New York Journal of Books, San Francisco Journal of Books and more; earned spots on Best Of lists including PureWow, POPSUGAR, the Strand, Suspense, and Big Thrill magazines; and received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, and Shelf Awareness. Four of her novels have been Indie Next Picks. Milchman's short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies as well as Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and a recent piece on touring appeared in the Agatha award winning collection Promophobia. Milchman's new series with Thomas & Mercer features psychologist Arles Shepherd, who has the power to save the most troubled and vulnerable children, but must battle demons of her own to do it. Milchman is a member of the Rogue Women Writers and lives in the Hudson Valley with her family.
Her new novel is The Usual Silence.
Recently I asked Milchman about what she was reading. The author's reply:
Getting lost in a book with nothing else to do besides read it is a unique joy that got me through childhood, but is now pretty much relegated to taking a rare—Learn more about the book and author at Jenny Milchman's website.like, as in a hundred year storm rare—vacation, my birthday, and those fleeting bits of summer when time suddenly and fleetingly expands.
So I am juggling three books right now.
One is a novel called You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto. I’m reading this as research to inform an aspect of my forthcoming novel, which has a subplot concerning influencer culture. Sultano captures the more outrageous details of being an influencer—purchasing organic carrots at a farmers market, then burying them in your own fallow garden so you can dig them up for a TikTok—which she wraps in a novel that’s less of a whodunnit than a will-she-get-away-with-it?
Next is Red River Road by Anna Downes, which concerns van life and a woman traveling alone. Since there’s little I find more compelling than a wildernessthriller, reading about Phoebe who vanishes from the remote Australian coast rises both hairs and hackles for me.
Finally, as I prepare to launch myself with arms spread as wide as wings into the pages of a new novel, I look to books on craft, which lend inspiration as well as concrete guidance. My choice this time is The Technique of the Mystery Story by Carolyn Wells, a lesser known counterpart to such mystery grande dames as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.
My Book, The Movie: Cover of Snow.
The Page 69 Test: Cover of Snow.
The Page 69 Test: Ruin Falls.
My Book, The Movie: Ruin Falls.
My Book, The Movie: The Second Mother.
The Page 69 Test: The Second Mother.
Q&A with Jenny Milchman.
My Book, The Movie: The Usual Silence.
The Page 69 Test: The Usual Silence.
--Marshal Zeringue