Today is release day for Susan Furlong’s latest novel, The Killer’s Wife. That makes it the perfect time to share an interview.

Susan, who were you before you started writing crime fiction? In other words, would you introduce yourself to the readers, please?

Before I was a writer, I was a reader. As a kid, I spent a lot of time at my local library checking out books, mostly mysteries and biographies. I studied language arts in college and became a high school teacher but left the profession after our first child was born. Looking to supplement my income, I turned to writing from home. For years, I worked as a content writer as well as a contract writer for an educational resource publisher, but I always wanted to write fiction. With my husband’s encouragement I began writing short mysteries and then novels. I collected quite a few rejections, but finally, fifteen years and four kids later, my first piece of fiction was published. The Killer’s Wife will be my twelfth published novel.

Would you introduce Kerry Grey?

Kerry is a woman who has been dealt a bad hand in life. Her mother died young, she was an outcast in school, and then married a man who turned out to be a serial killer. The reader meets her as she’s trying to turn things around and make a good life for her and her young son. She’s prison tough, a loner, and vengeful, but underneath it all, lurks a compassionate heart.

Tell us about The Killer’s Wife, without spoilers.

Kerry’s serial killer husband eluded arrest and disappeared into the Montana mountains, leaving her to face prison time as an accessory to his crimes. Now, she’s back, on parole, and trying to pick up the pieces of her broken life. Not easy, considering her husband, known as the Hatchet Killer, has become a cult classic in true crime circles. Adam Nash, obsessed with finding the Hatchet Killer, leaves his job as a Chicago cop and transfers to Montana to become Kerry’s parole officer. Soon, both Adam and Kerry become ensnared in a net of lies and murder that threatens an entire community.

Your most recent books have been domestic suspense or domestic thrillers, but you’ve also written cozy mysteries. Tell us a little about your frame of mind or the difference in your writing depending on the sub-genre.

I write whatever story comes into my mind. Sometimes the story might be more visceral or call for a more realistic portrayal of the crime. Other times there is more of a psychological aspect that presents itself, or even complex procedural elements, but overall, my stories are always based on crime and mystery. I feel fortunate that my readers follow me across subgenres.

The isolation of COVID and the pandemic is a couple years in the past now, but I’m still interested in how it affected authors. Some were paralyzed, like many of us, and some found a burst of curiosity. How did those years affect you and your writing?

For me, writing is cathartic. It’s how I reason through things. During lockdown, I wrote two manuscripts and a half dozen proposals. Overall, it was a productive writing time for me. As a family, we spent that time together doing simple things like playing games, fishing, geocaching, and doing puzzles. Lots of puzzles!

If you had to recommend five books to a person so they could get a feeling for your reading taste, what five books would you recommend?

I’m currently reading A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller. It’s a fast-paced mystery and the author has developed an intriguing glimpse of crime in contemporary Appalachia. Another book, this one set in the Ozarks, is Winter’s Bone, by Daniel Worrell, which is “noirish” and has some of the best dialog I’ve read. Other books high on my recommendation list: The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor for her use of symbolism; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, a poignant coming of age story; and Allison McDermott’s Charming Billy, which is beautifully written.

What’s the best book you ever received as a gift?

For my eighth grade Confirmation, my parents gave me a Bible with gold-edged pages and my name inscribed on the cover. I thought it was the most beautiful book ever. I still treasure it.

What’s on your TBR pile right now?

A friend recently recommended The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I thought I’d give it a try.

I’m a public librarian. Do you have a story about a library or librarian that you can share with us?

My local librarians are amazing. Anything I need for research; they’ll dig up for me. Once I was looking for an obscure manual on tracking humans, which I ended up finding on AbeBooks for almost two hundred dollars. No way was that going to happen! Luckily, my librarian, through some sort of superhuman power, found a copy for me.

Stop back on Friday when I post the weekly giveaways. This week, I’ll be giving away a copy of The Killer’s Wife.

The Killer’s Wife by Susan Furlong. Seventh Street Books, 2023. ISBN 9781645060574 (paperback), 334p.

Bio

Susan Furlong is the author of several mysteries including the acclaimed Bone Gap Travellers series, and SHATTERED JUSTICE, a New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year. She also contributes, under a pen name, to the New York Times bestselling Novel Idea series. Her eleventh novel, What They Don’t Know, was released in May 2022. The Killer’s Wife is her twelfth novel. She resides in Illinois with her husband and children. 

Links:

Website: http://www.susanfurlong.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanFurlongAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Furlong_Sue
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanfurlong
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/susan-furlong-b610794b-e2ff-41fd-8b14-45c436f13632