Peter Colt

Peter Colt was born in Boston, MA in 1973 and moved to Nantucket Island shortly thereafter. He is a 1996 graduate of the University of Rhode Island and a 24-year veteran of the Army Reserve with deployments to Kosovo and Iraq. He is a police officer in a New England city and the married father of two boys.

Colt's new Andy Roark mystery is The Judge.

Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. Colt's reply:

I am currently reading Robert Mazur’s excellent book The Infiltrator: The True Story of One Man Against the Biggest Drug Cartel in History. Mazur’s story is a riveting look inside his complicated and dangerous undercover assignment to infiltrate the Medellin Cartel in the 1980’s. Mazur used his business and family background to pose as money launderer. He simultaneously got close to high-ranking members of the cartel as well as corrupt banking officials at Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). The book, which I bought for research, reads like a spy novel. It is a must read for anyone interested in the 1980’s drug cartels or daring undercover operations.

I also just finished reading Yesterday’s Spy by Len Deighton, which is a classic, cold war era spy novel. It is Deighton, doing what he does best, weaving a tail of espionage, tradecraft, and betrayal. The two protagonists are bound to each other by their past working with the French resistance and find that their shared past has bearing on their present-day mission. Like all of his books, Yesterday’s Spy is effortlessly entertaining but not as serious (or as good) as the outstanding Bernie Sampson novels.

Visit Peter Colt's website.

My Book, The Movie: Back Bay Blues.

The Page 69 Test: Back Bay Blues.

Q&A with Peter Colt.

The Page 69 Test: Death at Fort Devens.

My Book, The Movie: Death at Fort Devens.

My Book, The Movie: The Ambassador.

The Page 69 Test: The Ambassador.

The Page 69 Test: The Judge.

My Book, The Movie: The Judge.

--Marshal Zeringue

Clea Simon

Clea Simon is the Boston Globe-bestselling author of three nonfiction books and thirty-one mysteries, including World Enough and Hold Me Down, both of which were named “Must Reads” by the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

A graduate of Harvard University and former journalist, she has contributed to publications ranging from Salon.com and Harvard Magazine to Yankee and The New York Times.

Simon’s latest mystery is Bad Boy Beat, which kicks off a fast-paced amateur sleuth series starring Em Kelton, a Boston crime reporter with a nose for news.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Simon's reply:

This is such a great topic because, of course, writers are first and foremost readers first. The problem comes when I’m asked to name just one book. Like a lot of us (I suspect), I’ve always got a couple of books going.

I recently finished Caroline Leavitt’s new Days of Wonder and I’ve been dipping into Philippa Gregory’s Normal Women, a massive history of the half of humanity that’s been left out of 800 years of English history.

But the books I keep coming back to these days are Deanna Raybourn’s. I had not thought myself interested in her – too romance-y! Too soft! But after devouring her Killers of A Certain Age, I realized she was one of the smartest writers in any genre! Now that I’ve read through her Veronica Speedwell series, I’m devouring her Lady Julia Grey books. Yes, they are historical mysteries with a heady dash of romance (thanks to the infuriating Nicholas Brisbane), and they’re just wonderful! I’m currently out on the windswept moor with Silent on the Moor and loving it.

Visit Clea Simon's website.

The Page 69 Test: To Conjure a Killer.

The Page 69 Test: Bad Boy Beat.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nolan Chase

Nolan Chase lives and works in the Pacific Northwest.

A Lonesome Place for Dying is his first book featuring Ethan Brand.

Library Journal's (starred) review said “Chase debuts his lonesome, reflective lawman with this well-written, complex case. Fans of Craig Johnson’s Longmire will enjoy.” Publishers Weekly's (starred) review called A Lonesome Place for Dying a “standout procedural ... Chase throws a lot of balls in the air, and he juggles them like a seasoned pro, managing to carve out a distinctly memorable protagonist in the process.”

Recently I asked Chase about what he was reading. The author's reply:

Post Captain by Patrick O’Brian

The Aubrey-Maturin novels great fun, and O’Brian evokes the period with knowledge, wit, and a violence which is both startling and entirely appropriate to the setting. They’re not easy reads, relying on a knowledge of nautical and medical jargon, Latin and Greek, geography and natural history and classical music. But they’re worth the effort for the camaraderie of the characters and the author’s storytelling prowess.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Coming from the mystery genre, Austen’s world can seem small, but she turns that to advantage by creating characters who bump up against that claustrophobia. Money, family, gender roles, politics and fate all play important parts, and the marriages aren’t so much happy endings but peculiar arrangements of fate which the characters have to work for and sometimes adapt themselves to.

Visit Nolan Chase's website.

--Marshal Zeringue