December 2025

Dec 18

CRIME NOTES AND ANECDOTES
FROM ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS

Happy December, all!

Though I’m not the world’s biggest fan of December’s over-the-top celebrations, I’ve always appreciated the literal outpouring of light during this, the darkest time of the year. The glitter, glowing bulbs, and decorated trees help remind us that even though it’s pretty much dark by 5:15 p.m.—at least in Ohio—longer days are right around the corner. Forget presents: maybe it’s this sense of anticipation that I like most about the winter solstice. Help is on the way!

In celebration of light, now and in the future, here’s an action shot of a holiday treat we enjoyed with friends recently: fixings for indoor s’mores.

This month’s newsletter features an updated events calendar, some fun Mercury Carter news, and more recommended reads. But first …

Last month, I wrote about an important mentor, Ralph Parazzo, who took me under his wing as a painter’s assistant and taught me much about life and work. Earlier this month, I mourned the loss of another mentor. William McCulloh, Kenyon College Professor Emeritus of Classics, who died at 94, is the reason I’m writing this newsletter in Ohio as opposed to anyplace else. In the fall of 1978, he took time out from what was undoubtedly a very busy schedule to sit with a shy high school senior thinking about Kenyon and discuss with me why majoring in Classics was a noble endeavor. I went to Kenyon, became said major, met Pam, and the rest is history. As some faithful readers will know, my Andy Hayes mysteries feature a fictional liberal arts school called McCulloh College that I invented to honor Professor McCulloh. Because my crime novel The End of the Road is based loosely on Homer’s Odyssey, which I studied in many of Professor McCulloh’s classes, I also dedicated that book to him. May he rest in peace.

On a lighter note, and speaking of December, we’re having one of the snowiest in recent years. By my count, approximately 17.5 seconds elapsed after the most recent snowfall for this cute sight to appear a couple of houses away.

On the subject of looking forward to longer (and warmer) days, a friend recently gifted me a poster of one of my favorite places: Stony Brook State Park in my homeland of western New York State. A WPA project that converted a stream into swimming areas, this was a cherished destination when we were kids. We were lucky enough to take our own children there and treat them to water so cold—even in July—that it took several minutes in the sun afterward to recover. It’s called character building.

Finally, this month’s obligatory cat pictures find Bubba testing out conditions in our newly painted and refurbished bedroom…

Stretch trying to stay warm as cold temperatures set in …

And Grandcat Theo, visiting from New Orleans, having a serious conversation with Pepper, visiting from two doors down…

MERCURY CARTER

Earlier this month, The Mailman was named one of the best mysteries of the year by Library Journal. Meanwhile I was honored that two of my favorite writers offered glowing praise for The Delivery.

“Andrew Welsh-Huggins has done it again with THE DELIVERY—another frenetic, kinetic thriller starring his off-kilter and likeable protagonist Mercury Carter. Carter may be driving, but it’s Welsh-Huggins who never takes his foot off the gas.”

_ James Byrne, author of The Gatekeeper and Chain Reaction.

“The Delivery starts strong and doesn’t let up until the last page, striking a keen balance between edge-of-your-seat action and careful character work. If Andrew Welsh-Huggins keeps this up, it won’t be long before Mercury Carter makes it into the pantheon of literary action heroes.”

_ Rob Hart, USA Today bestselling author of the Assassins Anonymous series.

Please check out Byrne’s and Hart’s books: they’re fantastic reads.

Meanwhile, Publishers Weekly had this to say about The Delivery:

“Head-knocking courier Mercury Carter gets tangled in overlapping criminal conspiracies in Welsh-Huggins’s solid sequel to The Mailman … Carter’s tenacity and physical durability help support Welsh-Huggins’s propulsive set pieces.”

A reminder that pre-orders are available for The Delivery, coming March 24. Check with your local independent bookstore for pre-order options.

SHORT FICTION

Ronnie lets down her guard long enough to confess a disturbing childhood memory to frenemy Alanna, who can’t help but laugh at the idea of a haunted outhouse. My short horror story, “Sharp Enough,” online and free to read, is available at Horrific Scribes.

UPCOMING EVENTS

While I don't list my book club engagements on this calendar, I'm always happy to visit book clubs to talk about my novels specifically and mystery writing in general. Drop me a line if you'd like to set something up.

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 6-7:30 p.m., Blue Couch Bookshop, Grandview Heights, Ohio. Join me for an evening of conversation about the justice system as attorney Rachel Troutman, a veteran death penalty defense attorney, and I discuss the 1955 play Inherit the Wind, along with my book on the history of capital punishment in Ohio, No Winners Here Tonight, in a celebration of Ohio authors presented by the Ohioana Library. Free, but registration is encouraged.

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 6-7 p.m., Storyline Bookstore, Upper Arlington, Ohio. Join me as I’m in conversation with friend and fellow mystery writer Con Lehane, launching his new book, The Red Scare Murders, a private eye novel set in 1950 New York City.

Tuesday, March 3, publication of the paperback edition of The Mailman.

Sunday, March 8, 1 p.m., book signing at the Book Loft, Columbus, Ohio,

Tuesday, March 24, 2026, launch of The Delivery, Book Two in the Mercury Carter series, at Gramercy Books, where I’ll be in conversation with Edgar Award-winning crime writer Natalie Richards. FYI, it’s a ticketed event, and registration is now open!

Tuesday, March 31, 2026, noon to 1 p.m., Ohio County Public Library, Lunch with Books program, Wheeling, West Virginia.

Thursday, April 16, 2026, 6:30-8 p.m., New Albany Branch of the Columbus Public Library, discussion of The Delivery.

Monday, June 2, 2026, 6-7:30 p.m., Storyline Bookshop, Upper Arlington, Ohio. Launch of Rescue Me, the new Andy Hayes private eye novella.

Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 6:30 p.m., Gathering Volumes bookstore book club discussion of The Delivery, Perrysburg, Ohio (full details TBA, and Rescue Me will also be available for purchase).

Wednesday, June 10, 2026, 6-7:30 p.m., Thurber House picnic series, discussion of Rescue Me and The Delivery, and how I balance two series, Columbus, Ohio (full details TBA).

December 2025

November 2025