Coming up: Reading for Pixels

This Sunday, September 6, I’ll be taking part in a live YouTube reading and Q&A session for The Pixel Project, which works worldwide to stop violence against women. Tune in… there will also be a giveaway.

Coming up: BAD Sydney, Book People with Jeff Abbott

I have a couple of virtual events coming up:

BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival
INTO THE MIND OF A PSYCHOPATHIC KILLER
Meg Gardiner in conversation with LA Larkin
FRIDAY JULY 17 5PM Pacific / 7PM Central / 8PM Eastern / SATURDAY JULY 18 10 AM Sydney, Australia
The event is free, but click the link to register for the video via Zoom.

Book People virtual event — Jeff Abbott, Never Ask Me
Jeff Abbott discusses Never Ask Me in conversation with Meg Gardiner
Monday, July 27 at 7PM CDT

I hope you’ll join me!

Thanks, readers!

I’ve been meaning to post this… with thanks and nothing but love to y’all.

A Statement from Mystery Writers of America

I’m the 2020 president of Mystery Writers of America. This week, the organization issued this statement. Please read.

How to Help

Mystery Writers of America does not support or tolerate discrimination of any kind. We stand proudly with our Black members, and implore our entire membership to start listening, speaking out, and amplifying the voices that have been silenced for far too long. Listening leads to understanding, and action leads to change. We cannot move forward as a society or culture without recognizing the disparities that permeate both.

As Chester Himes said, “Democracy is not tolerance. Democracy is a prescribed way of life erected on the premise that all men are created equal.’”

If you’re looking for a way to get involved, to educate yourself, or to expand your perspective, here are some places to start.

Follow the link for a list of resources and organizations to support.

Have a video! I talk about the Amazon TV deal

When I was at my publisher’s Oregon offices after The Dark Corners of the Night was published, I made some short videos. Have a look!

Q and A with the Walmart blog

A little while ago I talked to the Walmart blog, Favorite Reads, about the inspiration for my UNSUB series, the research that goes into the novels, and why mystery writers don’t necessarily make good real-life detectives.

Q&A with Meg Gardiner, author of The Dark Corners of the Night

We sat down for an exclusive interview with Edgar Award-winning author Meg Gardiner to discuss her latest release, The Dark Corners of the Night, one of the most highly anticipated thrillers of 2020, that is already garnering rave reviews as her best thriller yet. In The Dark Corners of the Night, FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix returns to hunt down a terrifying new UNSUB—unknown subject—The Midnight Man, who Gardiner based on the real-life serial killer, The Night Stalker.

Check out the whole thing at the link.

Upcoming Events: Edgars, Bay Area Book Fest, Noir at the Bar

Welcome to spring 2020, when events have scrambled to move online. It has of course been hugely disappointing to cancel celebrations — like the Edgar Awards banquet, which I was supposed to emcee in New York City — but so many organizations are making the best of this situation. And that means that you can all attend.

Here’s what’s coming up in the next few weeks.

The Edgar Awards
Thursday, April 30, 2020
11 AM Eastern
The awards will be announced by Mystery Writers of America via Twitter: @EdgarAwards

Bay Area Book Festival Unbound
Queens of Mystery: Writer to Writer with Meg Gardiner and Rachel Howzell Hall
Moderated by Laurie R. King
Program will air Tuesday May 5th, 7:00 PM Pacific

Noir at the Bar Queens
Friday, May 8, 2020 7 PM Eastern
Watch via Crowdcast
Books sold by Kew & Willow

Take care of yourselves

When I finished my book tour for The Dark Corners of the Night, I planned to write a long, chatty blog post with plenty of photos, recounting the wonderful people who made possible the publication of the novel and its successful launch — my publisher, Blackstone; my agent, Shane Salerno; all the bookstores that hosted events, from San Diego to New York; the writers who joined me in conversation at every stop, which made for wonderful evenings and plenty of insight and laughter for everyone who came out. Incredible gratitude goes to Tess Gerritsen, Steph Cha, Don Winslow, Adrian McKinty, Joe Kenda, Amy Gentry, and S.C. Perkins.

