Caitlin Hendrix started out as a sheriff’s deputy too, in Alameda County, in former L.A. attorney Meg Gardiner’s blistering 2017 debut, “UNSUB.” (The title comes from what the FBI calls an unknown subject.) Hendrix — now working for the FBI as a behavioral analyst — is back for her third nerve-wracking outing in “The Dark Corners of the Night.” This time, a serial killer dubbed The Midnight Man is stealthily breaking into Southern California homes. He kills couples while they sleep, leaving traumatized small children behind to bear witness. Hearing one set of survivors’ harrowing Christmastime encounter heightens Hendrix’s clarity of purpose: “The more challenging and urgent the case, the more dangerous the UNSUB, the hotter her blood sang.”
The novel drops February 18th. And you bet, between now and then I’m going to urge y’all to preorder. Repeatedly, if the spirit moves you. Preordering really helps the book — and its publisher, and its author. So go wild.
The first review of my upcoming novel The Dark Corners of the Night is here, and I’m absolutely thrilled. From Kirkus Reviews:
“Los Angeles may not have snow at Christmastime, but it’s got the next best thing: a stone-cold serial killer who provides FBI behavioral analyst Caitlin Hendrix (Into the Black Nowhere, 2018, etc.) with her third, and perhaps most chilling, adversary. What kind of person breaks into houses when the whole family is home, executes both parents, but leaves the children alive to live with their nightmares? Only someone, as Caitlin tells her boss, CJ Emmerich, who has “deliberately created surviving witnesses.” … Determined that she won’t be outmaneuvered by a killer who’s dramatically stepped up the pace of his murderous attacks, breached his self-imposed limits, and now threatens her star witness with abduction and worse, she hunkers down to catch a quarry whom she says is “like nothing I’ve ever dealt with”—as if she doesn’t know that descriptions like that just set the bar even higher for the inevitable sequel. Gardiner has mastered the art of the serial-killer saga without an ounce of fat.
I’ll take that. With gratitude.
The Dark Corners of the Night drops February 18th, 2020. Preorder:
This weekend I’ll be speaking at Texas Writes in ATX. It’s going to be a great two days of presentations on writing, and I hope I’ll see some of you there.
Texas Writes in ATX Sunday, November 10, 2019 ACC Riverside Campus 1020 Grove Boulevard, Austin, TX
My schedule:
Sunday, 2:55-3:25pm: HARD CHOICES: PUTTING YOUR CHARACTERS TO THE TEST How do you create compelling characters and put them in memorable conflict? Meg Gardiner, author of fourteen acclaimed thrillers, will talk about heroes, antagonists, and how, by forcing them to face hard choices, you can ramp up the suspense and tension in your story.
This year, Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention, is being held in Dallas from October 31 — November 3. I’ll be there, because where else do I get to hang out for a few days with mystery and thriller fans, talking dawn to midnight about books and writing?
Here’s my schedule, including an off-site event at the Half Price Books Flagship store.
Halloween Mystery Panel Thursday, October 31, 7 PM Half Price Books Flagship 5803 E. Northwest Hwy Dallas, Texas
Friday, November 1, 3:30 PM Mystery Writers of America signing table Bouchercon Book Room
Saturday, November 2, 11 AM Panel Moderator: The Rogues
Saturday, November 2, 1 PM Panel: The Name of the Game Was Murder
Sunday, November 3, 10 AM Panel: Beyond This Point There Be Monsters
I hope I’ll see some of you there. All y’all, if possible.
I’ve got several events coming up this month and next. If you’re in the neighborhood, check them out.
Noir at the Bar Tuesday, September 10, 7:30 p.m. Radio Coffee & Beer 4204 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX With Meg Gardiner, Amy Gentry, Puja Guha, Edwin Hill, Laura Oles, May Cobb, and host Scott Montgomery
Author Visit: Barnes & Noble Round Rock September 16, 2019 — 1 p.m. Meg will speak to the Round Rock New Neighbors Book Club — free and open to the public Barnes & Noble La Frontera Village 2701 Parker Road Bldg A Suite 700 Round Rock, TX 78681 512-600-0088
Texas Writes at the McCulloch County Library, Brady, TX September 21, 2019 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM McCulloch County Library 401 E. Commerce Brady, TX 76825 With Meg Gardiner and Rachel Starnes Free and open to the public If you’re interested in attending, please contact the library to pre-register at (325) 597-2617.
FallCon 2019 Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show and Conference Thursday, October 10 – Saturday, October 12, 2019 Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel Friday, October 11: Thrilling & Mysterious Author Panel
Bouchercon October 31 — November 3, 2019 Dallas, Texas
I write thrillers, including the UNSUB series, the Jo Beckett novels, and the Evan Delaney series. You can find me in Austin, Texas. Read here about the writing life and the lies that pay my bills.
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