This week, I talk with Emma Dues about her stunningly creepy debut thriller Return to Midnight! We dive into the inspo for the book, how teaching affects her writing, and the mystery inherent to Victorian mansions.

Return to Midnight Synopsis

Nearly ten years ago, five Ohio university students were murdered in an off-campus Victorian home. The media dubbed it the Midnight House Massacre. Ever since, survivor and novelist Margot Davis has wanted to forget it, and never again utter the killer’s name. Until she’s compelled to write her side of the story. To do that, she’s returning to Midnight House.

It’ll be a chance for Margot to reconnect with other survivors, heal the trauma, and dispel the ugly conspiracy theories of obsessed true crime fanatics. But when news of Margot’s book gets out, she receives a threatening note that demands she stop lying. Or else. It chills Margot’s blood. Because she hasn’t been telling the whole truth.

As the threats continue, each more sinister than the last, a journalist comes to Margot with new suspicions about that brutal October night. Now, to save her own life, Margot must reveal her well-guarded secrets—ones that, for good reason, she’s been too terrified to share.

This week, Halley and I once again commit to one subject, and end up covering multiple. On top of some great female rage thriller recommendations, we dive into the film Heretic, talk about religions' obsessions with rules and workarounds, and get into a brief rant about twists verses reveals (more on that in future episodes).

Books with Female Rage

This GIrl’s a Killer

In Defense of Witches

The Lion Women of Tehran

They Never Learn

Their Vicious Games

House Woman

Her Name is Knight

Smile and Look Pretty

Hurt for Me

A Certain Hunger

Lay Your Body Down

Out

Eleven Percent

The Lady Upstairs

This week, I got to talk with Jan Gangsei about her salacious new thriller Dead Below Deck! We dive into how the idea came to her, how she chose to structure it, and what drew her to YA.

Dead Below Deck Synopsis

It was supposed to be the best-ever girls’ trip: five days, four friends, one luxury yacht, no parents. But on the final night, as the yacht cruised the deep and dark waters between Florida and Grand Cayman, eighteen-year-old heiress Giselle vanished. She’s nowhere to be found the next morning even after a frantic search, until security footage surfaces . . . showing Maggie pushing her overboard.

But Maggie has no memory of what happened. All she knows is that she woke up with a throbbing headache, thousands of dollars in cash in her safe, a passport that isn’t hers, and Giselle’s diary. And while Maggie had her own reasons to want Giselle dead, so did everyone else on board: jealous Viv, calculating Emi, even some members of the staff.

What really went down on the top deck that night? Maggie will have to work her way backward to uncover the secrets that everyone—even Giselle—kept below deck or she’s dead in the water.