Greg Lilly's Blog

ForImmediate Release

HistoricalTrue Crime Book Wins the Macavity Award

Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder named bestmystery-based nonfiction

 

October 27, 2025

Abingdon,Va.– Greg Lilly’s historical true crime book, Abingdon’s BoardinghouseMurder, has been named the winner of the 2025 Macavity Award for BestMystery-related Nonfiction/Critical book.

TheMacavity Award honors the “mystery cat” of T.S. Eliot (Old Possum’s Book ofPractical Cats). Each year the members of Mystery Readers Internationalnominate and vote for their favorite mysteries from the previous year. Theawards consist of five categories: Best Mystery Novel, Best First Mystery, BestMystery Short Story, Best Historical Novel, and Best Mystery-relatedNonfiction/Critical.

“I’mthrilled Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder won the Macavity fornonfiction,” Greg Lilly states. “When the finalists were announced earlier thisyear, I was honored to be listed with such gifted writers and meticulousresearchers.”

Abingdon’sBoardinghouse Murder was published by the History Press in May 2024. The historical truecrime book has been shortlisted for the Agatha (Malice Domestic convention) andthe Anthony (Bouchercon) awards.

Lillyfirst heard about the local tale when he moved back to Southwest Virginia. “Ourreal estate agent drove us around Abingdon. He pointed out a home on ValleyStreet and casually said, ‘The murder house is available.’ We passed on thatopportunity. We bought a house a couple of blocks away.” During the pandemic,the spark to research the historic crime ignited. “The new owners of that househad a Fourth of July cookout. Neighbors from up and down the street attended,and the conversation soon turned to the house’s history. Everyone had a theoryor a really good story about the trial and conviction of the woman who ran theboardinghouse in 1945.”

Thetime period intrigued Lilly. “This tale had all the elements of historicalfiction with the twists of a true story. The Great War (WWI), Spanish flupandemic, World War II, the changing role of women—all set the stage of theculture that led to this tragedy,” Lilly says. “Plus, everyone still has anopinion about Jimmy and Helen. Usually, those opinions were formed byhand-me-down tales from grandparents or parents that had grown wilder with eachtelling, as most storytelling does. I wanted to know the facts.”

Lillysees the genre of true crime in transition. Podcasts and streaming serviceshows grew in popularity for more than a decade. The narration ranged in tonefrom humorous to spooky to journalistic. The topics covered themes such as celebritycases, serial killers, stalking, police procedurals, or organized crime. Thisis Lilly’s first true crime book. His previous books were historical andcontemporary fiction and mysteries. “My editor explained one of the reasons shewanted me to write this book was because of my background in fiction that emphasizedcharacter development, setting, conflict, and story structure.”

Theaward recognition of Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder illustrates reader appreciationfor authenticity and respect. “True crime is about real people in tragic circumstances,”Lilly says. “People make good decisions and flawed decisions. They have admirabletraits and bad traits. They are real. Writing about their situation andoutcome, I want to honor the dead, their descendants, and the ones they leftbehind.”

 

Abingdon’sBoardinghouse Murder is available at local bookstores and online at retailers such as Amazon.comand BN.com. Contact Greg Lilly for virtual and in-person events at info@GregLilly.com

 

---Aboutthe Book---

Title: Abingdon'sBoardinghouse Murder

By Greg Lilly

Imprint: The History Press

ISBN: 9781467157322

Price: $24.99

Publication date: 05/20/2024

 

Ona bitter November night in 1945, a widow shot her young boarder, a World War IIveteran, and left him to die on the floor of his room. She tossed the gun underthe neighbor’s porch and then took a taxi to join her teenage daughters at amovie. When the body was found, after several conflicting statements, shesettled on the claim that he shot himself—four times, twice in the back. TheCommonwealth of Virginia called it murder in a jealous rage. The trialenthralled the nation.

Thehistorical true crime explores the lives and conflicts of the victim and theaccused, as well as the culture, lore, and legends that have grown over thepast 80 years.

AuthorGreg Lilly uses interviews and newspaper coverage of the murder, theinvestigation and the trial to reveal the facts of the Abingdon boardinghousemurder.

 

---About the Author ---

GregLilly grew up in Southwest Virginia then lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.The rich storytelling tradition of the South captivated him, and he beganwriting. He first turned to creating short stories after plot lines emergedfrom the technical manuals he wrote for a large family-owned corporation. Hepublished short stories and the Derek Mason Mystery series.

Movingto Sedona, Arizona, Greg chronicled the high desert characters–past andpresent–in his novels. Greg relocated to Williamsburg, Virginia, where he wroteand edited a monthly regional magazine. He’s the founder and past-president ofthe Williamsburg Book Festival.

