On November 17, 1920, two Chicago-based actresses, Marie Ramey and Lillian Thompson, were killed and thrown from a car after they had allegedly “indulged in an automobile flirtation with four young men.” While two of the men turned themselves into the police shortly afterward, they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) identify their companions. The investigation stalled until…
CHAPTER 1 CHICAGO OCTOBER 1929 The black delivery truck pulled up to Mr. Rosenstein’s drugstore, its movements stealthy and smooth as it parked, not a squeaking brake or rattling screw to be heard. Its shadow from the dropping sun stretched across the sidewalk, just touching the store’s glass windows, which displayed mortars and pestles, vials,…
In 1929, there were two “Canary Murder” Cases. The first was a film starring Louise Brooks, William Powell, and Jean Arthur, released in February, which told the story of a showgirl (“The Canary”) who was strangled after a failed attempt at blackmail. The second “Canary Murder” occurred in Chicago towards the end of the year,…
Murder Knocks Twice by Susanna Calkins is the first mystery in a captivating new series that takes readers into the dark, dangerous, and glittering underworld of a 1920s Chicago speakeasy.
The Reign of the Kingfisher from award-winning debut author T.J. Martinson, is the story of the superhero called “the Kingfisher” who tried to save Chicago 30 years ago. In the present, a masked gunman vows to kill a roomful of hostages one by one unless the police admit that they faked the death of the legendary superhero.…
The first mystery in Susanna Calkins’s captivating new series, Murder Knocks Twice takes readers into the dark, dangerous, and glittering underworld of a 1920’s Chicago speakeasy. Gina Ricci takes on a job as a cigarette girl to earn money for her ailing father—and to prove to herself that she can hold her own at Chicago’s most notorious…
It’s a funny thing to go to a mystery conference and discover that everyone on the streets outside is drunk at nine o’clock in the morning, while everyone inside the conference is stone-cold sober. But that’s what happens when a conference—the second annual Murder and Mayhem in Chicago—is held on St. Patrick’s Day in the…
We're thrilled to welcome Lori Rader-Day and Dana Kaye to CrimeHQ as they discuss the upcoming Murder and Mayhem in Chicago crime fiction conference. Lori Rader-Day: When you approached me about the idea of bringing Murder and Mayhem to Chicago, it seemed like such a natural fit. Chicago is such a rich crime fiction city, and…
Marilyn Hartman used to think that she could not go on. Just idly going about life like it was nothing but an awful song. But some people are just meant for traveling—like it was the meaning of true love. So she reached out to the open sky and its everlasting arms. The 66-year-old Grayslake woman…
Although we all have to patiently wait until August 30th for Louise Penny’s upcoming Inspector Gamache novel, A Great Reckoning, that doesn’t mean we can’t fan the flames and add to the excitement. Watch below as Jeffrey Brown of PBS NewsHour interviews Louise Penny about her upcoming novel for Book Expo America 2016 in Chicago.…
