I’m June and I live in New York City. Well, my birth name is Pear Blossom Jubilee and I come from a goat commune in upstate New York, but we’ll just keep that between us, shall we?

Tonight, I have dinner with my cousin Meadow. It’s one of those well-check dinners where I know she’ll report everything I say back to Mom and Dad. Despite that, I’m looking forward to seeing her. Not only does Meadow always pay for our meal at whatever swanky bistro she’s in love with at the moment (she’s a lawyer, she can afford it), I actually enjoy her company. She’s the closest I have to a sister and, even though I avoid the rest of my family like it’s my job, I always make time for Meadow.

Of course, dinner with Meadow requires laundry be done because none of my clothes at this moment could be considered “clean” or “fresh.” I heap dirty clothes into a basket and balance it against my hip as I lock my door and take the stairs down to the basement. Like all basements this one is dark and creepy with a whiff of mildew clinging to the walls. I spend as little time as possible there, dancing around while measuring out detergent and throwing in quarters as chills race up and down my spine.

I end up sprinting back to my apartment and throw the bolt as if I’m being chased by the Hounds of Hell. I shake off the mega-willies and go back to my shot schedule. I’m a documentary film student and right now I am putting together the plans for my second attempt at a film topic for my final project. This time I selected Wait Staff in New York and I am regretting my life choices. The old adage that all waiters are actors is true. Every interview is turning an audition. They are impossible to corral into a linear line of questioning and I was dragging with exhaustion after each interview. I needed a new topic before this one killed me.

Clicking my laptop shut and collapsed back into my couch. But instead of sinking into the cushions with soul-cleansing sigh, I jumped back out with a sharp yelp. Rubbing a spot on my lower back, I pulled out the offender from deep in my couch. A book. Not just any book. A Greer Larkin book.

I’d fallen asleep on the couch last night cuddled in the pages of mayhem, betrayal, and murder. Greer Larkin had been able to write a tight mystery that absorbed my total attention and rescued me time and time again from my boredom and frustration on my parents’ restrictive commune. I’d read and re-read her books about a million times and her fans clamored for the next book as soon as the new one had been out a month.

Until Greer Larkin disappeared.

Forever.

Ever since I was a teenager, I’d always wondered what happened to her. I’d obsessed about it. And given that I visit the conspiracy theory site GreersGone.com daily I have to admit I still obsess about it.

We all have theories including, and not limited to, joining a cult, alien abduction, and murder. Greer Larkin’s disappearance was a fertile field for discussion. Frankly, I was shocked no one had done a documentary about Greer yet.

Wait a minute. I think I just found my new topic.

Now I only have to convince my advisor.

Her Dying Day
Genre: Traditional
Release: June 2022
Purchase Link

Perfect for fans of Shari Lapena and Hannah Mary McKinnon, a mystery writer’s sudden disappearance leads a budding filmmaker down a dark road to treachery, murder, and long-buried sins.

Aspiring filmmaker June Masterson has high hopes for her first documentary, the true story of the disappearance of famed mystery author Greer Larkin. June learned about the vanishing at age fourteen, locked down on her family’s isolated commune. Now, the deeper she digs into the project, the darker the story gets.

Everyone has a theory. Greer’s mother, Blanche, and her best friend, Rachel, believe that Greer’s fiancé, Jonathan, is the culprit. Greer’s agent is convinced that Greer committed suicide after a debilitating bout of writer’s block. And Jonathan claims it was either Greer’s controlling mother or Rachel, whose attachment to Greer went way beyond friendship.

In desperation, Rachel gives June a suitcase full of Greer’s most personal writings in hopes of finding proof against Jonathan. Then Rachel turns up dead. As June pores over Greer’s writings, she makes a devastating discovery that could finally reveal the truth about the author’s fate. But now, June finds herself in the sights of a killer who’ll stop at nothing to keep their darkest secret.

Meet the author
Mindy Carlson, M.S.O.D., grew up as an animal- and mystery-loving girl in Iowa before heading to California to see what she could make of her life. Now she lives in Maryland and is a successful parenting author, with pieces appearing in The Washington Post, Big Life Journal, and AFineParent.com. Her Dying Day is her debut novel. She blogs about parenting, cooking, and travel as the Swiss Family Carlson at mindycarlson.com.

All comments are welcomed.