Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Riley Adams

As Riley Adams, Elizabeth Spann Craig writes the Memphis Barbeque series for Penguin/Berkley. Under her own name she writes the Southern Quilting mysteries (2012) for Penguin/NAL and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink. She blogs daily at Mystery Writing is Murder, which was named by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers for 2010 and 2011.

Earlier this month I asked her what she was reading. Her reply:
I actually made a departure from the books I usually choose and recently read Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson. I haven't read psychological thrillers for a while, but I heard about this novel on a book blog and was intrigued. A woman who wakes up each morning not knowing her past, her name, or her identity? I was hooked. Since I've been super-short on time lately, I was looking for a novel that would quickly hook me and pull me through the book without letting go.

The book was fascinating on a couple of different levels for me. For one--I struggle with my memory every single day. I wasn't blessed with a great memory to start out with, added to the fact that I'm tremendously busy. The concept of losing even what pitiful memory I have was a sobering one. On another level is the thriller aspect of the book. Who can you trust when you can't even rely on yourself?

I ignored my deadline, Twitter, and an inbox full of emails and read that book from beginning to end.It scared me to death toward the end and, at two o'clock in the afternoon, I was convinced there was an intruder upstairs in my house. This, despite the fact that my corgi and two cats were snoring in sunbeams nearby. It was a great read.

Visit the official Elizabeth Spann Craig (Riley Adams) website.

--Marshal Zeringue