The Black Hand, vol.35
Kansas City Mystery
How do you have beers with a bunch of friends in your backyard, say good night and go to bed, then find out days later that three of those friends froze to death on your back porch? I have no clue, and at this point, nobody else has figured out this mystery either.
In January, during a period of cold weather when temperatures dropped to 1.6C outside, a protein scientist named Jordan Willis invited some mates over to watch football on TV. Then, according to his story, he left the group to go to bed while his friends stayed on. He assumed they all safely returned to their residences after the gathering, while he worked from home for the next two days with headphones on – Willis maintains that he didn’t see or hear anything about his friends, failed to notice their cars were parked on his street, and didn’t check social media where other acquaintances had posted notices about the missing men.
But he was interrupted by police on the third day, who arrived in response to a contact from the fiancée of one of the men – she had broken in through Willis’s basement, and found her boyfriend dead on the back porch. Tragically, the police found two additional bodies during a subsequent search.
I mean, do you have to be terminally unobservant not to notice that there are dead people on your back porch? Maybe I’m being nit-picky. Although congrats to Mr Willis for ignoring social media for two entire days - the dream.
There were no signs of violence at the scene, and at this point, Kansas City investigators are not treating the case as a triple homicide. Authorities are apparently waiting on the full results of autopsies and toxicology to make further decisions on the case, but recent reports suggest that all three of the deceased men had quantities of cocaine and fentanyl in their systems.
I don’t mean to make light, but I guess the takeaway here is “don’t do drugs and fall asleep on your friend’s back porch in freezing temperatures” because whoa. No, please don’t do that.
THE KILLING CODE U.S. paperback is arriving this month
Yes! My feisty codegirls are finally getting their paperback! You can find the new release of The Killing Code in US bookstores from 19 March – I hope the new price point makes it an easier buy, because I would love more readers to find my WW2 gals and fall hard 😍.
Paperback giveaway over on Instagram
To celebrate the US paperback release of The Killing Code, I’m about to open a giveaway of 3 signed hot-off-the-press paperback copies over on Instagram (and it’s not limited to US readers, anyone can enter). Follow me there, like the post and tag two friends, and drop your fave WW2 fact in the comments, and you’re in the running to win 😊
NONE SHALL SLEEP on sale
March is clearly a great month for US sales! You can get a Kindle copy of None Shall Sleep in the US store for $2.99 this month, which is crazy cheap. And you can get a paperback copy of the book at US Target for $8.99 right now, but get in quick for that one because I have no idea how long it’ll last.
SOME SHALL BREAK on sale
While you’re at US Target, you can also pick up a hardcover copy of Some Shall Break for $15.69 – I think this special lasts as long as the None Shall Sleep one, so get on that!
Events
No events this month! Last month was hectic, with flying to Queensland for the Beyond the Book festival, writing retreat, and teaching three Saturdays in a row for Writers Victoria. But keep an eye out for new events when I post them up here or online – and I’m taking bookings from schools, festivals, and organisations for 2024, so if you’d like me to come visit, give me a yell (elliemarney at gmail dot com)
I’m not on Notes!
I just wanted to let you know that I’m not on Notes! Honestly, I am on every other type of social media, but there are only so many hours in the day. So if you’re leaving Notes for me, I’m not receiving them or reading them, and I figured I should let you know about that. If you ever want to get in touch, feel free to drop a comment/reply on one of these newsletters, or send me an email! Or I’m frequently hanging around Threads, Instagram and Tiktok, so head over there and drop a ‘hi!’ in the comments and I’ll hi back 😊
What I’m reading
If you haven’t yet had a chance to pick up Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle, I rec it – it’s his first mainstream trad-published book, doesn’t involve being pounded by anything (lol, iykyk), and it’s a great spooky read about finding the courage to burn everything down. Set in a church community that runs a ‘gay conversion’ treatment camp, the main protagonist Rose slowly realises that the camp’s success comes from an unholy source… Camp Damascus has a few jump scares, gives great satire, and does an excellent job of reiterating Chuck’s primary message of ‘Love is Love’ – it’s on the Bram Stoker ballot and the Hugo ballot this year, so check it out!
Look, I’m not too proud to say I’m watching The History Gossip on Tiktok, and if you’re a fan of crass humour, British accents, and historically accurate but irreverent takes on things, I think it’s entirely likely that once you’ve seen one video, you’ll want to watch more.
I’ve also been working my way through Night Mother: A Personal and Cultural History of The Exorcist by Marlena Williams, and from someone who is still a massive wimp about horror movies but loves The Exorcist, it’s fascinating. Definitely also check out the podcast interview with Marlena from You’re Wrong About that tipped me off about the book’s existence!
Speaking of old movies, I watched Eyes of Laura Mars last week and it’s another fabulous contender for “bonkers vintage American giallo of the year” – and did you know Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, Raul Julia, and Faye Dunaway were all in it? And that it was John Carpenter’s (The Thing) first screenplay? Friends, I did not, but now I do. If you want some particularly obscure and fascinating Eyes of Laura Mars commentary, check out this podcast episode of Video Archives with Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, and Roger Avary all talking about the movie (plus their breakdown of Dressed to Kill by Brian dePalma).
LoveOzYAbookclub
On a sadder note, it’s time to say goodbye to LoveOzYAbookclub.
It’s been more than seven years since I first started bookclub, and it went from strength to strength for a while there – so much so that I had to invite my mate Emmaly to co-host with me (and she did an amazing job!). But a series of shifts (Facebook group to Instagram, plus dwindling organic reach online, plus the decline of interest in OzYA in the market, plus me getting busy with my own writing) has meant that it’s become harder and harder to keep bookclub running.
Emm and I tried to hand off to another host, but alas there were no takers – I guess everyone is busy with their own stuff. So we’ve had to make the decision to close the curtain on bookclub, which is a bit 😭.
We’ve had an excellent time over the past few years, and personally I’ve had a ball – I’ve met heaps of authors, recced heaps of books, seen the rise of new debuts, and enjoyed the love shared for vintage OzYA classics. Thank you to everyone who engaged with bookclub while it was happening, and to all the Australian YA authors who joined in. I still love LoveOzYAbookclub, and I’m sad to say goodbye. But here’s hoping it’s a chance for someone else to do something exciting in the OzYA space, and for me to keep going with cool new things – fingers crossed.
That’s it from me this month! Some farewells, some new growth…I’m definitely curious about what next month will bring. I hope the year is treating you well so far! Remember to keep an eye out for The Killing Code in paperback, and happy reading!
xxEllie