Since last October, Laurie has assisted author Peggy van Hulsteyn in editing her smart, funny novel The Art of Murder, and Laurie designed the cover. Author of ten books, both novels and lifestyle books, Peggy van Hulsteyn has also written for the “Washington Post,” “The Los Angeles Times,” “USA TODAY,” and “Cosmopolitan.” She wrote a cover story for “Yoga Journal” about her battle with Parkinson’s Disease, which led to Yoga and Parkinson’s, a book endorsed by U.S. Senator Tom Udall and The Michael J. Fox Foundation. She lives in Santa Fe with her physicist husband David.
Here’s a short synopsis of The Art of Murder:
Worlds collide in colorful northern New Mexico when two prominent Santa Feans, an outspoken, passionate environmentalist and a glamorous gallery owner, internationally known and reviled, die under mysterious circumstances. A connection, perhaps, to an infamous physicist and an opportunistic New Mexico senator implicated in an international scheme?
Thomas Wolfe may have said it first, but award-winning investigative journalist Mickey Moskowitz strongly agrees: you just can’t go home again. Nonetheless, she flies back to Santa Fe from New York City to investigate the death of her beloved sister Melissa and re-evaluates the life she left behind for the glamour of Gotham. Ever the savvy one, she uses her wit and courage and, as she has done her whole life, asks herself, what would Nancy Drew do?
Just as every Nancy needs her Bess and every Sherlock needs his Watson, she has Lupita, a fiery district attorney in three-inch heels who’s as skilled making chile cheese enchiladas as she is prosecuting challenging crimes. Mickey’s paramour and ad hoc sleuth is Berg, a charming physicist and foodie. Added to the mix is a cast of eccentric characters that in any other American town would be carted off to the home for the bewildered. Peggy van Hulsteyn knows this world (“I didn’t have to make anything up--I just looked out the window!”) and has written about The City Different in The Art of Murder, this smart, engaging, and funny novel for readers who love Santa Fe and a good whodunit.
Expected release date of The Art of Murder is early fall.