• Blog

    T.J. Newman at Murder by the Book

    Fresh off the publication of her third thriller, Worst Case Scenario, author T.J. Newman landed at Houston’s Murder by the Book on Thursday evening for her first visit to the independent bookstore. Local journalists, Natalie J. Harms, interviewed the former flight attendant and what emerged was a lively discussion of the book, her processes, and the winding road she took to becoming a published author. The Key is the Research It’s the question every author fields: where did you get the idea for [Current Book]. Newman told the story of how she researched her first thriller, Falling. She asked pilots about their biggest fears. One commented that it was a…

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    Start Your Summer Reading Season With Tom Straw and Matt Goldman

    I walked into Murder by the Book on Wednesday knowing one author. I left knowing two. I’ve enjoyed Tom Straw’s writing before I knew who Tom Straw was. Back in the fall of 2009, the second season of “Castle” premiered on our TV screens, but HEAT WAVE, the first book “written by” Richard Castle, showed up on bookshelves. What was this meta magic? Nearly every fall after 2009, when a new Castle season started there was a Castle book. What made the books great was this: unlike the TV show characters Castle and Beckett, their counterparts, Jameson Rook and Nikki Heat, actually got together. It was the mirror universe of…

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    Duane Swierczynski Talks Moving Backstory of New Novel in Return to Houston’s Murder by the Book

    It’s been nine years since Philadelphia native Duane Swierczynski had a book signing at Houston’s Murder by the Book. In fact, as he told the folks who turned out last Friday night, this store was the site of his first book signing. What he appreciated, he told us, was how much the store had not changed. He, on the other hand, has. Swierczynski is the author of over a dozen novels, numerous short stories, and quite a few comics. He is married and is the father of two children. One, however, his daughter, Evelyn, was diagnosed with leukemia back in 2018. Swierczynski and his wife took turns spending the night…