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August 2, 2010
Herbert, the editor of several mystery anthologies and editor-in-chief of The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, turns that wealth of experience to effective use in her intelligent and thought-provoking mystery debut. Liz Higgins, a feature reporter for the Beantown Banner with hard news aspirations, jumps at the opportunity to help cover the disappearance of Ellen Johansson, who goes missing from her suburban Boston home the week before Christmas in 2000, leaving a blood-spattered kitchen and some conflicting clues. Dogged reporting leads Higgins on a trail that includes Johansson's reading habits, her correspondence with an Israeli pen pal, a chance encounter with a New York City cab driver, and an incident buried in Johansson's childhood. Herbert makes artful use of the looming date of 9/11 as the action builds to an unexpected but satisfying outcome.

July 1, 2010
When a mother vanishes from her house, her kitchen splattered in blood, the authorities are not sure if she has staged a runaway or been killed by her husband. "Bay State Banner"reporter Liz Higgins takes a personal interest in the case. VERDICTMaking her debut as a novelist, Herbert, a former "LJ"reviewer, librarian, and authority on the mystery novel ("The Oxford Companion to Crime & Mystery Writing", brings all of her newspaper experience to bear in this neatly plotted tale of misdirection.

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