April 2026
CRIME NOTES AND ANECDOTES
FROM ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS
Happy Very Nearly May, all!
How do you experience nostalgia? For me, it’s all about sounds and smells. Every time I take a sniff of kibble, I’m transported to my grandfather’s Indiana house almost six decades ago, watching him scoop dinner for his beloved English setters. A little less prosaically, the 1980 Genesis song, Misunderstanding, never fails to summon memories of long hours house painting the summer after my freshman year in college accompanied by a portable radio. I was reminded of the hold that music has on memory earlier this month while performing the theme from Downton Abbey at my piano recital. Unexpectedly—and a bit emotionally—I was taken back to the Monday afternoons when, driving home from work, I’d call my mom and we’d rehash the previous evening’s episode. I selected the piece because I’ve always liked it, but an unexpected bonus was recalling a precious shared experience. I hope you have similar, positive triggers for fond memories.
This month, I have an expanded events calendar, more recommended reads, and additional updates about The Delivery. But first…
We celebrated spring break visiting our younger daughter in New Orleans, where she and I ran the Crescent City 10K (with 20,000-plus runners, bigger than most marathons), Pam and I visited the World War II Museum (exhaustive and also exhausting), and courtesy of our daughter’s New Orleans-native boyfriend, enjoyed one of the most unusual Easter Sunday dinners we’ve had, not to mention most delicious.
As we near the end of our kitchen renovation, I took advantage of a largely empty downstairs to do some repainting, including swapping out purple on several walls for a rich goldenrod. Here’s an action shot of me using a telescoping ladder to reach a high wall. Glad that’s done for the next 25 years.
A highlight of author events is meeting new readers and other interesting people … and creatures. Case in point: my introduction to Sedgie the Hedgehog at the Dragonfly Bookshop Author Alley on National Independent Bookstore Day.
Finally, this month’s obligatory cat pictures feature Stretch reminding us of how she got her name …
… Bubba reveling in the return of his favorite window perch (disrupted by furniture moving during the renovation)…
… and New Orleans Grandcat Theo checking out a northern interloper…
MERCURY CARTER
Positive reviews for the new Mercury Carter thriller continue to be, er, delivered. Kings River Life calls Carter, “a moral straight arrow who does the right thing, even when it gets in the way of his deliveries.”
Writes Bookreporter.com: “‘THE DELIVERY’ is a fun and exciting nonstop thriller, and Mercury Carter remains one of the most unique protagonists I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.”
Meanwhile, reviewer Judith Collins says: “The follow-up to last year's acclaimed hit, The Mailman, which launched the Mercury Carter series, The Delivery is a fast-paced, unpredictable thriller following a memorable protagonist whose resourcefulness is matched only by his quick wit and determination to never miss a delivery.”
But wait, there’s more: Excited to report that I finished the initial draft of the new Carter thriller, Address Unknown, which is now in my agent’s hands before heading to my editor, with a tentative publication date of March 2027.
ANDY HAYES
Mysteries are, above all, about secrets, and here’s one just for you: Although the new Andy Hayes novella, Rescue Me, officially launches June 2, it’s—Shhh—available for purchase now through your favorite independently owned bookstore or online via Ohio University Press…
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday, June 2, 6-7:30 p.m., Storyline Bookshop, Upper Arlington, Ohio. Rescue Me launch. Excited to be in conversation with NV Gay, author of The Queer Allies Bible!
Tuesday, June 9, 6:30 p.m., Gathering Volumes bookstore book club discussion of The Delivery, Perrysburg, Ohio (held at Earnest Brew Works in South Toledo). Copies of Rescue Me will also be available.
Wednesday, June 10, 6-7:30 p.m., Thurber House picnic series, Columbus, Ohio. Discussion of Rescue Me and The Delivery, and how I balance two series. I’ll be in conversation with one of my favorite writers, historical mystery novelist Sharon Short. Register here.
Tuesday, June 16, 6-7:30 p.m., Birdie Books, Westerville, Ohio. Author talk and signing.
Thursday, June 18, 6-7:30 p.m., Morgenstern Books, Bloomington, Indiana. Author talk on The Delivery and Rescue Me. (Full details TBA.)
Saturday, June 27, 2-4 p.m., Thunderwing Brewing, Columbus, Ohio. Rescue Me book signing with reappearance of specially brewed Private EYE PA!
Saturday, July 11, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Columbus Book Festival, downtown library. Join me at the Ohio University Press booth, where I’ll be signing copies of Rescue Me.
Thursday, Sept. 10, 6:30-8 p.m., Westerville Public Library. Join me for a humorous look at a serious subject as I teach a class titled: “Ten Tips to Ensure Your Novel Is Never Published.”
Thursday, Sept. 24, 6-8 p.m., Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, Authors! program. Author talk and book signing; details TBA
Saturday, Oct. 10, 10-4 p.m., Ohio Author Festival, Crossroads Branch of the Guernsey County Public Library. Book signing and mystery writer panel.
Wednesday, Oct. 21-Sunday, Oct. 25, Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, Calgary, Canada.
Saturday, Nov. 7, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Buckeye Book Fair, Wooster, Ohio. Stop by one of Ohio’s oldest and biggest book fairs, held annually just in time for all your Christmas shopping needs!
FUTURE READS
(Recently purchased books high on my TBR pile)
RECOMMENDED READS
Faithful newsletter reader Kathy Reed recommended the memoir, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, by Lori Gottlieb.
Meanwhile, here are several titles I read recently and warmly recommend…
_ Call the Midwife trilogy, by Jennifer Worth (Call the Midwife; Shadows of the Workhouse; and Farewell to the East End). As a fan of the long-running BBC drama about midwives serving East London in the 1950s and 1960s, I was overdue in reading the books the show is based on. Reading these outstanding books, it becomes immediately clear that the TV show, for all its brilliance, has had to sanitize the actual conditions the midwives worked in: thousands of people crammed into decrepit tenement apartments, many lacking running water or toilets; widespread prostitution; and poverty bordering on starvation conditions. A bleak situation, and one that makes you seriously rethink the “Merry Olde England” trope, but Worth is a gifted storyteller who creates captivating, inspirational, and unforgettable portraits of the people and places of East London.
_ Served Him Right, by Lisa Unger. When a misogynistic cad is found dead, police must deal with multiple potential suspects, including former girlfriends, among them one who is missing. Unger, one of my favorite psychological suspense writers, skillfully kept me guessing right to the end.
_ How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others and Being Deeply Seen, by David Brooks. Maybe you’ve noticed it’s difficult to talk to people of different political persuasions these days? Brooks’ book may not bridge this divide, but he offers multiple, thoughtful ways to reexamine how we communicate, with a goal of becoming more welcoming, curious, and understanding of others.
_ The Ferryman and his Wife, by Frode Grytten. A moving, lyrical Norwegian novel in translation (really, almost a long novella) about a ferryman reflecting on his life on his last day on earth.
_ Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection, by John Green. Yes, that John Green, the bestselling and beloved YA author, whose work as a health justice advocate is on full and riveting display in this book, which quickly disabuses you of the idea that tuberculosis is a long-vanished disease of wan, 19th-century poets and warns of the continued threat that TB poses globally.
What's the best book you've read recently?
Happy reading and writing!
Andrew
THE LAST WORD
(by Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell)
