Heather Gudenkauf‘s family moved to Iowa when she was three. Having been born with a profound unilateral hearing loss (there were many evenings when Heather and her father made a trip to the bus barn to look around the school bus for her hearing aids that she would often conveniently forget on the seat beside her). Heather tended to use books as a retreat, would climb into the toy box that her father’s students made for the family with a pillow, blanket, and flashlight, close the lid, and escape the world around her. Heather became a voracious reader and the seed of becoming a writer was planted.

Heather lives in Iowa with her family and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Lolo. In her free time, Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, swimming, and hiking. She is currently working on her next novel.

The Perfect Hosts — November 4, 2025

Madeline and Wes Drake have invited two hundred of their closest friends and family to their sprawling horse ranch for the most anticipated event of the year: a “pistols and pearls” gender reveal party so sensational it is sure to make headlines. But the party descends into chaos when the celebratory explosive misfires, leaving one woman dead and a trail of secrets.

As the aftershocks of the bloody party ripple across the small town, Agent Jamie Saldano is brought on the scene to investigate. Battling his own demons from the past, Saldano unearths a web of deceit spun around the Drakes. The appearance of some unexpected houseguests only deepens the mystery. And as tensions mount, it becomes clear that the explosion wasn’t just an unlucky accident. But who was the target, and why? As the shadow of a killer looms, the happy parents-to-be must unravel the truth before it’s too late.

Heather likes to snack on Lone Tree Ranch Granola, and thinks the Cotton Candy Cocktail is the perfect drink for a gender reveal party—see recipes below!

Valerie Wilson Wesley is a former executive editor of Essence Magazine. She served as artist-in-residence at Columbia College in Chicago in spring 2005. She is a former adjunct professor at Ramapo College in Mahwah New Jersey, and a former artist-in-residence at the Tyson School of the Arts in East Orange, New Jersey.

Her fiction and nonfiction for both adults and children have appeared in magazines including Essence, Family Circle, TV Guide, Ms, Creative Classroom, Scholastic News and Weltwoche, a Swiss weekly newspaper. She is a 1993 recipient of the Griot Award from the New York Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. She has received awards from many book groups and community organizations, including 2004 Author of the Year from the Amigirls Book Club and 1996 Author of the Year, 2012 Mystery Writer of the Year and 2012 Literary Beacon Award from the national Go On Girls Book Club. She is a member of Crime Writers of Color (CWoC), Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America.

Valerie is a graduate of Howard University and holds master’s degrees from the Bank Street College of Education and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She is married to noted screenwriter and playwright Richard Wesley.

The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum — December 16, 2025

1926: Harriet Stone, a liberated, educated Black woman, and Lovey, the orphaned, biracial 12-year-old she is bound to protect, are Harlem-bound, embarking on a new, hopefully less traumatic chapter in their lives. They have been invited to move from Connecticut by Harriet’s cousin, Junetta Plum, who runs a boardinghouse for independent-minded single women.

Harriet has never met Junetta, but the fatalities of the Spanish flu and other tragedies have already forced her and Lovey to face their worst fears. Alone but for each other, they have little left to lose—or so it seems as they arrive at sophisticated Junetta’s impressive brownstone. But in the night Harriett awakens to Junetta arguing with someone downstairs. In the morning, she makes a shocking discovery at the foot of the stairs. What comes after will lead Harriet to question Junetta’s very identity—and to wonder if she and Lovey are in danger, as well.

Valerie’s favorite snack is mixed nuts—unsalted!

Marshall Karp was born in New York City on June 4 in one of those old-timey years before they invented color TV. He was always a writer—letters, parody songs, stories, skits, fun stuff—but didn’t know he could make a living at it, so he entered Rutgers with a grand plan—to be a dentist…a man with all the manual dexterity of a drunken monkey. Fortunately the universe intervened and he flunked freshman biology, and started writing for the school newspaper.

After college he fell into advertising—for 20 years. He had a big title, a big office, and supervised a hundred people…and all he could think was, “is this all there is?” He started writing at night, and during the next twenty years wrote a play, did a stint in Hollywood writing sitcoms, wrote and produced a feature film, returned to advertising and caught the dotcom wave, and finally, these books.

On a personal note, he’s married, with a son, a daughter, a grandson, and a dog, living a hundred miles north of New York City in a small town in the mid-Hudson Valley.

NYPD Red 8: The 11:59 Bomber — November 25, 2025

It’s 11:59, and the city that never sleeps is afraid to get out of bed.
A bomb explodes in a crowded New York subway station at exactly 11:59 a.m. The next day, a second blast rips through a busy department store–again at 11:59.

As the bombs go off with clockwork precision, the death toll climbs and businesses shut their doors as the city hunkers down in fear.

NYPD Red Detectives Kylie MacDonald and Zach Jordan face their most twisted case ever, as they race against the clock in search of one man who has vowed “to destroy New York City the way it destroyed my family.”

The 11:59 Bomber has sections in it related to the book Don’t Tell Me How To Die, and Marshall’s character in that book, Maggie Dunn, enjoys Monkey Paws and Chai tea—recipes below!

Ellen Byron  is a USA Today bestselling author and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty  awards, a two-time Anthony Award nominee, award-winning playwright and non-award-winning TV writer of comedies like WINGS, JUST SHOOT ME, and FAIRLY ODD PARENTS. She has written over two hundred articles for national magazines but considers her most impressive credit working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart. She blogs with Chicks on the Case, is a lifetime member of the Writers Guild of America, and serves on the national board of Mystery Writers of America.

A native New Yorker, Ellen is a graduate of New Orleans’ Tulane University, hence her love of both cities. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, daughter, and a rotating crew of rescue pups.

Crescent City Christmas Chaos — November 4, 2025

Ricki James-Diaz gets the best present ever when her parents arrive in New Orleans for the holidays. Not only is it a chance to catch up, it’s also an opportunity to jog her mom Josepha’s memory about Ricki’s adoption. The details have always been shrouded in mystery. And Ricki understands why when she learns her mother was blackmailed for years, simply for not wanting to lose her precious daughter.

But when the woman who extorted Ricki’s mom is found dead at her home, Josepha becomes the primary suspect. Now Ricki has another murder to solve, and tracking down a killer in Crescent City is going to take a holiday miracle.

Ellen’s favorite snack? It’s everything! But if we have to narrow it down, it’s cut fruit or pretzels. Fave beverage: unsweetened jasmine green tea for non-alcoholic. And Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay for wine; Pimms Cup for cocktail.