Today,he lives and writes in Abingdon, Virginia.

https://greglilly.com/

 

 

---About Mystery Readers International ---

MysteryReaders International, the largest mystery fan/reader organization in theworld, is open to all readers, fans, critics, editors, publishers, and writers.Started by Janet A. Rudolph in Berkeley, California, it now has members in all50 of the United States and 18 foreign countries. Members vote each year tonominate and select the winners of the Macavity Award.

https://mysteryreaders.org/macavity-awards/

 

--- About Arcadia Publishing – The History Press is animprint of Arcadia Publishing ---

Arcadia Publishing is the nation’s leading publisher ofbooks of local nonfiction and rarely explored pockets of history. Our missionis to connect people with their past, with their communities and with oneanother. Arcadia has a catalog of thousands of titles exploring the story ofAmerica one city, state, or county at a time.

https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/products/abingdons-boardinghouse-murder-9781467157322

 

Contact Information

Greg Lilly

info@GregLilly.com

www.GregLilly.com

 

Good news!

Abingdon’s Boardinghouse Murder is a finalist for theAgatha Award for Best Nonfiction book.

The Agatha Awards are presented by the attendees of theMalice Domestic convention each year. From the website (https://www.malicedomestic.net/),the organization’s “About” page says:

“Established in 1989, Malice Domestic is an annual fanconvention that takes place each year in Maryland, just outside of Washington,D.C. Malice celebrates the Traditional Mystery, books best typified by theworks of Agatha Christie. The genre is loosely defined as mysteries whichcontain no explicit sex, or excessive gore or violence.”

The attendees of the convention nominate, then based on thenumber of nominations, post the top five in each category to the final ballot.The winner for each category is voted for and presented during the Malice Domesticconvention.

Since the launch of the book in May 2024, I have had severalbook signings, author talks, radio interviews, and an appearance this summer atBouchercon in Nashville on a panel about true crime.

I’m grateful for all the support and encouragement for Abingdon’sBoardinghouse Murder.

Thank you!

 

TheHistory Press has sent me...

the cover for

ABINGDON'S BOARDINGHOUSEMURDER

About the cover:

The publisher uses certain elements that they have found successful in historical true crime genre's book design: 

the geographic location in the titlea time period photo images of the major playersThis works well tograb attention and to tell readers who, what, when, and where.

The "how" and "why" are inside the book! 

On the back cover, we used the frontpage newspaper image from a coupleof days after the murder. The Damascus football team, cheerleaders, bandmembers, and other students gathered at the depot to see their coach's coffinloaded onto the train.
The sorrow on the kids' faces is heartbreaking.

Two months untilthe release -- May 20

The book is up forpreorder on most on-line retailers.

Arcadia Publishing's The History Press Independent bookstores Amazon B&N

For three years I have researched primary documents, interviewed family and experts, scanned archives and newspapers to get here. I'm excited and grateful.
Thank you all for taking this journey with me!

 Jumping into the True Crime pool.

I have published fiction since 2008--five novels, three middle grade books, and several short stories. 

To make a living, I have edited and written white papers, artists' bios, sales collateral, grant applications, arts & culture magazine articles, and a swimming pool full of personal profiles for Williamsburg's Next Door Neighbors magazine.

(10+ years of writing five profiles a month = over 600 articles published @ 2,000 word per profiles [I did this calculation for me] grand-totals to: 1,200,000 published words in just the NDN magazine.)

I moved back to southwest Virginia after many years livingin other areas of the country. As we drove around Abingdon, Virginia, to seehouses, our real estate agent pointed to a two-story home in the heart of thehistoric district. “The Murder House is available,” he said. Immediately, Isaid, “No. Actually, hell no.”

Maybe, I shouldn’t have been so quick to dismiss it. Webought a house about a block away–without a criminal history. During thepandemic, I attended a Fourth of July cookout at the Murder House. All the neighbors had stories to tell of the killing of a 22-year-oldWWII Marine who boarded with a 44-year-old widow and her three daughters. Sometales were shocking, some fantastical, others scandalous.

I had finished my latest book and began plotting a novel, but the Murder Housetale lured me to dig deeper. Newspaper coverage of the 1945 murder,investigation, and trial revealed the facts and the fascination the nation hadwith the crime.

Research revealed more twists and turns than fiction. Characters were exposed by primary sources like birth certificates, census listings, military documents, death certificates, and then the information found in old newspapers added layers of captured dialogue and attitude to these long-gone, real-life people.

This HAD to be my next project.

I was feeling like William Holden at the poolside.

I researched, wrote a chapter outline, created character profiles (I know that's a fiction term), and then tapped my business writing experience to craft a proposal.
Arcadia Publishing's The History Press offered to publish the true crime. The editor told me that she liked that I had a fiction background to warm up the cold facts, breathing life into them and making the story come alive.
I like that, too.
This week, The History Press gave me the publication date for Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder -- May 2024.
Huzzah!

