May ’24), and also eight Bailey Weggins mysteries. For fourteen years Kate served as the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, which under her became the most successful magazine in single copy sales in the U.S. Though she loved her magazine career, she decided to leave ten years ago to concentrate full-time on another passion: writing suspense fiction. Kate’s first mystery, If Looks Could Kill, was a Kelly Ripa Book Club pick, a #1 bestseller on Amazon, and an instant New York Times bestseller. She has been nominated for an International Thriller Writers Award in the fiction category, and her books have been published in over 30 countries worldwide. Like many female mystery authors, Kate fell in love with the genre after reading her first Nancy Drew book, in her case The Secret of Redgate Farm. Kate is a frequent speaker at libraries, book conferences, and organizations, and has appeared on many television shows, including The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Morning Joe, and Good Morning America. She is also the editor of the Mystery Writers of America Cookbook, as well as the author of several bestselling career books, including I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This and the ground-breaking Why Good Girls Don’t Get Ahead but Gutsy Girls Do. Kate is an avid traveler and enjoys spending each winter with her husband at their home in Uruguay. She holds an honorary doctorate of letters from her alma mater, Union College, where she gave the 2022 commencement speech.

Maxie Dara is from a tiny, Hallmark movie-style town in Ontario, Canada where she works as a writer and actress, because rejection-heavy careers are her passion. She is also a two- time award- winning playwright. Maxie knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of seven, when she first fell in love with the written word. She also wanted to be a mermaid but has mostly focused on the writing side of things.

We are so pleased to bring you the replay of this live event. Lee and Andrew Child were gracious enough to let us host this live event. They talked about their latest book IN TOO DEEP and everything Jack Reacher. You gotta check this out! IN TOO DEEP: Reacher had no idea where he was. No idea how he had gotten there. But someone must have brought him. And shackled him. And whoever had done those things was going to rue the day. That was for damn sure. Jack Reacher wakes up alone, in the dark, handcuffed to a makeshift bed. His right arm has suffered some major damage. His few possessions are gone. He has no memory of getting there. The last thing Reacher can recall is the car he hitched a ride in getting run off the road. The driver was killed. His captors assume Reacher was the driver’s accomplice and patch up his wounds as they plan to make him talk. A plan that will backfire spectacularly . . .

Interview with Stephen Follows. We are pleased to bring you something very special. Stephen Flowers has written the ultimate horror companion book. Over 27,000 movies are included in his HORROR MOVIE REPORT. Stephen Follows is a leading film industry analyst known for his extensive research on film statistics, which has been featured in major publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Hollywood Reporter. This is a really fun interview. There is a little bit of technical issues at the start with Stephen's camera. However it clears up quickly and the audio is great throughout. HORROR MOVIE REPORT: Unveil the entire journey of a horror movie, from the first draft to the final cut and beyond. The report follows every step of the process, breaking down the key stages that bring nightmares to life. Explore every facet of horror, from characters to weapons and deaths. Our report breaks down the terrifying details that define the genre, revealing trends and insights you won’t find anywhere else. Whether you’re writing your first script or refining your production, this report offers valuable insights to help guide you through the process of making your horror movie. From concept to release, gain a deeper understanding of what works in horror filmmaking. Outliers Writing University is where you will learn writing from bestselling authors in LIVE interactive classes. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

THE GREY WOLF by Louise Penny, read by Jean Brassard (October 29) The 19th mystery in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Armand Gamache series. Relentless phone calls interrupt the peace of a warm August morning in Three Pines. Though the tiny Québec village is impossible to find on any map, someone has managed to track down Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté, as he sits with his wife in their back garden. Reine-Marie watches with increasing unease as her husband refuses to pick up, though he clearly knows who is on the other end. When he finally answers, his rage shatters the calm of their quiet Sunday morning. That's only the first in a sequence of strange events that begin THE GREY WOLF, the nineteenth novel in Louise Penny's #1 New York Times-bestselling series. A missing coat, an intruder alarm, a note for Gamache reading "this might interest you", a puzzling scrap of paper with a mysterious list—and then a murder. All propel Chief Inspector Gamache and his team toward a terrible realization. Something much more sinister than any one murder or any one case is fast approaching. Armand Gamache, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, his son-in-law and second in command, and Inspector Isabelle Lacoste can only trust each other, as old friends begin to act like enemies, and long-time enemies appear to be friends. Determined to track down the threat before it becomes a reality, their pursuit takes them across Québec and across borders. Their hunt grows increasingly desperate, even frantic, as the enormity of the creature they’re chasing becomes clear. If they fail the devastating consequences would reach into the largest of cities and the smallest of villages.

Blake is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of a dozen novels, most recently, Dark Matter, Recursion, and Upgrade, for which he is also writing the movie for Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners. His international-bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy was adapted into a television series for FOX, executive produced by M. Night Shyamalan, that was Summer 2015’s #1 show. With Chad Hodge, Crouch also created Good Behavior, the TNT show starring Michelle Dockery based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. His novel, Recursion, is currently being developed as a Netflix series by Shonda Rhimes and Matt Reeves, and Skydance is developing a film adaptation of his novella, Summer Frost, based on Crouch’s script. His novels have been translated into forty languages and his short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and Cemetery Dance. At the moment, Crouch is writing a new book and creating a nine-episode adaptation of his novel Dark Matter, for Apple TV+. Blake lives in Colorado. The best way to stay apprised of new releases is to follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Robert Dugoni is a critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Amazon bestselling author, reaching over 9 million readers worldwide. He is best known for his Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle. He is also the author of the Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels including The 7th Canon, Damage Control, The World Played Chess, and Her Deadly Game. His novel The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell received Suspense Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year, and Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award. Washington Post named his nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary a Best Book of the Year. Several of his novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and a three-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award. Dugoni’s books are sold in more than twenty-five countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.

We are pleased to bring you International Bestselling Author John Connolly to talk about his latest book NIGHT AND DAY. John will also get into what’s next for Charlie Parker and much more! John Connolly is a bestselling author of mystery and supernatural fiction. With over 30 published works, including the popular Charlie Parker series, his books have captivated readers around the world. He has won the Edgar, Anthony, Shamus, and Macavity awards in the US, a CWA Dagger in the UK, and an Irish Book Award, as well as numerous international accolades, and has published more UK Sunday Times Top 10 Hardback Bestsellers than any other Irish writer.

Interview with Peter May We are pleased to talk with International Bestselling Author Peter May to discuss his latest book THE BLACK LOCH. Peter May is a Scot living in France. Winner of two major French literary awards, May’s books have also won Crime Novel of the Year awards in France, Scotland, the UK, and the United States. Peter May started his writing career as a journalist, winning a national award at the age of 21. Still in his twenties, he switched to writing drama for UK television. He created three major drama serials in the UK and has credits for scriptwriting or producing more than 1,000 episodes of ratings-topping shows. He quit TV in the 1990s to concentrate on his first love, writing books.

BRAD THOR is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-four thrillers, including SHADOW OF DOUBT, BLACK ICE (ThrillerFix Best Thriller of the Year), NEAR DARK (one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year), BACKLASH (nominated for the Barry Award for Best Thriller of the Year), SPYMASTER (“One of the all-time best thriller novels” —The Washington Times), THE LAST PATRIOT (nominated Best Thriller of the Year by the International Thriller Writers Association), and BLOWBACK (one of the “Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time” —NPR).

Interview with Riley Sager. Riley Sager joins us to talk about his latest book MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood. The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul-de-sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again. Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul-de-sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle? The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed ghosts roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.   The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present. Riley Sager is the New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, most recently The Only One Left and The House Across the Lake. His novels have been published in more than 35 countries. His latest book, Middle of the Night, was published in June by Dutton Books. Outliers Writing University is where you will take your writing to the next level. Join the yearlong LIVE classes with teachers Jeffery Deaver, Heather Graham, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Allison Brennan, Steven James and many, many more. All classes are LIVE, so you can ask questions and interact with the teacher.

We are so pleased to bring you international bestselling author Anthony Horowitz and his interview talking about the MOONFLOWER MURDERS and the new PBS Show about the book. Bestselling author Anthony Horowitz brings back his famous literary detective Atticus Pund and Susan Ryeland, hero of Magpie Murders, in an inventive, labyrinthine story that is “catnip for classic mystery lovers” (Time magazine).

Join John Raab and DP Lyle for a conversation with best-selling authors Jeffrey Deaver and Isabella Maldonado about FATAL INTRUSION, the first in their new thriller series. Jeffery Deaver is an international number-one bestselling author. His books are sold in 150 countries and have been translated into over twenty-five languages. He has sold 50 million books worldwide. Wall Street Journal bestselling author Isabella Maldonado wore a gun and badge in real life before turning to crime writing. A graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico and the first Latina to attain the rank of captain in the Fairfax County Police Department just outside DC, she retired as the Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During more than two decades on the force, her assignments included hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and precinct commander. She uses her law enforcement background to bring a realistic edge to her writing, which includes the bestselling FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera series (soon to be a Netflix feature film starring Jennifer Lopez), the award-winning Detective Veranda Cruz series, and the FBI Agent Daniela Vega series. Her books are published in 24 languages.

Bestselling author of the Lady Emily series, Tasha Alexander, is back with book 18 in that series. The daughter of two philosophy professors, I grew up surrounded by books. I was convinced from an early age that I was born in the wrong century and spent much of my childhood under the dining room table pretending it was a covered wagon. Even there, I was never without a book in hand and loved reading and history more than anything. I studied English Literature and Medieval History at the University of Notre Dame. Writing is a natural offshoot of reading, and my first novel, And Only to Deceive, was published in 2005. I’m the author of the long-running Lady Emily Series as well as the novel Elizabeth: The Golden Age. One of the best parts of being an author is seeing your books translated, and I’m currently in love with the Japanese editions of the Emily books. Check out the great interview we had with Tasha, talking about Lady Emily and more.

Cadaver dog handler Cat Warren is the author of What the Dog Knows: The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs, a terrific book on dogs who work in the military, in police departments, and by searching for both contemporary and historical missing remains. She talks with Jan Burke about how cadaver dogs and their handlers are trained, the environments and conditions they work in, and what we do and don't yet know about how dogs find the missing dead. Crime and Science Radio is brought to you by Suspense Magazine. www.suspensemagazine.com, check out the website for a lot more information.