I didn’t get around to that long, chatty blog post. COVID-19 overtook my plans. As I know it did yours.

So, for now, here’s a photo I shot while flying home from the Pacific Northwest, coming into San Francisco. Right now, I just want to say: Stay well. Take care of yourselves. Let me know how you’re doing. I hope you’re in touch with loved ones, keeping a safe social distance, reading lots of books (of course!) and holding fast.

Book tour highlights: Don Winslow reads from DARK CORNERS

I just spent two weeks on the road for the launch of The Dark Corners of the Night. One of the highlights of the book tour was being interviewed by Don Winslow — superstar author of The Force, The Border trilogy, and Savages — at Warwick’s Books in La Jolla, California. Near the start of the event, Don read a couple of paragraphs from my novel. Have a listen.

If you hurry, you might still be able to order a signed copy of the novel from Warwick’s.

And you can always order from these outlets:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Apple

DARK CORNERS: AP Review

Wow, the Associated Press review of The Dark Corners of the Night has just come out, and I am insanely happy.

Gardiner weaves a suspenseful and horrifying tale that focuses on solving the crime rather than diving into gruesome and gratuitous details. Caitlin’s expertise and background bring a strong emotional hook to the story line. As the pursuit escalates, so do the surprises, right up to the shocking last page. Gardiner’s writing is lyrical and cinematic, and the final result is her best novel to date.

Review: Gardiner weaves horrifying tale in `Dark Corners’

Thank you!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Apple

DARK CORNERS: She Reads; Seattle Review of Books; Billboard!

I’m powering across the country on my book tour for The Dark Corners of the Night. It’s busy — which is fantastic. I’ll have to wait to post more photos until I have more than an hour to hold still. But for now: Here’s the billboard for the book in Times Square. New York City, baby. And, in NYC fashion, to grab this photo I jumped out of a cab that was stuck in traffic, snapped, squeeed, and ran back to the taxi, jumping back in as the light turned green.

Now I’m at La Guardia, about to board a flight to Virginia Beach. Until I can post more photos and tell some tales, here are some new reviews of the novel that have me grinning like a fool, which always makes the TSA agents suspicious.

She Reads: 15 Necessary thrillers to read in 2020

Now is the perfect time for you to get into the UNSUB series by Meg Gardiner. For all you crime fiction junkies, this is the book version of garlic bread – too good to put down. Her titles are loosely based on real serial killers that you’ve read about while putting a unique spin on them with a great cast of characters. In the newest addition to this series, the third book, we follow Caitlin Hendrix in the most terrifying case yet – a serial killer who attacks parents and leaves the children alive and unharmed. This one was so addictive. There are some great creepy moments that make it hard to sleep, a police procedural aspect and another part of the plot that will surely make you eager for book four. Soon to be a TV series, you’ll definitely want to binge-read these books before it airs.

From Daneet Steffens at the Seattle Review of Books:

FBI behavioral analyst Caitlin Hendrix returns for her third case in Meg Gardiner’s The Dark Corners of the Night (Blackstone Publishing). While her boyfriend Sean Rawlins, an explosives expert with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, chases an elusive bomber known as the Ghost, Caitlin and her colleagues grapple with an L.A.-based serial killer known as the Midnight Man. Under cover of night, the Midnight Man creeps into family homes, murdering the parents, terrifying the kids, and leaving ghoulish drawings of eyes painted in blood. As the local police and the FBI work together to isolate the killer’s hunting ground and analyze the knottier differences between malignant paranoia, fanaticism, sociopaths and psychopaths, their pursuit of this shadow-man develops into a chill-inducing power struggle. Gardiner’s latest is yet another terrific – and terrifying – chapter in her UNSUB (unknown subject) series.

