Town Red by Jennifer Moss 

By Selena Robins

After his partner is killed and girlfriend takes off, Chicago homicide detective Ryan Doherty has one last chance to save his career with the double murder of two ad executives. He quickly learns that life wasn’t so lush at this agency.

Ryan becomes obsessed with Catharine, the Vice President of this agency. She lures him in with her charm, intelligence, wealth, and abilities even he can’t understand. Catharine draws Ryan into her unconventional world where he will risk the case–and his life–to find out if she’s for real, or if she’s the real killer.

The author recently took time to answer some questions for the BigThrill:

What propelled you to make the leap from your successful Baby Names website to writing a thriller?

I wrote several articles about the internet industry which had been published, and subsequently wrote a non-fiction book as a companion to our website, www.BabyNames.com.  I found that I loved writing and wanted to try my hand at fiction. The mystery/thriller genre is my favorite, as a reader, and so that was my natural choice.

What challenges did you encounter while writing, TOWN RED, your current release?

Writing fiction is very different than writing non-fiction.  There were rules to which I was completely oblivious. After my first draft, my agent told me to read up on writing fiction and to join a writer’s critique group. I followed her advice and my writing is so much better because of it!

What will your readers love about your hero in TOWN RED?

I think my readers will love that Ryan is flawed. Yes, he’s heroic and hot (and he knows it) but he’s also broken from the death of his partner and best friend. That makes him human and relatable.

What will your readers love about the heroine in TOWN RED?

Catharine is mysterious and other-worldly. She possesses abilities that Ryan doesn’t understand, coming from a practical evidence-based world. I think readers find it fascinating getting to know her and uncover all of her powers…and weaknesses.

Any interesting facts you can share with us that you encountered during your research for TOWN RED?

When I started writing TOWN RED, the 18th District Chicago P.D. didn’t have detectives in-house. By the time it was published, they had a full robbery-homicide detective unit.  I thought that was funny–truth following fiction and all!

Has your technology background helped in creating your story, if so, how?

Being tech-savvy has its perks, and it definitely helped with the promotion of the book. I created my own author website as well as websites for my heroine Catharine and the Town Red Ad Agency.  We have over 1,500 followers on the TOWN RED Facebook page, and both Catharine and Ryan have Pinterest accounts!

Who or what has helped you the most while researching and writing TOWN RED?

I owe a lot to the men and women of the real 18th district Chicago P.D. They were excited about my book from the very start and have always been available and extremely candid in helping me understand the life of a Chicago law enforcement officer and the beat, itself.

Praise for TOWN RED:

“A page-turning mystery full of surprises, twists and turns.” – Bonnie Hearn Hill, author, DIGITAL INK

“The story is gritty, the prose vivid, the hero captivating and the police procedure utterly convincing. A startling, stellar debut.” – Allison Burnett, author, DEATH BY SUNSHINE

*****

Jennifer Moss was born and raised in Evanston, Illinois and is a graduate of Northwestern University. Although she received her degree in music theory/composition, Jennifer had an affinity for computers and entered the technology field upon graduation. In 1996, when the internet was at its infancy, Moss launched one of the first parenting websites, BabyNames.com. She also served as Director of Development and consulted with several Los Angeles internet companies. Jennifer began her writing career as a freelance author for articles about the internet industry in 2000. Her first book, THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION BABY NAME BOOK was published in 2008 by Perigee Press (a division of Penguin) as a companion to her website.

To learn more about Jennifer, please visit her website.

Photo credit: Nathan Morgan, Headshot Photographer, Los Angeles