Dr. Katherine Ramsland Interview: The Devil’s Dozen: What Makes the Bad Guys Tick? Join DP Lyle and Dr. Katherine Ramsland for a discussion of bad guys, who they are, what they do, and why they do what they do. Several cases in her excellent book THE DEVIL’S DOZEN will be discussed. Go to http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com for more information and links from the show.

Join Jan Burke and former prosecutor Marcia Clark, author of "KIller Ambition" as part of her Rachel Knight series, for a discusson on rules of evidence and how new scientific technologies become accepted by courts, what can go wrong to keep evidence out of trial, and some of the ways forensic science is used in the plots of her legal thrillers. Crime and Science radio is brought to you by www.suspensemagazine.com www.marciaclarkbooks.com

The Science of Sherlock Holmes: Jan Burke and Leslie Klinger Leslie Klinger is a Holmes expert of the first order. His THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES is one of the most highly regarded studies of Holmes and his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. What influenced Holmes's scientific and investigative methods? And what influence has Holmes had on forensic science and criminal investigation? Details: http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com Crime and Science Radio is brought to you by Suspense Magazine. www.suspensemagazine.com

The Infancy of Toxicology: Interview with Deborah Blum, Author of The Poisoner's Handbook Join DP Lyle and Deborah Blum, author of the critically acclaimed book THE POISONER’S HANDBOOK as they discuss the poisons, old and new, and the origins of forensic toxicology. Meet the Charles Norris, New York City’s first ME and Alexander Gettler. The Father of Forensic Toxicology and walk with them through this Jazz Age and the birth of forensic toxicology. Learn about poisons such as carbon monoxide, chloroform, arsenic, thallium, and many others. If you have a question for the host about the show, please email radio@suspensemagazine.com

Join DP Lyle, MD as he discusses several famous cases that involve the use of drugs and poisons and reveals the toxicological principles behind each case. Kristen Rossum and the American Beauty Murder, Stella Nickell's product tampering and the complex issues surrounding Kurt Cobain's death are some of the topics to be discussed. If you have a question and want to ask the host, simply email radio@suspensemagazine.com Crime and Science Radio is brought to you by Suspense Magazine www.suspensemagazine.com

Attention all authors! Bestselling authors D.P. Lyle and Jan Burke are coming to Suspense Radio with a new show called "Crime and Science Radio". Both D.P. and Jan will help you discover more about forensic science, law enforcement procedures, and the criminal justice system. You'll learn what you need to know to research and write about forensic science, crime scenes, and investigations, and they'll bring you up-to-date on new discoveries in these constantly changing fields. To check out the schedule of episodes go to: http://suspensemagazine.com/CrimeandScienceRadio.html Episode 1: "Hollywood Storytelling: Science Fact or Make Believe". What's the good, bad and the ugly when Hollywood tackles crime and science? Do they sacrifice science for story?

Money is the Root Andrea Jacobson is an investigator with the Financial Crimes Unit of the Alaska Bureau of Investigations, which is part of the Alaska State Troopers. She talks with Jan Burke about types of financial crimes, how they are linked to violence, who is affected by them, and the damage done by financial criminals. She also talks about what we can do to protect ourselves and our communities from financial crime.

D.P. Lyle and Jan Burke interview the writing team of Jon Jefferson and Bill Bass. Their latest book "Cut to the Bone" A body farm novel, is something not to be missed. See how forensics really works and truths that break the myths. Crime and Science Radio is brought to you by Suspense Radio, www.suspensemagazine.com D.P.Lyle: www.dplylemd.com Jan Burke: www.janburke.com

Inside the Los Angeles Regional Crime Lab: An Interview with Dean Gialamas Jan Burke and DP Lyle welcome Dean Gialamas, Director of the Los Angles County Sheriff's Department's Crime Lab, to the show to discuss this unique lab, what it’s like be be a crime lab director, the new federal forensic science commission, and more! Dean Gialamas is the former director of the Orange County Crime Lab, the current director of the LASD crime lab, and was recently appointed to the first-ever National Commission on Forensic Science. He is a past president of the American Society of Crime Lab Directors, and the president-elect of the California Association of Crime Lab Directors. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department of Scientific Services is an ASCLD/LAB-International/ISO 17025 accredited laboratory that operates from 10 facilities and employs over 300 personnel. It serves a population of six million residents and over 100 local, state, and federal agencies. Crime and Science Radio is part of Suspense Magazine, www.suspensemagazine.com

FBI Special Agents: What Do These Guys Do?: And Interview with George Fong, FBI Retired Join Jan Burke and DP Lyle as they welcome retired FBI Special Agent George Fong for a lively discussion of exactly what FBI agents do. BIO: George Fong spent 27 years with the FBI where he was involved with things such as white-collar crime, foreign counterintelligence, bank robberies, drug trafficking, and violent crimes. He then retired and is currently the Director of Security for ESPN. Crime and Science Radio is brought to you by Suspense Magazine, www.suspensemagazine.com

Working the Crime Scene: An interview With Forensic Specialist Lisa Black Join Jan Burke and DP lyle as they discuss working the crime scene with forensic specialist and crime fiction author Lisa Black Lisa Black is a forensic specialist who is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists, the International Association for Identification, the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts, and is certified by the American Board of Criminalistics. She has testified in court over 50 times. And, oh yeah, an excellent fiction writer. Check out Suspense Magazine and all the shows on Suspense Radio: www.suspensemagazine.com

Burning Down the House: An Interview with Fire Investigator John Lentini John Lentini will educate us about scientific fire investigation, what can be learned from examining the scene of a fire, and why improved training and scientific approaches to fire investigation are so important. John Lentini, author of Scientific Protocols for Fire Investigation, is one of the leading fire investigators in the U.S. He is the president and chief investigator of Scientific Fire Analysis, LCC. He is a certified by both the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI) and the National Association of Fire Investigators (NAFI). and is a certified Diplomate of the American Board of Criminalistics, with a specialty in Fire Debris Analysis. He was a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences 2009 President’s Panel on Scientific Integrity. He has authored over 3000 technical reports and testified in over 200 cases since 1975. He has testified for both Plaintiffs and Defendants, and as a neutral court-hired expert. He has appeared onFrontline, 20/20 and other television programs.

How does forensic science help us in the aftermath of disasters such as plane crashes, floods, hurricanes and other events that result in mass fatalities? We find some answers in this episode, when D.P. Lyle and Jan Burke interview Paul Sledzik. Trained as a forensic anthropologist, Paul Sledzik began his career at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, DC, as a museum technician. By the time he departed the museum in 2004, he had become a curator with responsibilities over the museum’s unique and historic anatomical and pathological collections. From 1998 to 2004, he served as the team commander for the Region 3 Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services. In the response to the events of September 11, 2001, he led the DMORT team in the identification of the victims from the crash of United flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Paul joined the National Transportation Safety Board’s Transportation Disaster Assistance Division in 2004 as a medicolegal specialist and in 2010 became the division director. The division coordinates access to information and services to support victim and family members impacted by aviation accidents and accidents in other transportation modes. He has served as a consultant and advisor to federal and non-governmental agencies on issues of human identification and disaster response. A Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, his scientific articles have appeared in professional journals and textbooks. He has participated in the response to over 30 mass fatality events and transportation accidents.

LINDA FAIRSTEIN SHOW TITLE: Sex, Lies, and Crime: An Interview With Sex Crimes Expert and Best-Selling Author Linda Fairstein BIO: Honors graduate of Vassar College and the University of Virginia School of Law. Former prosecutor and one of America’s foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children. For three decades, she served in the office of the New York County District Attorney, where she was Chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit for twenty-five years. She was the lead attorney in the famous the Robert Chambers "Preppy Murder" case. She is an internationally bestselling author of a series of crime novels, which feature Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper. She is also the author of a non-fiction work. Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Fairstein is a media consultant on the issue of the criminal justice system and crimes of violence against women for major networks such as CNN, MSNBC, and cable affiliates. She continues to practice law as a pro bono representative of victims of violence.

Dr. Max M. Houck is an internationally recongnized forensic expert who has worked for the FBI LAb, at a medical examiner's office, in the private sector, and in academia. His casework includes the Branch Davidian Investigation, the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon, the D.B. Cooper case, and the West Memphis Three case, among hundreds of others. He served for 6 years as the Chair of the Forensic Science Educational Program Accrediation Commission (FEPAC) and serves on other committees, including for Interpol. Dr. Houck has published widely in books and journals. He is a founding Editor of the journal Forensic Science Policy and Management and has also co - authored a textbook Dr. Jay Siegal, Fundamentals of Forensic Science. In 2012 he was in the top 1% of connected professionals on Linkedin. visit crimeandscienceradio.com for more information and links about the show. Crime and Science Radio is brough to you by Suspense Magazine. www.suspensemagazine.com

Cyril Wecht is an American forensic pathologist. He has been a consultant in numerous high-profile cases, but is perhaps best known for his critcism of the Warren Commission's findings concerning the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He has been the president of both the American Academy of Forensic Science and the American College of Legal Medicine and curently heads the board of trustees of the American Board of Legal Medicine. He served as County Comissioner and Allegheny County Coroner & Medical Examiner serving metro Pittsburgh. This is one of the best interviews you will ever hear. Crime and Science Radio is brought to you by Suspense Radio / Magazine. www.crimeandscienceradio.com www.suspensemagazine.com

Deadly Doctors, Killer Nurses and other Medical Miscreants. Crime and Science radio is proud to have Bea Yorker on the show today. Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at California State University, Los Angeles. This is the college that includes CSULA's forensic science program. She is also known for her own research into Munchausen by proxy, her landmark study of medical serial killers, and her publications on other topics that bring law, psychology, medicine, and ethics together. Crime and Science radio is brought to you by Suspense Magazine / Radio. Visit: www.crimeandscienceradio.com and www.suspensemagazine.com

