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The Silver Anniversary Murder, the newest book in the Christine Bennett series, was published recently and is in all the stores. Murder in Greenwich Village, the third book in the Jane Bauer series, came out in March, '06.
For new readers, a few words of introduction to the first series: The Good Friday Murder was published in 1992 and nominated for an Edgar in '93. The sleuth, Christine Bennett, is 30 and newly released from her vows as a Franciscan nun at the time that book takes place. Typical of all the books in that series, the murder or the solution to the murder, is found in the past. Through the series, Chris develops as a secular woman, marries, has a child, teaches, and continues to solve homicides. The second series, which begins with Murder in Hell's Kitchen, is about Det. Jane Bauer. Jane is 40, single, an NYPD detective nearing the twenty year mark when she has decided to pull the pin and go to work for an insurance company where she will have an office with both a window and a door, more money, an hour for lunch, and, she thinks, a better life. Needless to say, there wouldn't be a series if she stuck to her plan. Unexpectedly she is assigned to a cold case squad and she and her new partners are assigned a four and a half year old murder for which there seems to be no motive. To say that an ordinary push-in killing turns into a complex case with international ramifications is simplifying the story. I love this one and hope you will too.
As much as I love writing, there is something more to my life than doing that. I swim every day in the summer, enjoying it mightily. I love good food and eat too much of it (sigh). I travel, both with my NMO friends and with other friends. In the last few years I have fallen in love with the Southwest and now spend several months a year there when it's cold in the rest of the country.
The following review by Bennet Pomerantz of the tape of The Good Friday Murder appeared in the June 99 edition of Affaire de Coeur. Listeners may order it from bookstores, from on-line bookstores, from the publisher (phone/fax: 718-253-8116; e-mail: audiovisions@yahoo.com) or from the distributor Penton Overseas, Inc. (800-748-5804). A lot of people ask me when I hear new projects why don't I make a big deal about it. Well, I am about this one! I listened to an abridgement of Lee Harris's The Good Friday Murder (Scheherazade Audio Visions). If you are wondering why they don't release good mysteries on audio, listen to Judith Roberts Seto's vocal shading of this project. Ms. Seto moves between characters with ease, making this sound almost like a motion picture in your mind. The amazing thing about this audio abridgement is that it holds up against the novel itself. Pat Ms. Seto on the back and hope she records the rest of the series—this one is worth remembering when you go to the book stores. All of these audio books are available in bookstores, truck stops, libraries and record shops. So until next time, I'll be under the headsets. Scheherazade Audio Visions Two more books are now on tape, The Thanksgiving Day Murder and The Christmas Night Murder, available for purchase and rental from Blackstone Audiobooks in stores and libraries. About E-Mail I went on line in 1995. It never occurred to me when I signed up what an effect it would have, but it has changed my life. Besides being in constant communication with my NMO friends, I now hear from more readers than ever before. I put my e-mail address for the first time in the back of The New Year's Eve Murder, which was published at the end of 1997. Since that time I have received many hundreds of messages from people all over the U.S. and in other countries as well. I have readers in Switzerland, Norway, Germany (where several books have been published in translation), and England. And I may have left some out. These readers sound like very interesting people and I wish I had time to continue a correspondence with them, which, of course, I can't because I'm writing another book. I am delighted that such wonderful people read my books, that they have comments that cause me to think, that they have taken the time to contact me. I do get letters from readers, but I am now getting many more e-mail messages. I answer every one and attempt to let every reader know when my next book is coming out and when I'll be signing near you (if I know where you are). Thank you all. It is a great pleasure to hear from you.
Jonnie Jacobs ~ Lora Roberts ~ Valerie Wolzien ©2005-06 by Lee Harris, Jonnie Jacobs, Lora Roberts and Valerie Wolzien. |
Lee Harris 
A DVD of Murder Without Conviction, the TV movie made from The Good Friday Murder, is now available where you buy books, etc.. Hope you enjoy it. ![[cover]](../images/harris_silver_cover.jpg)
And who am I? A pretty dull person who sits at a typewriter—yes, a typewriter—seven days a week or thereabouts writing about a world that sometimes seem more real than the real one. Why a typewriter? I'm one of those people who really needs to see those words on a piece of paper. Every morning, before I begin writing, I read over what I wrote yesterday and make changes in pencil. I write the date on that place on the page where I begin each day, I cut and paste (using real scissors and real tape), I toss, I occasionally tear my hair out. When the hard copy draft is completed, I put it on my computer, editing (yet again) as I go along. When my editor makes changes, it's easy to correct them on disk. But that manuscript with my notes and changes and colored paperclips to mark questions and chapter beginnings is what I love. To me, this draft is organic; it contains its own history. To see what I mean, please read The Father's Day Murder, in which a pencil manuscript figures prominently in Chris's research to solve a murder.![[cover]](../images/gdfri.gif)
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