NEWS & EVENTS
Upcoming Events
All events listed in ET
With Parker Adams (THE LOCK BOX)
Wednesday, April 24, 6 pm
The Mysterious Bookshop
New York, NY
Details
With Karen Olson (AN INCONVENIENT WIFE)
Saturday, April 27, 4:30 pm
Barrett Bookstore
Darien, CT
Details
With T.R. Hendricks (THE INFILTRATOR)
Saturday, May 4, 2 pm
Barnes & Noble Stamford
Stamford, CT
Montreal Mystery Festival
Saturday, May 25
Montreal, Quebec
Details
CraftFest 2024
Wednesday, May 29, 2 pm
Secrets to Creating a Series
New York, NY
Details
ThrillerFest 2024
Friday, May 31 - Saturday, June 1
New York, NY
Details
With Liv Constantine (THE NEXT MRS. PARRISH)
Friday, June 28, 6:30 pm
Barrett Bookstore
Darien, CT
Details
Author Talk & Signing
Tuesday, July 2
Cornwall Brothers Store Museum
Alexandria Bay, NY
Author Talk & Signing
Morristown Public Library
Thursday, July 11, 1 pm
Morristown, NY
Book Signing
Belle Epoque
Saturday, July 13, 11 am (during French Festival)
Cape Vincent, NY
Author Talk & Signing
Cape Vincent Library
Saturday, August 24, 12 pm
Cape Vincent, NY
Praise for the Shana Merchant Novels
Bookreporter
“…The world is nowhere near done with Shana Merchant, and I look forward to seeing where Wegert takes her next.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A New York state cop makes still another heroic effort to exorcize her murderous cousin from her life—and he takes a lot of exorcizing.”
Past Appearances
Catch up on Tessa’s interviews
Mystery and Thriller Mavens / Murder by the Book
Darby Kane and Tessa Wegert give us the inside scoop on their latest books, The Engagement Party and Devils at the Door
WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories
Tessa talks with WPBS’s Luke Smith about Devils at the Door and the novel’s connection to the Thousand Islands
Bookwild Collective
Tessa talks with podcasters and bookstagrammers Gare (@gareindeedreads) and Kate (@imbookwild) about her “fast paced, cinematic" series
Killer Women: Danielle Girard interviews Hannah Morrissey and Tessa Wegert
Tessa and Hannah discuss their books The Kind to Kill and The Widowmaker
Thrillers by the Bookclub Pod
Playing detective with Tessa Wegert
Mystery and Thriller Mavens/Murder By The Book
Special Pre-Launch Event: Tessa Wegert & Darby Kane Hosted by Sara DiVello
Authors on the Air
Tessa discusses her latest book in the Shana Merchant series with James L'Etoile for Authors on the Air
Tessa & Crime By the Book
Tessa talks about Dead Wind with Abby Endler of Crime by the Book
Killer Women: Danielle Girard interviews Tessa Wegert, author of the Shana Merchant mystery series
Tessa appears on the Killer Women podcast
Meet the Author Pequot Library
Tessa talks with Sandi Wright about Death in the Family
Rising Stars Book Tour
Wendy Walker features Tessa in her first Rising Stars Book Tour alongside Layne Fargo, Megan Collins, and Christina McDonald
The Dead Season on “First Chapter Fun”
Hank Phillippi Ryan reads the first chapter of The Dead Season
Reviews and Recommendations
NCPR (Radio)
NCPR book reviewer Betsy Kepes shares her thoughts about Death in the Family
Book Riot (Podcast)
Book Riot reviews Death in the Family, saying "I was easily sucked in"
Currently Reading (Podcast)
Meredith Monday Schwartz recommends Death in the Family
Local Moms Network (Video)
The Local Moms Network chooses The Dead Season as its January 2021 Book Club Pick
Book Riot’s Read or Dead (Podcast)
Katie McLain Horner and Kendra Winchester recommend Death in the Family
Book Riot (Podcast)
Locked Up Tight: Katie and Nusrah talk about locked room mysteries
Media Mentions
Must-Read Crime Fiction Series (SheReads)
"...Wegert has a knack for combining timelines and treats her readers like Merchants friends. You get to know Shana over time and as the pages turn, she opens up."
Best Crime Books of 2020 (Crime by the Book)
"Wegert’s accessible, engaging writing will instantly immerse you in this story, while her book’s clever plot will keep you guessing until the very end. Add in her story’s compelling protagonist and you’ve got the recipe for a perfect locked room mystery."
Two haunting small-town mysteries (BookPage)
"Shay insists she’s not hunting or obsessing over Bram: “Bram is hunting me.” A confrontation between the two builds toward a thrilling crescendo."
Paperback Paris' Best Books of 2020
"Perhaps the author I am most excited about in 2020 is Tessa Wegert."
Our Favorite Female Detectives in Crime Fiction (Novel Suspects)
"Women often bring a special eye to solving crime, and these police procedurals are richer for a different perspective. Here are ten of our favorite books starring female detectives that we think you should read."