"The Art and Science of Law Enforcement: An Interview with Robin Burcell." We are so pleased to be joined today by Robin Burcell, who is the author of award-winning crime fiction -- including this year's The Kill Order, featuring FBI Agent Sydney Fitzpatrick. Robin also spent nearly three decades working in law enforcement: she has worked as a police officer, a forensic artist, a hostage negotiator and a detective. Crime and Science Radio is brought to you by Suspense Magazine and hosted by D.P. Lyle and Jan Burke. http://www.dplylemd.com/ and www.dplylemd.com and www.janburke.com Also check out crimeandscienceradio.com

SHOW TITLE: You'll Tell Me No Lies: An Interview Paul Bishop, Interrogation Expert, Author, and Retired LAPD Detective, Paul Bishop. Join DP Lyle and Jan Burke as they learn about the art and science of interrogation from renowned expert Paul Bishop, who will also tell us about his long and successful career as a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he worked in the Anti-Terrorist Division and in the investigation of sex crimes. BIO: A thirty-five year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, Paul Bishop’s career has included a three year tour with his department's Anti-Terrorist Division and over twenty-five years’ experience in the investigation of sex crimes. His Special Assaults Units regularly produced the highest number of detective initiated arrests and highest crime clearance rates in the city. Twice honored as Detective of the Year, Paul also received the Quality and Productivity Commission Award from the City of Los Angeles. As a nationally recognized interrogator, Paul starred as the lead interrogator and driving force behind the ABC TV reality show Take The Money And Run from producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Based on his expertise in deception detection, he currently conducts interrogation seminars for law enforcement, military, and human resource organizations. Paul has published twelve novels, including five in his L.A.P.D. Detective Fey Croaker series. He has also written numerous scripts for episodic television and feature films. He currently writes and edits the Fight Card series of hardboiled boxing novels under the pseudonym Jack Tunney.

SHOW TITLE: The Skeleton Crew: A Conversation with Deborah Halber on the Amateurs Who Are Finding the Missing and Solving Cold Cases, with Deborah Halber. For decades, all across the United States, tens of thousands of missing persons cases have grown cold. At the same time, a mounting number of unidentified remains have been discovered and have been stored in coroner's offices or buried in potter's fields. But the Internet has been changing all of that. We talk to Deborah Halber, about some of the challenges and changes in the world of the unidentified dead and those who try to name them. BIO: Deborah Halber started out as a daily newspaper reporter, then turned to the dark side to do public relations. She worked as a writer and editor for Tufts and as a science writer for MIT, where she chronicled everything from quantum weirdness (that’s the technical term) to snail slime. A freelance journalist since 2004, her writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, Inked, Technology Review, and Symbolia. Her narrative nonfiction book, THE SKELETON CREW: HOW AMATEUR SLEUTHS ARE SOLVING AMERICA’S COLDEST CASES, is just out from Simon & Schuster. A member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the National Association of Science Writers, she lives near Boston in a house with a lot of former pets buried out back. Check out crimeandscienceradio.com along with suspensemagazine.com Crime and Science Radio is brought to you by Suspense Radio and Suspense Magazine.

SHOW TITLE: Taking A Bite Out Of Crime: An Interview with Forensic Dentist Dr. Michael Tabor Join Jan Burke and DP Lyle as they explore the world of forensic dentistry with Dr. Mike Tabor, Chief Forensic Dentist of the State of Tennessee Office for the Medical Examiner. Learn exactly how forensic dentistry aids in corpse identification and dig into some of Dr. Tabor’s most famous cases. BIO: In the spring of 1973, Mike Tabor embarked on a journey that would take him down a path he could have never imagined. With a freshly earned DDS, Dr. Mike Tabor left Carson-Newman College and The University of Tennessee College of Dentistry, and began his career as a family dentist. In 1983, Dr. Tabor’s work as a family dentist took a unique turn and he found himself immersed in the highly specialized field of forensic dentistry. As one of only a handful of forensic dentists in the United States, Dr. Tabor became a highly sought after expert in this field, performing identifications and examinations on homicide victims, as well as aiding police departments, investigators and medical examiners all over the Country in the prosecution of thousands of crimes. In September of 2001, Dr. Tabor found himself in New York, at the site of the World Trade Center terror attacks, aiding in the identification of countless victims. For Mike Tabor, this infamous and historical event forever changed his life. As a forensic dentist, Mike was no stranger to the examination of deceased victims, but the horrors of September 11th would not allow Mike, the man, to separate himself from his work as Dr. Tabor, the forensic dentist. September 11, 2011 left a lasting and emotional impression on Mike and gave him a completely new perspective on life and loss.

ALAFAIR BURKE: THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM, REAL AND IMAGINED Author Alafair Burke is a former prosecutor and is currently a criminal law professor. She'll talk to us about her experiences and some of the differences in legal realities and the perceptions we have of the U.S. criminal justice system. Alafair is a bestselling author, with her latest book "If You Were Here", being released in 2013. Some of her other titles include: "Never Tell", "Long Gone" and "212". Crime and Science Radio is brought to you by Suspene Magazine / Radio. www.crimeandscienceradio.com www.suspensemagazine.com

From Firefights To Fiction: An Interview With Military Surgeon and Author Dr. Jeffrey Wilson Join Jan Burke and DP Lyle in a discussion of combat surgery and fiction writing with Vascular and Trauma surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Wilson BIO: Jeffrey Wilson has at one time worked as an actor, a firefighter, a paramedic, a jet pilot, a diving instructor, a Naval Officer, and a Vascular and Trauma Surgeon. He also served numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a combat surgeon with both the Marines and with a Joint Special Operations Task Force. He has written dozens of short stories, won a few fiction competitions, and currently has a 3 book deal with JournalStone Publishing for his novels. His first novel, THE TRAITEUR'S RING, was published in 2011. His second book, THE DONORS was released in June of 2012 and won a Gold Medal in the sci-fi/fantasy/horror category from the Military Writers Society of America. FADE TO BLACK is his third novel from JournalStone. Jeff and his wife, Wendy, are Virginia natives who, with children Emma, Jack, and Connor, call Tampa, Florida home. He still works part time as a Vascular Surgeon and as a consultant for the Department of Defense when not hard at work on his next book.

Going Undercover with NYPD Detective and Fiction Writer Marco Conelli Jan Burke and DP Lyle spend a lively hour with NYPD detective Marco Conelli and dig into his undercover work as well as his fiction writing. BIO: A twenty year veteran detective of the NYPD, his diverse career is highlighted by his work as an undercover where he was plugged into many investigations for the Organized Crime Control Bureau. Specializing in narcotic and gun seizures, Marco was successful in removing both from New York City’s mean streets, while gathering important intelligence that led to voluminous criminal arrests. His adaptation of disguises and the study of deduction are featured prominently in the Sherlock Holmes International Exhibition as well as Crime Writing Conferences nationwide. He has shared his insight with many best-selling novelists and is a member of Lee Lofland’s Writer’s Police Academy team. Marco has published three novels in his Matthew Livingston Young Adult series. He is the recipient of the 2011 Silver Falchion Award for best crime novel. The Matthew Livingston series has revitalized the hard boiled battle between good and evil seen through the abilities of three remarkable teenagers. Marco has also contributed articles to publications on the subjects of crime solving as well as literacy in America.

Inside The Creative Mind: An Interview With Psychotherapist, Screenwriter, and Novelist Dennis Palumbo Jan Burke and DP Lyle discuss psychology and storytelling in both novels and on the screen with veteran screenwriter/novelists Dennis Palumbo BIO: Formerly a Hollywood screenwriter (My Favorite Year; Welcome Back, Kotter, etc.), Dennis Palumbo is now a licensed psychotherapist and author of Writing From the Inside Out (John Wiley). His work helping writers has been profiled in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, GQ and other publications, as well as on CNN, NPR and PBS. He also blogs regularly for The Huffington Post andPsychology Today. His mystery fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, The Strand and elsewhere, and is collected in From Crime to Crime (Tallfellow Press). His acclaimed series of crime novels (Mirror Image, Fever Dream, Night Terrors and the upcoming Phantom Limb) feature psychologist Daniel Rinaldi, a trauma expert who consults with the Pittsburgh Police. All are from Poisoned Pen Press.

Join DP Lyle and Jan Burke for an entertaining and informative interview with forensic anthropologist Marilyn London. She'll tell us what we can learn from skeletal remains, what forensic anthropologists do at the scene where remains are found, and more! BIO: Marilyn London has worked as a forensic anthropologist for more than three decades. She serves on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services D-MORT Team, responding to mass fatality incidents including the recovery and identification of remains after the crash of Flight 93 in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. She has worked on the human skeletal collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and has lectured internationally on the subject of forensic anthropology. She co-edited the book ?from Smithsonian Press. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Anthropology Section, and served as Chair of the Section in 2004-2005. Her specialty is the human skeleton and she has taught human osteology and related subjects at several universities. She has analyzed human skeletal remains for medical examiners in New Mexico, Iowa, and Rhode Island. She has worked on a variety of field projects, analyzing human skeletal remains from prehistoric sites and historic cemeteries in New Mexico, Maryland, and New York City. She currently also serves as a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Maryland.

IMPROVING FORENSIC SCIENCE: AN INTERVIEW WITH KEVIN LOTHRIDGE OF THE NFSTC Join Jan Burke and DP Lyle as they welcome Kevin Lothridge, CEO of the National Forensic Science Technology Center, an organization that has developed protocols for educating forensic science professionals and improving and standardizing the varied fields of forensic investigation. BIO: Kevin Lothridge, Chief Executive Officer – NFSTC’s principal investigator, Mr. Lothridge is an accomplished forensic scientist and business leader with 28 years of experience in the international forensics industry. He has held positions as a forensic chemist, chief forensic chemist, and laboratory director for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department and the Pinellas County Forensic Laboratory. Mr. Lothridge has testified in court more than 50 times as an expert in controlled substances and fire debris analysis. He speaks at numerous professional conferences, and he co-authored the GC-MS Guide to Ignitable Liquids. In 2006-07, he led the development of the Expeditionary Analysis Center project for the Department of Defense, now used for training and tactical field forensics. Mr. Lothridge holds a bachelor’s degree in Forensic Science from Eastern Kentucky University and a master’s degree in Management from National Louis University. He has served as president of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) and as acting chief of the Investigative and Forensic division of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation headquartered in Largo, Florida. Founded in 1995, NFSTC provides quality forensic services including biometrics and forensic science training, assessment, test and evaluation services, instructional design and support to the military, justice and forensic science communities.

