
From History to Mystery
April 19 @ 11:15 am - 12:15 pm
How Four Historical Mystery Writers Bring the Past to Life
The New York Times has called this a Golden Age of historical fiction, and we agree! Hear four acclaimed historical mystery writers in conversation about their craft and how they bring the past to life, from ancient Crete to 18th century London and Paris, and from New England at the dawn of the 19th century to a hardscrabble upstate New York town in early 1900, not to mention New York City in the Roaring 20s.
Attendees will be entered into a raffle of the authors’ signed books.
Mally Becker is the two-time Agatha Award-nominated author of the Revolutionary War mysteries, which include The Turncoat’s Widow, The Counterfeit Wife, and, most recently, The Paris Mistress. You can find Mally at home writing, teaching mystery writing at The Writers Circle Workshops, or interviewing authors for the Historical Novel Society’s website. Mally was an attorney and volunteer advocate for foster children before becoming a full-time writer. She and her husband met while sailing, and they purchased an old boat together before ever buying a house. They live in New Jersey, where they raised their wonderful son. Find her on FaceBook and on Instagram.
Mally Becker’s Revolutionary War mysteries feature George Washington’s two least likely (fictional) spies—Becca Parcell and Daniel Alloway—who battle time, traitors, and their growing attraction to uncover plots that threaten our new nation. Through the lens of real historical events, Mally’s historical mysteries also explore how everyday people like ourselves face the challenge of unprecedented times and find the courage to hope for a better future. Her two-time Agatha Award nominated series include The Turncoat’s Widow, The Counterfeit Wife, and, mostly recently, The Paris Mistress.
Chris Keefer wrote “Birding Trips and Trivia,” a weekly newspaper column on birding for twenty years. She’s been published in Coping Magazine, Kaatskill Life, Tri-County Review, and The Conservationist magazines. Her short fiction includes “House Hunting” in the digital magazine Liquid Imagination, and The Battle in the Bathroom, an indie-published chapbook of humorous essays (affectionately called rants). The Carrie Lisbon historical mystery series launched in October, 2022 with No Comfort for the Undertaker, followed by Tragedy’s Twin in 2023, and Find Your Way to My Grave in 2024. She lives in upstate New York and enjoys birding, gardening, metal detecting, town historian duties, bicycling, rockhounding, and three grandchildren.
Chris Keefer’s Carrie Lisbon mysteries take place in the year 1900. Classic whodunits in the horse and buggy days, these books follow the recently widowed Carrie as she navigates the social strata in a new small town where her mortuary skills are rebuffed by the local undertaker and her “keen observer” skills initially dismissed by the sheriff until she gains her place, uncovers the truth, and helps catch criminals.
Eleanor Kuhns is the 2011 winner of the Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime novel competition. After winner with A Simple Murder, she went on to write ten more in the Will Rees Mystery series. The first of a new series set in Bronze Age Crete will be released the summer of 2023. She lives in upstate New York with her husband and her dog. Find her on FaceBook and on Instagram. Her books are available through Amazon.
Eleanor Kuhn’s Will Rees series takes place in early America, about 1795 through 1800. It features Revolutionary War veteran William Rees, who lives on a farm in Maine but can also be found wandering the countryside as a traveling weaver—and a reluctant detective—investigating crimes across the young nation. Kuhn’s second series is set in Bronze Age Crete, where Martis finds herself hunting down murderers as she struggles to realize her dream of becoming one of Crete’s bull dancers.
Nancy Bilyeau is a historical novelist and magazine editor based in New York. A graduate of the University of Michigan, she held staff jobs at Rolling Stone, Good Housekeeping, InStyle, and DuJour magazines. She is currently working as a content strategist at SoFi Bank and lives with her family in Rhinebeck, New York, where she enjoys gardening, listening to history and horror-movie podcasts, taking long walks along the Hudson River, and cooking. Find her on FaceBook and on Instagram.
Nancy Bilyeau’s debut novel, the Tudor-era thriller The Crown, sold at auction in 2010, was translated into more than 10 languages, was named “Page Turner You’ll Tear Through” by Oprah Magazine, and was a finalist for the CWA Ellis Peters Award in England. She followed it with The Chalice and The Tapestry, all published by Touchstone imprint of Simon & Schuster. She then developed a series of novels set in 18th century England featuring a French Huguenot artist, beginning with The Blue, published in 2018. It was followed by The Fugitive Colours. In April 2025, The Versailles Formula, the third book in the series, will be published. She has also written two New York-based historical novels of suspense: Dreamland, set in 1911 Coney Island, and The Orchid Hour, set in 1923 Manhattan and revolving around a Prohibition speakeasy.
April 19 @ 11:15 am – 12:15 pm — Zoom only
Program is free and open to the public.