We just finished Banned Book Week at the public libraries. This is always an interesting event to spotlight the list of brilliant literature banned at some point in the books’ existence. Banned for the language, the description, the characters, the plot, and/or the ideas the authors conveyed. The small-minded and fearful censors fall into history as the bad guys of the Banned Books’ narratives.
But what about the everyday suggestions to ordinary (non-NYT Best Selling) authors to curb what we write? Off-handed comments from those closest to us: “That one scene is too risqué for me to tell my friends to read your book.” “I liked the story, but the language didn’t need to be that harsh.” “Does the character HAVE to be involved in a three-way?”
Yes, yes the character HAS to be who he is, and no, it’s not me. Life is harsh, crude, coarse, skinned, and blistering. Not all authors have Hallmark movies dancing in their heads. There is a market for Hallmark movie plots. For that, we’re grateful. But, Truth frees the soul, and needs to find the page, even though exposing it is not profitable.
A couple of years ago, Rita Mae Brown headlined the Williamsburg Book Festival. She is one of the authors who inspired me to write when I was young. At William & Mary that evening, she talked about how telling the truth is not always easy for a writer. She admitted she writes her cozy/cat mysteries for the income they provide. Her classic (and probably banned in many places) Rubyfruit Junglechanged lives because she spoke her truth. Many readers recognized themselves in her characters.
In the audience, I heard people behind me say, “She just had to bring up Rubyfruit Jungle. I love her Sneaky Pie Brown series. She should just talk about that.”
Everyday censors.
We all do it if we know it or not. Maybe I’m trying to inhibit comforting stories. I know we need a variety of tones and storytellers. Reading is like diet – steak, hamburger, corndogs, or chicken soup (sorry, vegans) can all be enjoyable options throughout the week. Let writers chew some steak from time to time.
My message to other writers and to myself: When someone denounces all or part of a work, it has touched a nerve. You have told the truth for story and character and situation. The attempted censor bristled at the authenticity, the candor, and the concrete facts you have exposed. Well done. Get banned.

Shadow Resident at the Martha Washington Inn... I workout at the Martha's spa/exercise facilities. Usually I arrive before sunrise so I can get it finished before I start work. I like to walk to the Martha in the early morning and then do strength training with the LifeFitness machines. Those are in a small room with glass windows on three sides and the fourth side is ancient brick from one of the original buildings (late 1800s).

Half way through the routine, I noticed a movement against the brick - a shadow.

In an instant it was gone.

Did an eyelash cause that? I brushed at my eyes, but nothing seemed different. I said "hello" and asked her name, "Lennie" is what came into my mind, and I continued my routine.

I'm not a person to discount a haint experience, especially at the Martha with its history of the Martha Girls and Barter Theatre actors and all the guests who have traveled through creaky hallways.

Maybe the shadow was just a loose eyelash or a trick of the rising sun. But, I like to think I have a partner making sure I get the workout done, urging me to show up on a regular basis, keeping me company...or me keeping her company during those lonely pre-dawn hours.

I hope Lennie tells me some stories.

My new novel tells the story of a long-time Washington County, Virginia family and the disappearance of the seventh son thirty years ago. 
The story developed as I thought about my own family and the dynamics between my father and my uncles and grandfather. In the book, Taliesin MacGuire promises his grandmother he will discover why his father left thirty years ago and never returned to his family. Time is the enemy in this tale. Time erases memories and paper trails of daily lives.
I incorporate Scots-Irish legends in the names of the characters, which shadow the characters’ personalities. Along with the old-country lore, I have a trace of very early American history. Subplots emerge from the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island in 1587 and the Virginia witch trials of early the 1700s.
This is the most personal book I’ve written. Our own family legend was the day my father moved out – his first step toward the eventual divorce. He disappeared. That stays with a 13-year-old son. I knew this story would emerge in my writing at some point.
Settings are very important in my writing. This story focuses on Virginia with locations like Bristol and Abingdon, along with Charlottesville, Richmond, Williamsburg, and the North Carolina Outer Banks. These are places I love. I have lived in these locations or have attachments there. I set my stories in real places and let the characters reflect the sense of place and time.
The story’s fictional family resides between Bristol and Abingdon with the main characters showing up in locations all around the area. At the Bristol Public Library in April 2011, I held a book signing for a previous novel and moderated a discussion on how to use setting as a character. Those notes sparked the sense of place in STRAY.