SHOW TITLE: What You Did Here Told Me Who You Are: An Interview with Criminal Behavior Expert Mark Safarik BIO: Mark Safarik is a former FBI Supervisory Special Agent with thirty years of law enforcement experience, twelve of which were logged in its elite Profiling Unit. He learned about criminal behavior from one of the masters of the field, Robert K. Ressler, with whom he later worked when Mr. Ressler established Forensic Behavioral Services International, which provides expertise in the analysis and interpretation of criminal behavior through crime and crime scene analysis, crime scene reconstruction, offender deterrability, premises liability, litigation support in criminal and civil cases, and expert testimony.

SHOW TITLE: Watching the Detectives: Investigative Journalism and Forensic Science — An Interview with Douglas Starr BIO: Douglas Starr is the co-director of the graduate Program in Science and Medical Journalism at Boston University. He is the author of The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science and of BLOOD: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce. Professor Starr’s writings about science, medicine, public health and the environment have appeared in The New Yorker, Slate, Discover, The New Republic, Science, Smithsonian, Public Television, National Public Radio, The Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, The Christian Science Monitor, Boston Sunday Globe Magazine and other media outlets.

SHOW TITLE: Chasing Monsters; Running From Monsters: An Interview with Douglas Preston, Best-selling Author of The Monster Of Florence BIO: Douglas Preston has published twenty-eight books, nonfiction and fiction, several of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers. He writes for the New Yorker magazine and taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. His most recent nonfiction book, The Monster of Florence, is being made into a movie starring George Clooney. He is the co-creator, with Lincoln Child, of the Agent Pendergast series of novels

SHOW TITLE: Spy vs Spy vs Spy: An Interview with the Queen of Espionage Gayle Lynds Join DP Lyle and Jan Burke in conversation with best-selling author and Queen of Espionage Gayle Lynds and learn about the world of clandestine activity, both real and fictional. BIO: Gayle began her writing career as a reporter for The Arizona Republic, where her investigative reporting made such an impact that it led to changes in state legislation. Later she was an editor with rare Top Secret security clearance at a government think tank, where assorted shadowy figures passed through silently and not only ideas but people seemed to bounce off the walls. She was inspired. Soon she began writing literary short stories, which were published in literary journals, and at the same time in what some considered schizophrenic, she also wrote male pulp novels in the Nick Carter and Mack Bolan series. She is now a New York Times bestselling author of ten spy novels. Library Journal has called her the Reigning Queen of Espionage. Her latest espionage thriller is The Assassins, which you can preorder now. It will be in stores June 30th.

SHOW TITLE: NAMUS: NAMING THE UNIDENTIFIED, FINDING THE MISSING - AN INTERVIEW WITH J. TODD MATTHEWS BIO: Todd Matthews is the Director of Case Management and Communications for NamUs. He joined the NamUs management team in 2011 as the program transitioned to the UNT Health Science Center. In his current role, he manages the NamUs Regional System Administrator staff, oversees quality assurance and quality control of NamUs data, performs outreach and training, coordinates all NamUs print and broadcast media, and serves as the media spokesperson for NamUs. Todd Matthews previously served as a NamUs Regional System Administrator and was a member of the NamUs Advisory Board for the development of the NamUs database and program. In those roles, he piloted efforts to coordinate data exchanges between NamUs and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. He has also served as the Media Director for two important volunteer programs related to missing and unidentified persons: The Doe Network and Project EDAN. He has worked as a blogger for Discovery ID and served as a consultant for Jerry Brukheimer on "The Forgotten" and Dick Wolf on "Lost & Found", two scripted series related to missing and unidentified persons.

BIOS: Greg Collins is the Research and Analysis Manager for the Shawnee, KS Police Department. He is primarily responsible for CALEA accreditation, policy review and updating, grant management, overseeing the Crime Analysis function, and managing police department volunteers. Greg joined the Shawnee Police Department as a sworn officer in 1991. In addition to road patrol duties, Greg has worked as a D.A.R.E. officer, detective, patrol sergeant, training sergeant, and traffic safety unit supervisor. Greg has also been a member of the department’s Special Tactics and Response team, and a field training officer. Greg transitioned to his current civilian position in June 2008. Greg holds a B.A. in Management and Human Relations from MidAmerica Nazarene University and is an IACP Associate member. Dr. Kevin M Bryant is a professor and chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminology at Benedictine College in Atchinson, Kansas. Bryant completed training and was certified in advanced crime mapping by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in 2011 and is currently working toward recertification. [Kevin, this is just what I pulled off the web -- if I missed an email from you with more info, a photo, and links you'd like us to use -- well, you both know you've been dealing with a sleep-deprived zombie here lately. Since the show doesn't air until March, we have some time if either of you would like to send additional material to us.]

SHOW TITLE: Vintage Computer Games, Missing Aircraft, and an Amazing Forensic Resource: An Interview with Douglas White of the National Institute of Science and Technology's National Software Reference Library (NSRL) Douglas White leads the National Software Reference Library project for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He has 25 years of experience with distributed systems, distributed databases and telecommunication protocols, real time biomonitoring, real time video processing, system administration and network monitoring. He holds both a B.A and M.S. in computer science from Hood College. He has given lectures for the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the High Technology Crime Investigation Association, the Digital Forensic Research Workshop and other digital forensic conferences.

Author Marc Cameron joins Suspense Radio for the first time and we are thrilled to have him as he talks his latest book "BONE RATTLE." Author of the New York Times bestselling Jericho Quinn Thriller series, Marc Cameron’s short stories have appeared in The Saturday Evening Post and BOYS LIFE magazine. In late 2016, he was chosen to continue the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan/Campus Thriller series. TOM CLANCY CODE OF HONOR released in November 19, 2019. Cameron is a retired Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal who spent nearly thirty years in law enforcement. His assignments have taken him from Alaska to Manhattan, Canada to Mexico and dozens of points in between. He holds a second-degree black belt in Jujitsu and is a certified scuba diver and man-tracking instructor. Originally from Texas, Cameron is an avid sailor and adventure motorcyclist. His books often feature boats and bikes including OSI Agent Jericho Quinn’s beloved BMW GS Adventure. Cameron lives in the Alaska with his wife and BMW GS motorcycle. He enjoys hearing from readers. "BONE RATTLE": In the icy heart of Alaska, a series of gruesome murders leads Deputy US Marshal Arliss Cutter into a firestorm of searing corruption, clashing cultures, and bone-chilling fear… In Juneau, a young Native archeologist is sent to protect the ancient burial sites uncovered by an Alaskan gold mining company. He never returns. In Anchorage, a female torso—minus head, hands, and feet—is washed ashore near a jogging trail by the airport. It is not the first. At Alaska’s Fugitive Task Force, Arliss Cutter and deputy Lola Teariki are pulled from their duties and sent to a federal court in Juneau. Instead of tracking dangerous fugitives, Cutter and Lola will be keeping track of sequestered jurors in a high-profile trial. The case involves a massive drug conspiracy with ties to a mining company, a lobbyist, and two state senators. When a prosecuting attorney is murdered—and a reporter viciously attacked—Cutter realizes they’re dealing with something much bigger, and darker, than a simple drug trial. The truth lies deep within the ancient sites and precious mines of this isolated land—and inside the cold hearts of those would kill to hide its secrets… What’s buried in Alaska stays in Alaska.

We are so pleased to bring you bestselling author Chuck Wendig, as he talks his latest book "The Book of Accidents." Chuck Wendig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Star Wars: Aftermath, as well as the Miriam Black thrillers, the Atlanta Burns books, Zer0es/Invasive, Wanderers, and the upcoming Book of Accidents (July 2021). He’s also worked in a variety of other formats, including comics, games, film, and television. A finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the cowriter of the Emmy-nominated digital narrative Collapsus, he is also known for his books about writing. Inside "The Book of Accidents": A family returns to their hometown—and to the dark past that haunts them still—in this masterpiece of literary horror by the New York Times bestselling author of Wanderers “The dread, the scope, the pacing, the turns—I haven’t felt all this so intensely since The Shining.”—Stephen Graham Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians Long ago, Nathan lived in a house in the country with his abusive father—and has never told his family what happened there. Long ago, Maddie was a little girl making dolls in her bedroom when she saw something she shouldn’t have—and is trying to remember that lost trauma by making haunting sculptures. Long ago, something sinister, something hungry, walked in the tunnels and the mountains and the coal mines of their hometown in rural Pennsylvania. Now, Nate and Maddie Graves are married, and they have moved back to their hometown with their son, Oliver. And now what happened long ago is happening again . . . and it is happening to Oliver. He meets a strange boy who becomes his best friend, a boy with secrets of his own and a taste for dark magic. This dark magic puts them at the heart of a battle of good versus evil and a fight for the soul of the family—and perhaps for all of the world. But the Graves family has a secret weapon in this battle: their love for one another.

We are very pleased to bring you author Micheal Bradley, as he talks his latest book "Dead Air." Born and raised in southern New Jersey, Michael Bradley spent eight years in radio broadcasting in New Jersey and West Virginia, including the Marconi award winning WVAQ in Morgantown. He has been “up and down the dial,” working as an on air radio personality, promotions director and even program director – all of them jobs that provided a wealth of fond, enduring, and, sometimes, scandalous moments. Some of them make it into his suspense novels. Particularly into his first, the supernatural thriller Sirens in the Night (2015), which was called a “smart, terrifying, heartbreaking” and “compelling read,” and his third, Dead Air (2020), a “phenomenal read” that will “make you look over your shoulder the moment night falls.” Michael’s day job as an IT professional has taken him on frequent travels throughout the US and Europe. On his travels he’s met many people from diverse backgrounds, and he is grateful to all of them, as many of their quirks and habits also make it into his novels, albeit in clandestine and anonymous ways. ? When he isn’t on the road, working, or writing, Michael hits the waterways in his kayak, paddling creeks, streams, and rivers all over Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. Or he reads to get inspired by writers such as P.D. James, Raymond Chandler, Leslies Charteris, Simon Brett, Terry Pratchett, and Ian Fleming. Michael is a member of Pennwriters, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. Inside "DEAD AIR": Three can keep a secret, but only if two are dead. No one knows that better than Kaitlyn Ashe, who has been running from a childhood secret her whole life. Until now. ? Crowned the top rated radio DJ in Philadelphia, she is finally ready to settle down with her lawyer fiancée and a whole new set of friends who know nothing about her past. When she suddenly receives anonymous letters threatening her, she realizes that someone out there knows. But who? Isn’t her secret buried with the dead? ? When the threats reveal murderous intent, Kaitlyn has no choice but to trust Detective Rodney Shapiro as her life spirals toward a reunion in the one place she’d hoped to never visit again: The Shallows. ? From the Philadelphia skyline to the rural suburbs of New Jersey, Dead Air weaves a suspenseful tale of past misdeeds and present murderous instincts as Kaitlyn plays a game of cat and mouse with a mysterious killer who stops at nothing to get revenge.