Gareindeedreads:
MEG GARDINER | THE DARK CORNERS OF THE NIGHT

The UNSUB series by Meg Gardiner is one of my favorite series and the newest release in this series, The Dark Corners of the Night just may be the creepiest one yet… With this one, I was (and still am) reliving and  relishing in all of the scare-tastic moments that solidify Meg Gardiner as one of the most talented and sensational crime fiction authors that we have.

… Gardiner has a grip on me that is so tight that I am praying there are so many more additions to this series to come.

Thanks, all!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Apple

Out Today: THE DARK CORNERS OF THE NIGHT

The Dark Corners of the Night is is published today. I just want to thank you for your support. Readers are everything to a writer. With every novel, I’m eternally grateful that you take the leap of imagination and step across the threshold into the world of the story. 

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing, Shane Salerno and The Story Factory, and everyone who has helped make this the best novel it can be.

I hope you’ll love the latest entry in the UNSUB series, and that you’ll be gripped by the story of Caitlin Hendrix and her FBI team pursuing an insidious killer through the dark streets of Los Angeles. Hold on tight — it’s a rollercoaster ride.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Apple

DARK CORNERS: Q&A with Go Into the Story

This is the week, folks. The Dark Corners of the Night is published February 18. That’s twelve hours from the time I’m writing this.

I’m hitting the road for the book tour to launch the novel. I hope I’ll see some of you along the way… in Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, Virginia Beach, Austin, or Houston…

In the meantime, have a look at this Q&A I did with Scott Myers for Go Into the Story. It’s the official blog of the Black List, the hugely influential screenwriting organization that “connects writers, filmmakers, and cinephiles around the world.”

Let me lead with this because given your background in writing award-winning crime thrillers, I can think of no better person to ask than you. Books, both fiction and nonfiction, TV, movies, documentaries, podcasts, our culture seems to be absolutely steeped in crime stories. What do you think drives this seemingly insatiable thirst for these type of stories?

We thrill at stories of light versus darkness. We like a vicarious trip to the dark side. And we appreciate tales where right prevails and order is restored.

We like stories of transgression. Especially stories where the transgression is big and obvious — and breaking the law isn’t subtle. Crime stories are vivid, high-stakes, often told in a way that’s powerfully emotional. They also embrace the idea that morality exists. They assert that justice is worth pursuing. That wrongs should be righted, or at least reckoned with. People hunger for that.

There’s plenty more at the link — about writing, winning Jeopardy! three times, my escape from the practice of law, and The Dark Corners of the Night.

And don’t forget: Buy the book!

The Poisoned Pen | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Apple

Poisoned Pen blog, Writer Types podcast

The Poisoned Pen bookstore put me In the Hot Seat ahead of my event in Phoenix on Monday, February 17 (with Tess Gerritsen!) where I’ll be launching my new novel, The Dark Corners of the Night. Take a look.

I’ve read this, but many readers may not have. Your UNSUB books are based on actual crimes. Would you tell us about that?

Every novel in the series takes a real crime as its starting point. The books are fiction, but grow from a kernel of fact. Partly that’s because UNSUB cases are some of the most difficult and fascinating investigations in law enforcement history. Partly it’s because I want to understand what motivates serial predators. And I want to explore what drives the people who take on the burden of stopping them. UNSUBwas sparked by the Zodiac—probably the most notorious unsolved serial murder case in America. The second novel was inspired by Ted Bundy. The Dark Corners of the Night was kindled by a killer who cast a pall of fear over Southern California: the Night Stalker.

I talk about The Dark Corners of the Night, Caitlin Hendrix, living in London, winning Jeopardy! and more.

And at the Writer Types podcast, I guest co-host with pod host Eric Beetner to interview Dana Hayes and Brad Taylor. Give it a listen.

And here’s your reminder that The Dark Corners of the Night drops February 18th, and you can preorder!

The Poisoned Pen | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Apple