Murder Ink

December 1, 2020
Hechtman abandons her usual crafters to present an altogether more cerebral heroine. Veronica Blackstone is a writer for hire. The unfinished follow-up to her national bestseller is sitting on a shelf. As she tries to overcome writer's block, she keeps her hand in by running a writers' group and taking on various assignments. Her latest gigs are creating notes for Evan, a computer nerd angling for a date with an attractive co-worker, and writing a biography for distribution at the funeral service of Rachel Parker, whose wedding vows Veronica wrote only a year ago. Rachel, who seemed to Veronica to be wildly happy, has either fallen or jumped from her apartment balcony. Her wealthy parents prefer that her death be ruled an accident. As she researches Rachel's biography, though, Veronica becomes convinced that she may have been pushed, and her snooping attracts unwanted attention. Rachel loved teaching, had joined a dance gym, and had a handsome, charismatic husband in Luke. But she seems to have developed delusions, and now someone is gaslighting Veronica, trying to convince her that she too is losing her mind. Police officer Ben Monroe, a member of the writing group, advises her to drop her investigation. As she follows in Rachel's footsteps, determined to uncover the truth, Veronica becomes more involved in Evan's dating woes even as she fights an attraction to Ben, who like her is divorced and gun-shy. Plenty of plot twists and an appealing heroine with a reluctant love interest. What's not to like?

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 21, 2020
Chicago freelance writer Veronica Blackstone, the narrator of this thought-provoking series launch from Hechtman (the Crochet mysteries), faces a sad sequel involving Rachel Parker, a former client who engaged Veronica to write wedding vows for her and her bartender fiancé, Luke Ross. Just over a year into her marriage, Rachel has died after falling off her balcony, and her snooty stepmother wants Veronica to create a memorial tribute book. During her research, Veronica uncovers tensions between Luke and his well-heeled in-laws, as well as conflicting stories from Rachel’s teacher colleagues and dance classmates about Rachel’s intense anxiety and loss of weight. Veronica begins to wonder whether Rachel’s death was really an accident, especially when she learns of Rachel’s trust fund, receives mysterious packages, and experiences strange incidents around her home. A sympathetic heroine coping with her own losses and colorful characters from a writer’s group combine nicely with an intriguing plot involving class and abuse. Readers will look forward to future installments. Agent: Jessica Faust, Bookends Literary.

February 15, 2021
Veronica Blackstone is a writer working on her second novel. To make ends meet, she also writes business brochures, r�sum�s, or anything a client needs--as long as it's legal. In this first in a new series, Blackstone takes on two assignments on the same day. One is writing love letters for Evan, an IT guy mooning for one of his clients; the other is a memorial book for Rachel, daughter of a socially prominent family, who died in a fall from a high-rise balcony off Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Veronica had written the wedding vows for Rachel and her husband just a year earlier and is now called to write the memorial without referring to the manner of death or interviewing Rachel's father. The two assignments become intertwined as Veronica interviews those who knew Rachel, so much so that Veronica is grateful for the support of the policeman in her writer's workshop. Hechtman vividly captures the pre-pandemic bustle of Chicago's Michigan Avenue in this engaging series debut.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.