The Nerd Daily's Five Favourite Female Crime-Fighters are Back in their Sequels
"The cat and mouse game (Shana) is coerced into playing soon starts to involve even more innocent victims."
PopSugar's 10 Captivating New Thriller and Mystery Books
"Shana Merchant wants nothing more than to leave her past behind in Tessa Wegert's The Dead Season."
Shelf Awareness newsletter feature
"The compulsively readable second Shana Merchant mystery finds the investigator returning to her Vermont hometown when the bones of her uncle are discovered in a local wildlife refuge."
An Introduction to Locked Room Mysteries (Book Riot)
"...The beauty of the genre is in the details, and the writer provides the reader all the clues they need to solve the case at the very beginning, layering in evidence and red herrings in expertly plotted mysteries that keep readers guessing."
Crime by the Book's Most Anticipated Fall 2020 Crime Fiction Releases
"This winter, Shana is back with a new mystery to solve. I was truly impressed with the first book in this series, and I can’t wait to see what Tessa Wegert does next."
The Nerd Daily
"Wegert brings Detective Merchant back for a thrilling new adventure that combines a brand new case and a close-to-home cold case in The Dead Season."
Sisters in Crime New England
"Tessa Wegert nailed it. Absolutely nailed it. I am a huge fan of golden age mysteries, and of locked room puzzles, and you know, all of you, how difficult those are to write! But again. Tessa got it exactly right."
Kirkus (The Dead Season)
"Professional-grade detection with a no-nonsense heroine who can be stressed out but never counted out."
The Gloss Book Club
"Have you ever encountered a book universe or characters where every time you open that work or delve back into their world, it feels like coming home? That’s exactly how I felt opening The Dead Season."
Booklist (The Dead Season)
"In this diverting sequel to Death in the Family (2020), the game is still on."
Shelf Awareness Starred Review
"The trick of Death in the Family is that Wegert is not only in control of the book's allusive material, but she has freshened it by fusing it with a contemporary thriller's grit."
BookPage
"Author Tessa Wegert’s debut is impressive in its scope...Death in the Family marks a bold beginning to an addictive new series."
Darien Times
"Murder fans get ready to settle into your seat, Wegert’s plot will keep you rooted in place until the final enthralling page."
Criminal Element
"I look forward to future books exploring Shana’s troubled personal history, her burgeoning self-confidence in her new job, and her tentative professional partnership with Tim Wellington."
Crime by the Book
"Tessa Wegert has crafted an utterly irresistible modern-day mystery that is deeply indebted to the great “locked room” puzzles of the past."
The Nerd Daily
"I can’t wait for the opportunity to watch Shana Merchant work again! Is there a way to physically force an author to write faster? Asking for a friend…"
Booklist (Death in the Family)
"This locked-room thriller has all of the requisite tangled motives and deductive crime-solving, along with a riveting introduction to edgy survivor Shana and Tim, her steady, easygoing foil."
Publishers Weekly
"Fans of golden age closed circle murder mysteries will enjoy this effective update."
Featured Interviews
Connecticut Post
"Now that her characters are out in the world and not just in her head Wegert said she wants to ‘do right by them.’"
The Big Thrill (Death in the Family)
"The novel, in the mighty tradition of Agatha Christie, weaves a gripping tale that twists and turns in the wind, leaving the reader collecting clues in hopes of solving the mystery: what really happened to Jasper Sinclair."
The Big Thrill (The Dead Season)
"Wegert makes Shana take an unflinching look into her past."
Sherbrooke Record
"Close to two decades later, Wegert would use her memories from that island getaway to lay the groundwork for her first novel, Death in the Family."
Fresh Fiction
"Shana and the serial killer she’s tracking, Blake Bram, have quite the cat-and-mouse game going."
The Local Moms Network
"Fans of Agatha Christie type mysteries will love Tessa’s writing, and we spoke to the author about that mighty influence, how she encourages her own kids to read, and more."
Thousand Islands Life
"Do yourself a favor and buy the book...You will be just as happy as I am."
Articles
How Do Your Write a Mystery When Every Plot is Taken?
How to Mix Things Up, Do Justice to Tradition, and Still Keep Your Crime Writing Fresh
Keeping Your Narrator's Secrets When Writing a Series
Mystery novelist Tessa Wegert gives writers simple tricks to ensuring your character's secrets are revealed at just the right time.
Agatha's Back: Five Mysteries That Channel the Queen of Crime
These five novels do an excellent job of honoring Christie’s groundbreaking work.
Do You Remember?
Memory is one of those things we don’t appreciate until it fails us. Only then do we fully understand the critical function it plays in our lives.
Undercover Newshounds: Why Crime Fiction Writers are Like Journalists
Behind every novelist worth their salt there’s a newshound with notebook and pencil at the ready, determined to do right by their characters and make their readers proud.