We are very happy to bring David Ricciardi to the show to talk about his latest book "Shadow Target." A keen outdoorsman, David Ricciardi incorporated many personal experiences into Warning Light. He’s backpacked through the mountains of the western United States and Alaska, received extensive training from law-enforcement and US special operations personnel, and once woke up for a 2 AM watch aboard a sailboat only to discover that it was headed the wrong way through the Atlantic sea lanes in heavy weather, with one of the crew suffering from hypothermia. In addition to being an avid sailor, David is also a certified scuba rescue diver and a former ski instructor. Warning Light is his first novel. "SHADOW TARGET": Someone is assassinating CIA field officers and Jake Keller’s name is next on the list in the latest thrilling novel from the author Publishers Weekly calls “a fresh voice in the crowded spy thriller field.” Jake doesn’t know who is trying to kill him and he doesn’t know why. Still, it’s a threat he can’t ignore. When his small plane crashes in the Alps, Jake is the only survivor. A rescue helicopter soon arrives, but the men inside are not there to save anyone. They are determined to complete the murderous job they started. Jake escapes from the mountainside deathtrap, but it won’t be the only attempt on his life. If he’s to have any chance at surviving, he’ll have to find out who’s behind the killings. But the circle of people Jake can trust is distressingly small as he suspects that someone inside the Agency is feeding his every move to the very people who are trying to end his life. Jake’s quest takes him to the candle-lit cathedrals of Paris and the rain-slicked streets of London. He makes contact with old friends and new enemies along the way—but his true nemesis may be closer than he imagines. 

We interviewed her for FINDING MRS. FORD, now she is back with her latest book, RUBY FALLS, she is author Deborah Goodrich Royce. Deborah Goodrich Royce’s first psychological thriller, Finding Mrs. Ford, was published in 2019 to rave reviews. Her second, Ruby Falls, was published in 2021. Deborah graduated Summa Cum Laude from Lake Erie College in 1980 with a BA in modern foreign languages (French and Italian) and a minor in dance. In 2008, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the same institution. Deborah was an actress in film and television for ten years. Her big break came with the leading role of Silver Kane, sister of the legendary Erica Kane, on the long running ABC soap opera, All My Children. Deborah went on to star in feature films such as Remote Control, April Fool's Day, and Just One of the Guys, television movies such as Return to Peyton Place, The Deliberate Stranger with Mark Harmon, and Liberace, and television series such as St. Elsewhere, Beverly Hills 90210, and 21 Jump Street. In 2004, Deborah and her husband, Chuck Royce (small cap investment pioneer), restored and reopened the Avon Theatre Film Center, a 1939 landmark in Stamford, CT. The not-for-profit Avon is dedicated to independent, classic, foreign, and documentary films, and hosts an ongoing series of visiting film luminaries. Directors and writers such as Robert Altman, Peter Bogdonavich and Nora Ephron, and actors such as Jane Fonda, Chloe Sevigny, Emma Roberts, and Richard Gere, have all come to the Avon to show their films and talk about their work. The late Gene Wilder, who frequently appeared at the Avon, was an early and avid encourager of Deborah’s writing.

Golden Globe winning actress Meg Tilly, is back with her latest book "The Runway Heiress." We are thrilled to have her on the show to talk about it and much more. She may be best known for her acclaimed Golden Globe-winning lead performance in the movie “Agnes of God,” but Meg Tilly is taking on an exciting new persona these days, as a romance novelist. After successfully publishing six standout young adult and literary women’s fiction novels, the Canadian American actress/author decided to write the kind of books she loves to read—romance novels. She self-published SOLACE ISLAND, a romantic suspense set in the Pacific Northwest, to rave reviews in spring 2017. However, that experience taught her she’s happiest when she’s writing and not involved in the myriad tasks of publishing. She closed out 2017 by signing with Berkley Books for three novels, including a new, improved edition of SOLACE ISLAND, which was released in November 2018. Book 2 in Meg’s series, CLIFF’S EDGE, was published in May 2019, and the series finale, HIDDEN COVE, in October 2019. Meg’s latest novel, THE RUNAWAY HEIRESS, is a standalone novel set in the world of Hollywood. In this spin-off of Meg’s Solace Island series, on the run from her estranged, police lieutenant husband, Sarah Rainsford assumes a new identity and lands a job as personal assistant to Hollywood golden boy director, Mick Talford. Soon their relationship becomes more than boss and employee, and Sarah and Mick join forces to keep her out of harm’s way. But danger trails them. Will their desperate efforts be enough to keep them both alive? Meg’s exciting new novel will be published July 27, 2021 as a mass market paperback, eBook and audiobook.

We are very pleased to bring you Bestselling Author Riley Sager as he talks his latest book "Survive the Night." Riley Sager is the pseudonym of a former journalist, editor and graphic designer. Now a full-time writer, Riley is the author of FINAL GIRLS, an international bestseller that's been published in 25 languages, and the instant New York Times bestsellers THE LAST TIME I LIED, LOCK EVERY DOOR and HOME BEFORE DARK. His latest book, SURVIVE THE NIGHT, will be available June 29 from Dutton Books. www.rileysagerbooks.com "Survive The Night": It’s November 1991. Nirvana's in the tape deck, George H. W. Bush is in the White House, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer. Josh Baxter, the man behind the wheel, is a virtual stranger to Charlie. They met at the campus ride board, each looking to share the long drive home to Ohio. Both have good reasons for wanting to get away. For Charlie, it’s guilt and grief over the shocking murder of her best friend, who became the third victim of the man known as the Campus Killer. For Josh, it’s to help care for his sick father—or so he says. The longer she sits in the passenger seat, the more Charlie notices there’s something suspicious about Josh, from the holes in his story about his father to how he doesn’t want her to see inside the trunk. As they travel an empty, twisty highway in the dead of night, an increasingly anxious Charlie begins to think she’s sharing a car with the Campus Killer. Is Josh truly dangerous? Or is Charlie’s jittery mistrust merely a figment of her movie-fueled imagination? One thing is certain—Charlie has nowhere to run and no way to call for help. Trapped in a terrifying game of cat and mouse played out on pitch-black roads and in neon-lit parking lots, Charlie knows the only way to win is to survive the night.

YES! We got #1 Bestselling Author James Patterson on the show! This is the second time James as appeared on Suspense Radio, but this is the first time in years. He came on to talk about his latest book with President Clinton, "The President's Daughter." There is so much you could say about James, I think it's probably better to just hit his website, www.jamespaterson.com. He is releasing over ten books this year alone, so he's like his own book of the month club. Here is a sneak peek inside "The President's Daughter": All Presidents have nightmares. This one is about to come true. A rocket ride of a thriller—the #1 New York Times bestselling blockbuster by President Bill Clinton and James Patterson, “the dream team” (Lee Child). Every detail is accurate— because one of the authors is President Bill Clinton. The drama and action never stop— because the other author is James Patterson. Matthew Keating, a one-time Navy SEAL—and a past president—has always defended his family as staunchly as he has his country. Now those defenses are under attack. A madman abducts Keating’s teenage daughter, Melanie—turning every parent’s deepest fear into a matter of national security. As the world watches in real time, Keating embarks on a one-man special-ops mission that tests his strengths: as a leader, a warrior, and a father. The authors’ first collaboration, The President Is Missing, a #1 New York Times bestseller and the #1 bestselling novel of 2018, was praised as “ambitious and wildly readable” (New York Times Book Review) and “a fabulously entertaining thriller” (Pulitzer Prize–winning author Ron Chernow).

We are very pleased to have Bestselling Author Josh Malerman on the show for the first time. You will know Josh from his breakthrough book "BirdBox", which was a hit on Netflix, that starred Sandra Bullock.   Josh Malerman is an American author of novels and short stories. Before publishing his debut novel Bird Box with ECCO/HarperCollins, he wrote fourteen novels, never having shopped one of them. Being the singer/songwriter of the Detroit rock band The High Strung, Malerman toured the country for six years, as the band played an average of 250 shows a year, and Malerman wrote many of the rough drafts for these novels in the passenger seat between cities on tour. He says this about those days: “I never saw the books with dollar signs in my eyes. It was no hobby, that’s for sure, it was the real thing and always has been, but I was happy, then, simply writing, and while I blindly assumed they’d be published one day, I had no idea how something like that occurred.” As the pile of rough drafts grew, so did the questions as to what he was planning on doing with them. Malerman often says that he lived long in a “glorious delusion” in which he took part in phantom interviews, pretended to have an agent, debated with fictitious editors, and placed invisible hardcover books upon his shelves. It wasn’t until a friend from high school, Dave Simmer, contacted him that those delusions became reality. Simmer, having worked with authors and properties in Hollywood, asked Malerman’s permission to send one of his books to some people he knew in the book business. Malerman heartily agreed and the pair sent out Goblin, a collection of novellas that all take place in the titular city of Goblin. From there, a team was assembled and Malerman suddenly found himself speaking with a real agent and debating with actual editors. He says this of the part Simmer played in his career: “There were two things at play at that point in time; one, Dave was a ghostly benefactor, golden hearted and smart, descending from the sky to help me. And two, what may sound like some luck couldn’t have become fortunate if I wasn’t armed with a dozen novels to talk shop with.” A limited edition of Goblin is set for publication on Halloween of 2017, through Earthling Publications. "Goblin": Goblin seems like any other ordinary small town. But with the master storyteller Josh Malerman as your tour guide, you’ll discover the secrets that hide behind its closed doors. These six novellas tell the story of a place where the rain is always falling, nighttime is always near, and your darkest fears and desires await. Welcome to Goblin. . . . A Man in Slices: A man proves his “legendary love” to his girlfriend with a sacrifice even more daring than Vincent van Gogh’s—and sends her more than his heart. Kamp: Walter Kamp is afraid of everything, but most afraid of being scared to death. As he sets traps around his home to catch the ghosts that haunt him, he learns that nothing is more terrifying than fear itself. Happy Birthday, Hunter!: A famed big-game hunter is determined to capture—and kill—the ultimate prey: the mythic Great Owl who lives in Goblin’s dark forests. But this mysterious creature is not the only secret the woods are keeping. Presto: All Peter wants is to be like his hero, Roman Emperor, the greatest magician in the world. When the famous magician comes to Goblin, Peter discovers that not all magic is just an illusion. A Mix-Up at the Zoo: The new zookeeper feels a mysterious kinship with the animals in his care . . . and finds that his work is freeing dark forces inside him. The Hedges: When his wife dies, a man builds a hedge maze so elaborate no one ever solves it—until a little girl resolves to...

