On Wednesday, November 3 at 7pm, the Clapp Memorial Library is joining the Tewksbury Public Library in hosting an all-star panel discussion featuring all five nominees for this year’s Agatha Award for Best First Mystery Novel — Esme Addison (A Spell For Trouble); Tina deBellegarde (Winter Witness); Mary Keliikoa (Derailed); Erica Ruth Neubauer (Murder At The Mena House); and Laura Jensen Walker (Murder Most Sweet) via Zoom.  Author Catriona McPherson will serve as moderator.

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About The Authors:

Ever since Esme Addison discovered Nancy Drew, she’s wanted to solve mysteries. As a mystery author, she’s finally found a way to make that dream come true. Esme lives on the North Carolina coast with her family. When she’s not writing or dreaming up new mysteries for her sleuths to stumble upon, you can find her dancing her calories away in Zumba, patronizing her local bookstores or visiting the beach, the mountains and all historical sites in between. Learn more about Esme HERE.

Tina deBellegarde’s debut novel, Winter Witness, was nominated for an Agatha Award, a Silver Falchion Award and a Chanticleer Mystery & Mayhem Award. Tina also writes short stories and flash fiction. Her story “Tokyo Stranger” appears alongside celebrated authors in the Mystery Writers of America anthology When a Stranger Comes to Town edited by Michael Koryta. Tina’s short fiction also appears in the last two editions of The Best New England Crime Stories. She is the secretary of her local chapter of Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Mystery Writers of America, and Writers in Kyoto. Tina lives in Catskill, New York with her husband Denis where they harvest shiitake mushrooms and tend to their beehives. She travels to Kyoto, Japan regularly to visit her son Alessandro. Learn more about Tina HERE.

Mary Keliikoa is the author of the Shamus finalist and Lefty, Agatha and Anthony award nominated PI Kelly Pruett mystery series and the upcoming Misty Pines mystery series featuring Portland homicide detective turned small town sheriff slated for release in September 2022. Her short stories have appeared in Woman’s World and in the anthology Peace, Love and Crime: Crime Fiction Inspired by Music of the ‘60s. She is the Vice President of her local Sisters in Crime, and an active member of Mystery Writers of America, as well as Private Eye Writers of America. In addition, she volunteers her time as a Pitch Wars mentor. A Pacific Northwest native, she spent a part of her life working around lawyers. Combining her love of legal and books, she creates a twisting mystery where justice prevails. When not in Washington, you can find Mary on the beach in Hawaii where she and her husband recharge. But even under the palm trees and blazing sun, she’s plotting her next murder—novel that is. Learn more about Mary HERE.

Erica Ruth Neubauer, author of Murder at the Mena House, spent eleven years in the military, nearly two as a Maryland police officer and one as a high school English teacher before finding her way as a writer. She has been a reviewer of mysteries and crime fiction for publications such as Publishers Weekly and Mystery Scene Magazine for several years, and she’s a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Erica Ruth lives in Milwaukee, WI. Learn more about Erica HERE.

Agatha-nominated Laura Jensen Walker has loved mysteries since she read Trixie Belden in the fourth grade. A former reporter and the author of several books, including the Agatha-nominated Murder Most Sweet (her first Bookish Baker mystery) and Hope, Faith, & a Corpse, Laura is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. Deadly Delights, her second Bookish Baker mystery, is her third cozy and 20th book. Learn more about Laura HERE.

About The Moderator: National-bestselling and multi-award-winning author Catriona McPherson was born in Scotland and lived there until immigrating to the US in 2010. She writes historical detective stories set in the old country in the 1930s, featuring gently-born lady sleuth, Dandy Gilver. After eight years in the new country, she kicked off the comic Last Ditch Motel series, which takes a wry but affectionate look at California life from the POV of a displaced Scot (where do we get our ideas, eh?). She also writes a strand of contemporary psychological thrillers. The latest of these is A Gingerbread House, which Kirkus called “a disturbing tale of madness and fortitude”. Catriona is a member of MWA, CWA, Society of Authors, and a proud lifetime member and former national president of Sisters in Crime. Learn more about Catriona HERE.