Advanced Praise

Greg Lilly’s entertaining tragedy starts with a threesome in Bristol and ends with a dead body in the water off the coast of the Outer Banks. Thankfully, Lilly has taken his own character’s advice who tells a failing Nashville musician to sing about drinking and hurting. I enjoyed this Irish tale part detective story and part thriller. Lilly kept me entertained throughout and had me hurrying to get to the last page.- William J. Torgerson, author of The Coach’s Wife, Horseshoe, and Love on the Big Screen

You’ll never meet a more intriguing cast of characters: seven sons twice over, a probing, sexually-fluid musician, a persistent grandmother, a seer, an uncommon doctor, a womanizer and the women he leaves behind. Add to that an accused witch, a half-breed and a hero by the name of Thistle.  Stray takes you from the hills of Virginia to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, masterfully back and forth through time—all in search of solving a decades-old mystery with scant clues and no remains to be found.- Sally Stiles, author of Plunge!

"Reality" shows, Twitter, FB posts, and Kanye West rants have taught us every thought that pops into our minds should be verbalized in public -- to as many people as possible.
What happened to keeping some things to ourselves? Sure, I'm writing a blog entry that expresses my opinion. An opinion that some things should be kept in our own minds. That's what an internal editor is for: to stop the stupid stuff from coming out.
Same with writing. You can write all the things that pop in your head, but it doesn't go directly to the public. I don't hit the POST or SEND button until I take a breath and reread the message. Is it something to be shared? Can it benefit the reader?
Back in the 1980s, e-mail was mainframe-based, and once I pushed the keyboard's F10 button, the message was gone. I learned early to consider exactly what was written, what was shared, what my name was attached to.
Maybe that's why writing a manuscript takes me so long -- well, that and having to make a living writing other things. 
A first, I thought I would love the freedom of blasting off a thought on movies, music, politics, books, or gee, even television. But then I read what others posted and realized my opinion is really only interesting to me. 
So, like writing a book, life can use a little mystery, a bit of suspense, or some subtlety.
Wait, weren't the 50 Shades of Grey books big sellers -- those must have been coy and demure to have captured so many people's imagination.

I'm reading a mystery that is exquisite in its writing, plotting, characterization, and I'm willing to bet that most people have never heard of it. Okay, he was a 2006 Pulitzer Prize finalist for the book, so that's not a great bet.I read a lot of unpublished manuscripts as a representative for a small publishing house, the organizer of a book festival, and the presenter of workshops on writing and publishing. I talk to publishers and agents and writers and readers. We agree that the technology boom that introduced the ease of self-publishing has created a segment of books that aren't crafted.Crafted means the writer learned the mechanics of writing, spent time going through multiple revisions honing the elements of a well-told story, worked with an editor to get a fresh set of eyes on everything from the plot's structure to the placement of each comma.As I read Lee Martin's The Bright Forever, I'm amazed by his skill and his art of storytelling.When I read query letters from agents and aspiring writers, I'm less amazed by some of the samples pages submitted. I admit there are gems among the rocks, but just a few.I guess it has always been that way. I cringe when I think of the things I submitted ten years ago. Then, self publishing was around, but it was very expensive – like $10,000 expensive. Today, a manuscript can be made into a book $300 - $4,999 depending on services the author buys.These lower costs mean more people jump into self-publishing.
Why self-publish a novel?You have a story you want to share that may not have a wide appeal, but is worth telling. Yes.You wrote a manuscript, tried to query agents and publishers without success, and now want – really want – to have a finished product in your hand. Frustration in the process of traditional publishing is not the best reason to self-publish.
Writing is not about the physical book and informing your dry cleaner that you're a published author.Writing is a verb. It's the process that is important. Results may vary, but an author must love writing.
The rush to publish is a waste of time, energy, and money.
Self-publishing companies decorate their websites with accounts of authors making millions and landing on the New York Times Best-Sellers list. Why? To entice an aspiring writer into the dream of fame and fortune, and to collect as many upfront fees as possible. IT'S A BUSINESS.
Readers become disillusioned by poorly-crafted novels. So, they tend to stick to the name-brands in novels because new authors have burned them in the past. That's a disservice to all serious writers.Big names and personalities gather crowds. I see this at book festivals and conferences. The authors with cleavage, the 1970s sitcom actors, and the writers with the game show host personality draw crowds. The writer/craftsman sits alone. After the books are written, edited, and published, it's marketing – a completely different skill set than writing – that's important. So, yes, those highlighted CreateSpace authors may sell well.I realize that not every writer produces a Pulitzer Prize finalist-worthy book – I know I don't. But I'm working on the craft by writing constantly.For those of us who are not celebrities, not pretty or sexy, or not followed by 80,000 Twitter citizens, we stay in front of our computers, writing and searching out opportunities to improve our skills.Today, I'm looking at ways to bring serious learning opportunities on the craft and art of writing. I'd love to hear where other authors struggle. Set aside the topics of publishing, marketing, selling books for a while – that's the business side. I want to learn more about the art of writing, because that's why I do this.