#1 Bestselling Author Andy Weir joins us to talk his latest book "Project Hail Mary." Andy took the publishing world by storm with his book "The Martian." Then Matt Damon decided to star in the movie and pushed Andy into stardom.   Andy Weir built a two-decade career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian, allowed him to live out his dream of writing full-time. He is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of such subjects as relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. He also mixes a mean cocktail. He lives in California. "Project Hail Mary": Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species. And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone. Or does he? An irresistible interstellar adventure as only Andy Weir could deliver, Project Hail Mary is a tale of discovery, speculation, and survival to rival The Martian—while taking us to places it never dreamed of going.

We have started a new YouTube channel called Suspense Video, where this interview is also posted. We are releasing the audio of this interview on our podcast. Charlaine Harris was born in the Mississippi Delta. Her father was a farmer and then a school principal, and her mother was a librarian. Charlaine was educated at public schools and attended Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. Two thousand twenty-one will mark Charlaine’s fortieth year as a published writer. She has written two stand-alones, and her series include the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, the Lily Bard mysteries, the Sookie Stackhouse urban fantasies, the Harper Connelly urban fantasies, the Midnight, Texas novels, the Cemetery Girl graphic novels (with Christopher Golden), and the Gunnie Rose books, set in an alternate history America. Charlaine has also written many short stories, and together with Toni L.P. Kelner she edited seven themed anthologies (and had great fun). The television series “True Blood” was based on Charlaine’s Sookie Stackhouse novels. Hallmark Movies and Mysteries is still showing a series of movies created about the Aurora Teagarden character, and for two seasons “Midnight, Texas” was on the air. Two of her other series are in production. Charlaine belongs to several professional organizations and is an avid reader. She and her husband live on a cliff overlooking the Brazos River with their rescue dogs. Charlaine has the joy of being a grandmother, and she attends the Episcopalian church.

We are very excited to have author Cate Holahan come to the show for the first time. Cate is talking about her latest book "Her Three Lives." Cate Holahan is the USA Today Bestselling author of domestic suspense novels The Widower’s Wife, One Little Secret, Lies She Told, and Dark Turns, all published by Crooked Lane Books. Her fifth domestic suspense novel, Her Three Lives was published by Hachette Books' Grand Central Publishing in April 2021.  In a former life, she was an award-winning journalist, writing for The Record, The Boston Globe, and BusinessWeek, among others. She was also the lead singer of Leaving Kinzley, an original rock band in NYC. "Her Three Lives": Gaslight goes high-tech in USA Today bestselling author Cate Holahan's new standalone thriller in which a family must determine who the real enemy is after a brutal home invasion breaks their trust in each other. Her public life Jade Thompson has it all. She’s an up-and-coming social media influencer, and she has a beautiful new home and a successful architect for a fiancé. But there’s trouble behind the scenes. To Greg’s children, his divorce from their mother and his new life can only mean a big mid-life crisis. To Jade, his suburban Connecticut upbringing isn’t an easy match with her Caribbean roots. Her private life A savage home invasion leaves Greg house-bound with a traumatic brain injury and glued to the live feeds from his ubiquitous security cameras. As the police investigate the crime and Greg’s frustration and rage grows, Jade begins to wonder what he may know about their attackers. And whether they are coming back. Her secret life As Greg watches Jade’s comings and goings, he becomes convinced that her behavior is suspicious and that she’s hiding a big secret. The more he sees, the more he wonders whether the break-in was really a random burglary. And whether he’s worth more to Jade if he were dead than alive.

We are so happy to have NYT Bestselling Author Phillip Margolin on the show for the first time. Phillip is coming on to talk about his latest book "A Matter of Life and Death."  Phil, is his own words: Since 1996, I have been writing full-time. All of my novels have been best sellers. Heartstone, my first novel, was nominated for an Edgar for best original paperback mystery of 1978 by the Mystery Writers of America. My second novel, The Last Innocent Man, was made into an HBO movie. Gone, But Not Forgotten has been sold to more than 25 foreign publishers and was made into a mini-series starring Brooke Shields. It was also the Main Selection of the Literary Guild. After Dark was a Book of the Month Club selection. The Burning Man, my fifth novel, published in August, 1996, was the Main Selection of the Literary Guild and a Reader’s Digest condensed book. My sixth novel, The Undertaker’s Widow, was published in 1998 and was a Book of the Month Club selection. Wild Justice (HarperCollins, September, 2000) was a Main Selection of the Literary Guild, a selection of the Book of the Month Club and was nominated for an Oregon Book Award. The Associate was published by HarperCollins in August, 2001 and Ties that Bind was published by HarperCollins in March, 2003. My tenth novel, Sleeping Beauty, was published by HarperCollins on March 23, 2004. Lost Lake was published by HarperCollins in March, 2005 and was nominated for an Oregon Book Award. Proof Positive was published by HarperCollins in July, 2006. Executive Privilege was published by HarperCollins in May, 2008 and in 2009 was awarded the Spotted Owl Award for the Best Northwest Mystery. Fugitive, was published by HarperCollins on June 2, 2009. Willamette Writers awarded me the 2009 Distinguished Northwest Writers Award. Supreme Justice, was published by HarperCollins in May, 2010. Capitol Murder was published by HarperCollins in April, 2012. Sleight of Hand was published by HarperCollins in April, 2013. Worthy Brown’s Daughter was published by HarperCollins in January, 2014. Woman with a Gun was published by HarperCollins in December, 2014. Violent Crimes was published by HarperCollins on February 9, 2016. "A Matter of Life and Death": “A genuine whodunnit” (Kirkus Reviews)–Phillip Margolin, the master of the courtroom thriller, returns with A Matter of Life and Death, a classic mind-bending puzzle, as Attorney Robin Lockwood must face her most challenging case yet, with everything stacked against her client and death on the line. Joe Lattimore, homeless and trying desperately to provide for his young family, agrees to fight in a no-holds-barred illegal bout, only to have his opponent die. Lattimore now finds himself at the mercy of the fight’s organizers who blackmail him into burglarizing a house. However, when he breaks in, he finds a murdered woman on the floor and the police have received an anonymous tip naming him the murderer. Robin Lockwood, an increasingly prominent young attorney and former MMA fighter, agrees to take on his defense. But the case is seemingly airtight—the murdered woman’s husband, Judge Anthony Carasco, has an alibi and Lattimore’s fingerprints are discovered at the scene. But everything about the case is too easy, too pat, and Lockwood is convinced that her client has been framed. The only problem is that she has no way of proving it and since this is a death case, if she fails then another innocent will die.

We are extremely honored to have #1 Bestselling Author J.A. Jance on the show, talking about her latest book "Missing and Endangered." J.A. In her own words:  I started writing in the middle of March of 1982. The first book I wrote, a slightly fictionalized version of a series of murders that happened in Tucson in 1970, was never published. For one thing, it was twelve hundred pages long. Since I was never allowed in the creative writing classes, no one had ever told me there were some things I needed to leave out. For another, the editors who turned it down said that the parts that were real were totally unbelievable, and the parts that were fiction were fine. ?My agent finally sat me down and told me that she thought I was a better writer of fiction than I was of non-fiction. Why, she suggested, didn’t I try my hand at a novel? The result of that conversation was the first Detective Beaumont book, Until Proven Guilty. Since 1985 when that was published, there have been 24 more Beau books. My work also includes 19 Joanna Brady books set in southeastern Arizona where I grew up, 115 Ali Reynolds books, set in Sedona, AZ, and five novellas.? In addition there are five thrillers, starting with Hour of the Hunter and Kiss of the Bees, that reflect what I learned during the years when I was teaching on the Tohono O'Odham reservation west of Tucson, Arizona. "Missing and Endangered": Cochise County Sheriff Joanna Brady’s professional and personal lives collide when her college-age daughter is involved in a missing persons case in this evocative and atmospheric mystery in J. A. Jance’s New York Times bestselling suspense series, set in the beautiful desert country of the American Southwest. When Jennifer Brady returns to Northern Arizona University for her sophomore year, she quickly becomes a big sister to her new roommate, Beth Rankin, a brilliant yet sheltered sixteen-year-old freshman. For a homeschooled Beth, college is her first taste of both freedom and unfettered access to the internet, and Jenny is concerned that she’s too naïve and rebellious for her own good. Her worries are well-founded because one day Beth vanishes, prompting Jenny to alert campus authorities, local police, and her mom, Sheriff Joanna Brady—who calls in a favor. Beth is found, but Jenny’s concern has unwittingly put her in the crosshairs of a criminal bent on revenge. With Christmas vacation approaching, and Beth at war with her parents, Jenny invites Beth to the shelter of the Brady home. While Joanna is sympathetic, she’s caught up in a sensitive case—an officer-involved shooting that has placed the lives of two young children in jeopardy—leaving her stretched thin to help a fragile young woman recently gone missing and endangered.

