Big news: My new domestic suspense novel is now on shelves!! The Spare Room, a twisty mystery about a pandemic setup that goes from dreamy to deadly, is now on shelves wherever books are sold. Get your copy here!

I’m so excited for you to step into the dreamy, sultry, and ultimately terrifying world of my fourth book. The Spare Room is my most personal novel yet, and I can't wait for you to join Kelly on her visit to the Lamonts’ gorgeous, gated mansion—a pandemic fortress that’s just as good at locking secrets deep inside as it is keeping the rest of the world out.

Now for a little backstory: Many book lovers have noted that, after the collective quiet and isolation of the pandemic, we’re seeing a boom in Gothic chillers and locked-room mysteries. While I’ve always loved writing about close-knit, closed-door worlds (from the so-hip-it-hurts scenesters in The Lost Night to the perfect-seeming members of a bougie, all-female coworking space in The Herd), in 2020 the pandemic forced us all to draw the curtains and cinch the drawstrings of our lives.

The tense silence and eerie moodiness of that period made my suspense-author spider sense tingle: I detected the suffocating tension and quiet dread of a Hitchcock film, and as news sources warned us again and again that stranger danger was real, that anyone could kill us, that we should truly trust no one, I couldn’t help seeing parallels to some of my favorite slasher films. Though the pandemic is simply the backdrop for The Spare Room, not the focus, I loved turning the isolation and terror up to eleven for dramatic effect. I mean, think about your neighbors, your coworkers, friends you haven’t spoken to since high school. Who knows what really went on behind aaall those deadbolted doors?

Another piece of my own lockdown experience made its way into the book; after a couple lonely months in my studio apartment with only my cat, Mona, for company, I accepted an old friend’s generous invitation to move in with her, her husband, and their toddler. We fell into a comfortable groove of working and cooking and eating and hanging out together. They weren’t just my pod—for a few months, they were my family, and I marveled at the fact that, across the country, so many people I knew were crashing with friends and forming super-close bonds in this unprecedented way.

While my stint in that spare room was decidedly throuple- and missing-person-free, I used that time to wake from the trance of busy-ness and listen to the wise voice deep inside. It felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make major changes free from the prying eyes of the public…or even my own network. We all know folks who divorced or permanently relocated or changed careers around that time. Me? I finally admitted I was attracted to women in addition to men—and my very first date was with Julia, now my partner of almost three years. Perhaps it’s no surprise that, after physically fleeing her old life, The Spare Room’s narrator discovers new facets of her own sexuality and capacity to love.

Several friends have called The Spare Room my twistiest book yet, and I can’t wait for you to discover all the darkness and surprises lurking beneath the beautiful exterior of the charismatic Lamonts and their picture-perfect mansion. I’m so excited to hear what you think—and I hope you enjoy every moment of your stay…