Each day leading up to the April 16 announcement of the Minnesota Book Awards, and in collaboration with community editors from the award-winning Saint Paul Almanac, we highlight one of the thirty-two finalists. Today we feature 2016 Genre Fiction finalist:
The Grave Soul by Ellen Hart
Published by Minotaur Books
Category Sponsor: Macalester College
Synopsis by Colleen Casey, Saint Paul Almanac:
Guthrie plans to propose to Kira at Christmastime, but over the Thanksgiving holiday he visits Kira’s family home for the first time. Kira has dreams about her mother’s death. In her dreams, she witnesses her mother’s murder, yet at her mother’s time of death, there was no cause to think it was a murder. When a mysterious—and disturbing—package arrives that holiday weekend, Guthrie begins to believe Kira’s dreams may not be just dreams. When Kira returns home for a family meeting on a later occasion, Guthrie calls in investigator Jane Lawless to help sort out the truth. In doing so, they discover a web of family secrets that might ensnare Kira too. Jane Lawless goes straight to the heart of a family mystery in a tale of how family secrets can build—and destroy—lives.
Author Bio:
Ellen Hart is the author of thirty crime novels in two different series. She has won innumerable awards for her writing, including being a six-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery, a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award for Best Popular Fiction, a three-time winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award in several categories, a recipient of the Alice B Medal, and status as an official GLBT Literary Saint at the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in 2005. In 2010, Ellen received the GCLS Trailblazer Award for lifetime achievement in the field of lesbian literature. For the past sixteen years, Ellen has taught “An Introduction to Writing the Modern Mystery” through the The Loft Literary Center. Ellen recently married her partner of thirty-seven years, Kathleen Kruger. They live in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.
If your book club is reading any of her books and you would be interested in an author visit, you can contact Ellen Hart at [email protected]. She’s available for book clubs in the Twin Cities, and in other parts of the country, via Skype.
Ellen Hart is on Facebook
An Excerpt from The Grave Soul:
After tossing and turning for two solid hours, unable to stop obsessing about Kira and what might be happening to her in New Dresden, Guthrie threw off the covers, yanked on his robe, and went into the living room to dismantle the tree. Christmas had been a disaster. He didn’t need anything to remind him of it.
As he reached for the angel at the top of the tree, his cell phone rang. He rushed to the bedroom and grabbed it off the nightstand. “Hello?”
Read the first chapter
Reviews:
“The Grave Soul displays this popular author at her best… All of Hart’s writing strengths are on view here, especially her full-bodied character development on behalf of nearly every person involved in the action, however tangentially.” — American Library Association GLBT Reviews
“A good mystery engages our moral imaginations. Hart always has done this well through the diverse mix of gay and non-gay characters that populate her fictional world and the meaningful contemporary themes they confront.” ―Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Hart, the veteran crime writer, presents her central character, Jane Lawless, with such consistent and off-handed good humour that readers hardly notice the trails she and her character have blazed.” ―The Toronto Star
“Hart is a flawless writer, her masterful prose flies off the page. This story dramatically opening with the series sleuth fleeing the Wisconsin countryside with amnesia will keep the reader guessing to the final revelations.”—Minnesota Book Awards preliminary round judge
“Hallmarks of a classic detective story, plus a complex engaging main character whom I would feel fortunate to have as a friend.”—Minnesota Book Awards preliminary round judge
Video:
SELCO Librarian Rachel Gray reviews The Grave Soul by Ellen Hart.
The evening features a Preface Reception with complimentary passed wine and cash bar, author meet-and-greet, book sales and signing; the Awards Ceremony with live music, celebrity presenters, artisan cheese plates and breads, complimentary wine and lemonade, with emcee Stephanie Curtis of MPR; and the Epilogue After-Party with complimentary champagne, sumptuous desserts, and additional live music. Tickets now on sale, or click here for more information.
Today’s winner: Julie Vasquez. (We’ll be in touch via email, and arrange getting the book to you!)
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