Welcome back Christine! It's great to have Christine back on the show to talk about her latest book "Lightning Game" and much more. Christine is one of the hardest working writers out there, releasing three, sometimes four books a year. Christine in her own words: "I've been a writer all of my life — it is who I am. I write for myself and always have. The ability to create pictures and emotions with words is such a miracle to me. I read everything; I mean everything! All kinds of books, even encyclopedias. I am fascinated by the written word and I love storytellers. It is a great privilege to be counted one myself. I write every day and have done so since I was old enough to pick up a pen. (I spent a lot of time getting in trouble at school for writing instead of doing the things I was supposed to do.) Once I create my characters, I try very hard to have them react to situations as they really would. Sometimes I have preconceived ideas of what I would like them to do, but they don't mind me, because it would be out of character for them. They take on a life of their own. It is important to me to have them be real, not perfect people, so they make mistakes we lesser mortals might make." "Lightning Game, book seventeen in the Ghostwalker Series": Danger and passion fuse in this electrifying GhostWalker novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan. GhostWalker Rubin Campo's rough upbringing made him into the man he is today: strong, steadfast, and wary of outsiders. When he and his brother return to their family's homestead in the Appalachian Mountains, he can immediately sense that a stranger has taken up residence in their cabin &mdash a woman who just happens to be a GhostWalker too. Jonquille is deceptively delicate, but clearly a fighter. She also doesn't seem to care that Rubin could kill her where she stands. She sought him out, wanting to connect on their shared interest in electrical charges. One of the first failed GhostWalker experiments, Jonquille can produce lightning with her body, but she can't control it. Their connection is magnetic, their abilities in sync. Rubin knows she's his match, the answer to a lifetime of pain and intense loneliness. But Jonquille came to him with hidden intentions, ones that threaten to destroy their bond before it can truly begin....

We are very pleased to have back bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz back to talk about his latest book "Prodigal Son." GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of 22 thrillers including the ORPHAN X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he’s written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, comics for DC and Marvel, and political and culture pieces for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Bulwark and others. Gregg lives with his three Rhodesian ridgebacks in Los Angeles, where he continues to play soccer, frequently injuring himself. "Prodigal Son": Forced into retirement, Evan Smoak gets an urgent request for help from someone he didn't even suspect existed. As a boy, Evan Smoak was pulled out of a foster home and trained in an off-the-books operation known as the Orphan Program. He was a government assassin, perhaps the best, known to a few insiders as Orphan X. He eventually broke with the Program and adopted a new name – The Nowhere Man?and a new mission, helping the most desperate in their times of trouble. But the highest power in the country has made him a tempting offer - in exchange for an unofficial pardon, he must stop his clandestine activities as The Nowhere Man. Now Evan has to do the one thing he’s least equipped to do – live a normal life. But then he gets a call for help from the one person he never expected. A woman claiming to have given him up for adoption, a woman he never knew – his mother. Her unlikely request: help Andrew Duran – a man whose life has gone off the rails, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, bringing him to the deadly attention of very powerful figures. Now a brutal brother & sister assassination team are after him and with no one to turn to, and no safe place to hide, Evan is Duran’s only option. But when the hidden cabal catches on to what Evan is doing, everything he’s fought for is on the line– including his own life.

We are pleased to bring back NYT Bestselling author Mark Greaney as he talks his latest Grey Man series book RELENTLESS. #1 NYT bestselling author Mark Greaney’s debut international thriller, THE GRAY MAN, was published in 2009 and became a national bestseller and a highly sought-after Hollywood property. Ten subsequent Gray Man novels have been released to date, including his latest, RELENTLESS. Mark is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author or coauthor of seven Tom Clancy novels, including his most recent TOM CLANCY TRUE FAITH AND ALLEGIANCE. He collaborated with Tom Clancy on three Jack Ryan novels before Tom’s death in 2013. RED METAL, a military thriller written by Mark Greaney and Lt Col Hunter R. Rawlings, USMC, became a New York Times bestseller in 2009. Mark’s books are published in several languages and are also available as audiobooks. A feature film adaptation of THE GRAY MAN is in production at Netflix, with Ryan Gosling in the title role. A feature film adaptation of Mark’s scripted audio play Armored, is in development with Michael Bay and Erwin Stoff to produce. "RELENTLESS": The Gray Man’s search for missing intelligence agents plunges him deep into a maelstrom of trouble in the latest entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series. The first agent disappearance was a puzzle. The second was a mystery. The third was a conspiracy. Intelligence operatives around the world are disappearing. When a missing American agent re-appears in Venezuela, Court Gentry, the Gray Man, is dispatched to bring him in, but a team of assassins has other ideas. Court escapes with his life and a vital piece of intelligence. Meanwhile, CIA agent Zoya Zakharova is in Berlin. Her mission: to infiltrate a private intelligence firm with some alarming connections. The closer she gets to answers, the less likely she is to get out alive. Court and Zoya are just two pieces on this international chessboard, and they’re about to discover one undeniable truth—sometimes capturing a king requires sacrificing some pawns.

We are pleased to bring you bestselling author C.J. Box back onto the show. C.J. is talking about his latest book "Dark Sky." www.cjbox.net C. J. Box is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 27 novels including the Joe Pickett series. He won the Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Novel (Blue Heaven, 2009) as well as the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, two Barry Awards, and the 2010 Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Award for fiction. He was recently awarded the 2016 Western Heritage Award for Literature by the National Cowboy Museum as well as the Spur Award for Best Contemporary Novel by the Western Writers of America in 2017. Over seven million copies of his books have been sold in the U.S. and abroad and they’ve been translated into 27 languages. Wolf Pack, the 19th Joe Pickett novel, was published March or 2019 and debuted at #2 on the New York Times Bestseller list and remained on the list for five consecutive weeks. "Dark Sky": Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett must accompany a Silicon Valley CEO on a hunting trip--but soon learns that he himself may be the hunted--in the thrilling new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author C. J. Box. When the governor of Wyoming gives Joe Pickett the thankless task of taking a tech baron on an elk hunting trip, Joe reluctantly treks into the wilderness with his high-profile charge. But as they venture into the woods, a man-hunter is hot on their heels, driven by a desire for revenge. Finding himself without a weapon, a horse, or a way to communicate, Joe must rely on his wits and his knowledge of the outdoors to protect himself and his companion. Meanwhile, Joe's closest friend, Nate Romanowski, and his own daughter Sheridan learn of the threat to Joe's life and follow him into the woods. In a stunning final showdown, the three of them come up against the worst that nature--and man--have to offer.

He's back! The Master of Suspense / Thriller / Horror, well just about anything he puts on paper, Dean Koontz, is here talking to us about his latest book "The Other Emily." When he was a senior in college, Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since. His books are published in 38 languages and he has sold over 500 million copies to date. Fourteen of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list (One Door Away From Heaven, From the Corner of His Eye, Midnight, Cold Fire, The Bad Place, Hideaway, Dragon Tears, Intensity, Sole Survivor, The Husband, Odd Hours, Relentless, What the Night Knows, and 77 Shadow Street), making him one of only a dozen writers ever to have achieved that milestone. Sixteen of his books have risen to the number one position in paperback. His books have also been major bestsellers in countries as diverse as Japan and Sweden. The New York Times has called his writing “psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying.” The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Koontz is, “at times lyrical without ever being naive or romantic. [He creates] a grotesque world, much like that of Flannery O’Conner or Walker Percy … scary, worthwhile reading.” Rolling Stone has hailed him as “America’s most popular suspense novelist.” "The Other Emily": Number one New York Times bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz takes readers on a twisting journey of lost love, impossible second chances, and terrifying promises. A decade ago, Emily Carlino vanished after her car broke down on a California highway. She was presumed to be one of serial killer Ronny Lee Jessup’s victims whose remains were never found. Writer David Thorne still hasn’t recovered from losing the love of his life, or from the guilt of not being there to save her. Since then, he’s sought closure any way he can. He even visits regularly with Jessup in prison, desperate for answers about Emily’s final hours so he may finally lay her body to rest. Then David meets Maddison Sutton, beguiling, playful, and keenly aware of all David has lost. But what really takes his breath away is that everything about Maddison, down to her kisses, is just like Emily. As the fantastic becomes credible, David’s obsession grows, Maddison’s mysterious past deepens?and terror escalates. Is she Emily? Or an irresistible dead ringer? Either way, the ultimate question is the same: What game is she playing? Whatever the risk in finding out, David’s willing to take it for this precious second chance. It’s been ten years since he’s felt this inspired, this hopeful, this much in love…and he’s afraid.

