Linda Norlander and Carol J. Williams

Third Place Books welcomes Pacific Northwest authors Linda Norlander and Carol J. Williams to our Lake Forest Park store to discuss their new thrillers. In Linda's book, , unanswered questions about a long-ago crime kick off a deadly chain of events at a high school reunion. In Carol's , an American correspondent in 1986 Moscow finds love in the disintigrating Soviet empire—only to learn that the stakes are even higher than they appear.

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Decades of secrets surface when a high school reunion spirals into a deadly reckoning.

"Even seasoned mystery readers will have a tough time guessing how the story ends." --Booklist

When Sheriff Red Hammergren welcomes billionaire Vance Judson back to Lykkins Lake for his high school reunion, his return stirs up more than nostalgia--it unearths old grudges, long-buried betrayals, and a reckoning sixty years in the making. At the same time, a young podcaster, drawn to whispers of an unsolved hit-and-run from the same era, begins asking questions--questions that cut too close to the truth and put a target on her back.

What begins as unease soon turns to fear when reunion attendees start turning up dead and the podcaster vanishes without a trace. Red races to untangle a mystery that refuses to stay in the past, knowing the next victim could already be marked. With help from her friends, she pieces together a history stained with privilege, silence, and revenge. Each bit of evidence brings her closer to the truth--but also closer to a killer who has already waited a lifetime to finish what was started.

In a town where loyalty is a dangerous currency, Red must determine who is paying for old sins--and who is collecting the debt.

A sweeping Cold War love story set against the crumbling Soviet empire.

Moscow, 1986. Natalie Chester has finally achieved her dream: a posting as an American news correspondent in the USSR at the very moment history pivots. But within days of her arrival, the Chernobyl disaster erupts, her fiancé abandons her, and her bureau chief wages a relentless campaign to destroy her career.

Then she meets Anatoly Kuznetsov—a rising Soviet diplomat whose Nordic looks and reformist ideals set him apart from the gray functionaries of the Kremlin. Their attraction is immediate and dangerous. As they navigate secret meetings, KGB surveillance, and the disapproval of both governments, Natalie and Tolya become allies in a larger mission: to help end the Cold War before it ends humanity.

From the radioactive aftermath of Chernobyl to clandestine trips through the Estonian countryside, from war-torn Afghanistan to a cherry blossom proposal in Tokyo, their love affair unfolds against the decade's most dramatic events—the Reykjavik summit, Gorbachev's glasnost reforms, and the brutal suppression of Baltic independence movements. But as the Soviet empire begins its death throes, the couple discovers that the hardliners willing to K*ll for the old order will stop at nothing to preserve their power.

Inspired by the author's own experiences as a Moscow correspondent during perestroika, Dispatches from Moscow is a meticulously researched thriller that captures the intoxicating danger of journalism in an authoritarian state and the impossible choices faced by those who dare to imagine a better world. It's a story of professional ambition and personal sacrifice, of idealism tested by reality, and of a love that burns brightest in the shadow of the Iron Curtain's final days.

Linda Norlander is the author of the Sheriff Red mystery series and A Cabin by the Lake mystery series. She is also the author of the Liza and Mrs. Wilkens mystery series beginning with The Death of Goldie's Mistress. Norlander has published award winning short stories, op-ed pieces and short humor featured in regional and national publications. Before taking up the pen to write M**der mysteries, she worked in end-of-life care. During her career in nursing, she published several award-winning books including To Comfort Always: A Nurse's Guide to End of Life Care and Choices as the End of Life: Finding Out What Your Parents Want. Norlander resides in Tacoma, Washington with her spouse.

Carol J. Williams is a retired foreign correspondent who covered the historic upheaval that ended the Cold War in an award-winning, 35-year career with Associated Press and Los Angeles Times. She began her journalism career at The Bremerton Sun and at the Seattle bureau of the Associated Press, before embarking on her foreign affairs postings. Since retiring from mainstream reporting, she now writes foreign affairs commentary and historical fiction based on her experiences in the former Soviet bloc. She lives with her husband Ken Olsen in Silverdale, WA.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events

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