We are pleased to bring you debut author Susan Ouellette, talking about her book "The Wayward Spy." Susan isn't just an author, her background in the CIA made her the perfect fit to become a writer. As a child, I wanted to be Nancy Drew, or even better – a spy! Technically speaking, I never became either, but for much of my career, I worked in intelligence and analysis. In the early 1990s, I worked as a CIA analyst covering the Soviet Union. I researched and wrote a variety of analytical pieces, including several items for the “President’s Daily Brief.” I also earned a commendation for the work I did during the failed 1991 Soviet coup. After graduate school, I worked as a Professional Staff Member for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). As a HPSCI staff member, I investigated allegations that the U.S. allowed Iran to funnel weapons to Bosnian Muslims. At the request of senior congressional leaders, I wrote several reports on the Intelligence Community’s capability to collect and analyze information on threats to U.S. national security. I also wrote a study on the intelligence requirements process and assisted in the structure and development of the Committee’s program, “IC21: The Intelligence Community in the 21st Century.” Since my time on the Hill, I’ve worked as a government contractor and freelance researcher, analyzing issues such as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. In 2015, I was named a National Review Institute Washington Fellow. In my spare time, I write fiction. I’ve completed the first two novels in my espionage thriller trilogy, and am working on the third. "The Wayward Spy": The terrorist threat has changed. The consequences haven't. When her fiancé, a CIA operative accused of treason, is killed overseas, intelligence analyst Maggie Jenkins smells cover-up and sets out to clear his name. Maggie disobeys direct orders and travels to Tbilisi, Georgia, to follow a trail littered with secrets and lies, corruption and deceit, risking her own life to expose the terrorist threat at the intersection where the Russian Mafia, Chechen rebels, Al Qaeda and ... US government officials meet. From the halls of power in Washington, D.C. to the political chaos of the former Soviet Union, Maggie must confront players from the intelligence, political, and criminal worlds who will do anything to stop her. How far will Maggie go to uncover the truth? "Susan Ouellette has written a well-crafted page-turner that benefits not only from her imagination and way with words -- but from her experience. She has walked the halls of the House Intelligence Committee and the CIA and knows those institutions as very few novelists do." - Dr. Mark M. Lowenthal, Former CIA Assistant Director for Analysis; Former Staff Director, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

We are very happy to bring back bestselling author Joel Rosenberg, as he talks his latest book in the Marcus Ryker, THE BEIRUT PROTOCOL. Joel C. Rosenberg (www.joelrosenberg.com) is a New York Times bestselling author of 15 novels and 4 non-fiction books with 5 million copies in print. He is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of two news and analysis websites, www.allisrael.com and allarab.news. His most recent novel was THE JERUSALEM ASSASSIN, which released in March 2020 and hit the Publishers Weekly best-seller list at #6. His next non-fiction book will release in September 2021. It will examine the future of the Middle East 20 years after the horrific terror attacks of September 11, 2001. "THE BEIRUT PROTOCOL": A game-changing peace treaty between Israel and the Saudis is nearly done. The secretary of state is headed to the region to seal the deal. And Special Agent Marcus Ryker is leading an advance trip along the Israeli-Lebanon border, ahead of the secretary’s arrival. But when Ryker and his team are ambushed by Hezbollah forces, a nightmare scenario begins to unfold. The last thing the White House can afford is a new war in the Mideast that could derail the treaty and set the region ablaze. U.S. and Israeli forces are mobilizing to find the hostages and get them home, but Ryker knows the clock is ticking. When Hezbollah realizes who they’ve captured, no amount of ransom will save them?they’ll be transferred to Beirut and then to Tehran to be executed on live television. In the fourth installment of Rosenberg’s gripping new series, Marcus Ryker finds himself in the most dangerous situation he has ever faced?captured, brutalized, and dragged deep behind enemy lines. Should he wait to be rescued? Or try to escape? How? And what if his colleagues are too wounded to run? This is the CIA’s most valuable operative as you have never seen him before.

It is very exciting to us when we can step outside of the normal author interviews and bring you something different. Today we have actor Kristoffer Polaha and author Anna Gomez, talking about the book they wrote together, called "Moments Like This." Kristoffer Polaha is best-known for his long starring role in the critically acclaimed series Life Unexpected (The CW). Other TV series credits include Get Shorty with Ray Romano and Chris O’Dowd, the limited series Condor opposite William Hurt and Max Irons, The CW’s Ringer (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Valentine, as well as North Shore (FOX). In addition to co-starring with Rainn Wilson in Backstrom (FOX), he had a multi-season role on the acclaimed series Mad Men (AMC) and Castle (ABC). Polaha is also well-known for starring in Hallmark Channel movies such as Dater’s Handbook with Meghan Markle, and the Mystery 101 franchise on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. Polaha first received attention for his portrayal of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in the TV movie, America’s Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story, opposite Portia de Rossi. He has appeared in numerous independent features, including Where Hope Grows, Devil’s Knot (Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon), and the Tim Tebow film, Run the Race. Polaha has a featured role opposite Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman 1984 and in Jurassic World: Dominion. In addition to his work as an actor, producer, and director, Polaha is branching into the book world by co-authoring a new series. He is also involved with several charitable organizations, including being an ambassador for World Vision, a board member for HerArtsInAction, and The Polaha Family Circus Foundation. Anna Gomez was born and raised in the city of Makati, Philippines before she met and married her best friend who whisked her away to Chicago over twenty years ago. Anna is a full time career woman who thought she could write a book about her life (The Light in the Wound, Christine Brae 2013) and then run away as far as possible from it. She never imagined that her words would touch the hearts of so many women with the same story to tell. Since then, Anna has released five more books under her pen name, Christine Brae. In December 2019, her agent convinced her to write one more book. Different model, different subject matter. Clean, contemporary, happy endings. Reluctantly, she decided to give it a try. This time, under her real name, Anna Gomez.

For the first time on Beyond the Cover and Suspense Radio, we are so pleased to bring you bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, as he talks his latest book "Serpentine," the 36th book in the Alex Delaware series. Like his fictional protagonist, Alex Delaware, Jonathan received a Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the treatment of children. Jonathan’s first published book was a medical text, PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CHILDHOOD CANCER, 1980. One year later, came a book for parents, HELPING THE FEARFUL CHILD. In 1985, Jonathan’s first novel, WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS, was published to enormous critical and commercial success and became a New York Times bestseller. BOUGH was also produced as a TV movie and won the Edgar Allan Poe and Anthony Boucher Awards for Best First Novel. Since then, Jonathan has published a best-selling crime novel every year, and occasionally, two a year. "Serpentine": NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Psychologist Alex Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis search for answers to a brutal, decades-old crime in this electrifying psychological thriller from the master of suspense. LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis is a master detective. He has a near-perfect solve rate and he’s written his own rule book. Some of those successes—the toughest ones—have involved his best friend, the brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware. But Milo doesn’t call Alex in unless cases are “different.” This murder warrants an immediate call. Milo’s independence has been compromised as never before, as the department pressures him to cater to the demands of a mogul: a hard-to-fathom, megarich young woman who is obsessed with reopening the coldest of cases—the decades-old death of the mother she never knew. The facts describe a likely loser: a mysterious woman found with a bullet in her head in a torched Cadillac that has overturned on infamously treacherous Mulholland Drive. No physical evidence, no witnesses, no apparent motive. And a slew of detectives have already worked the case and failed. But as Delaware and Sturgis begin digging, the mist begins to lift. Too many coincidences. Facts turn out to be anything but. And as they soon discover, very real threats lurking in the present. This is Delaware/Sturgis at their best: traversing the beautiful but forbidding place known as Los Angeles and exhuming the past in order to bring a vicious killer to justice.

We are so happy to bring back an old friend and wonderful author to the show, bestselling author Vincent Zandri. Vincent is gonna talk about his latest book "The Girl Who Wasn't There" and so much more. Winner of the 2015 PWA Shamus Award and the 2015 ITW Thriller Award for Best Original Paperback Novel for MOONLIGHT WEEPS, Vincent Zandri is the NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and AMAZON KINDLE OVERALL NO.1 bestselling author of more than 40 novels and novellas including THE REMAINS, EVERYTHING BURNS, ORCHARD GROVE, THE SHROUD KEY and THE GIRL WHO WASN’T THERE. His list of domestic publishers include Delacorte, Dell, Down & Out Books, Thomas & Mercer, Polis Books, Blackstone Audio, and Oceanview Publishing. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, his work is translated in the Dutch, Russian, French, Italian, and Japanese. Having sold close to 1 million editions of his books, Zandri was also the subject of a recent major feature by the New York Times. He has also made appearances on Bloomberg TV and the FOX News network. In December 2014, Suspense Magazine named Zandri’s, THE SHROUD KEY, as one of the “Best Books of 2014.” Recently, Suspense Magazine selected WHEN SHADOWS COME as one of the “Best Books of 2016”. He was also a finalist for the 2019 Derringer Award. A freelance photo-journalist and the author of the popular “lit blog,” The Vincent Zandri Vox, Zandri has written for Living Ready Magazine, RT, New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, The Times Union (Albany), Game & Fish Magazine, MudTribe, CrimeReads, Altcoin Magazine, and many more. An Active Member of MWA, he is also the CEO and Publisher of Bear Media LLC. He lives in New York. For more go to WWW.VINZANDRI.COM. "The Girl Who Wasn't There": Trust no one. Not your best friend, not your wife, not the police—and certainly not yourself. Sidney O'Keefe just wants to spend a peaceful weekend alone with his wife and daughter in the vacation paradise of Lake Placid, New York—now that he's been paroled after a ten year stretch in a maximum-security prison. But any illusion of a peaceful future is destroyed when his eleven-year-old daughter, Chloe, suddenly disappears from the iconic beach scene, leaving Sidney and his wife, Penny, stricken with fear and panic. When it's determined that his old crime boss, Mickey Rabuffo, might be behind the abduction, it becomes apparent that the past has not only come back to haunt Sidney, but it's come back to kill the entire family. With the village police assuming that Sidney, an ex-con with a history of prison violence, is responsible for his daughter's disappearance, Sidney is left with no choice—he needs to take the law into his own hands—not only to expose the truth about what's developing into a conspiracy of Biblical proportions, but also to render his own particular brand of rough justice.

We are very excited to bring you an awesome interview with author Les Edgerton, as he talks his latest book "Hard Times." Les Edgerton has published 22 books, the latest being "Adrenaline Junkie" from Down&Out Press, "Bomb!" from Gutter Press and the black comedy crime novel, "The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping" from Down & Out Press. One of his most popular books is the writer's text, "Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go." His own favorite is his collection, titled, "Monday's Meal," which received a glowing review from the NY Times in which he was compared favorably to Raymond Carver. "Hard Times": In 1930s East Texas, fourteen-year-old Amelia Laxault's father insists she marry Arnold Critchin, a local boy who assaulted her on their first date. When Arnold's alcohol-fueled brutality devastates their family, his ineptitude with crops destroys their farm, and his poorly run moonshine business lands him in prison, Amelia struggles to feed her four children as the Depression worsens and a secret from her past looms large. Three hundred miles away, Lucious Tremaine tangles with a white police officer. Fleeing to Houston, a second altercation leaves him with a gunshot wound. Desperate and weak, he makes his way into the backwoods. As Lucious encounters increasing obstacles and Amelia's challenges escalate with Arnold's return from prison-and a visit from her first love, who is now the local sheriff- an explosion looms. Will Lucious make it to Houston? Can Amelia save her children from both starvation and Arnold's increasing, vengeful violence? As the odds stack up and the food runs out, Amelia must summon all her courage, strength, and ingenuity to attempt to save her family.