Bad Boy Beat

September 25, 2017
This intriguing series launch from Simon, best known for her cozy Dulcie Schwartz mysteries (Into the Grey, etc.), introduces Boston journalist Tara Winton, who back in the 1980s covered local punk rock bands for fanzines that paid little but gave her access to the musicians and the music that remain central to her life. Now divorced and employed writing banal corporate reports, Tara is still holding on to what is left of the live music scene in Boston. After friend and former musician Frank Turcotte dies, Tara’s ex-boss offers her a chance to write a story about Boston-based bands for a glossy magazine. Soon Tara’s stable life begins to unravel as she revisits the past. Was Frank’s death accidental or was it murder? Is it tied to the long-ago death of singer Chris Crack, who blazed onto the stage eclipsing another band and destroying their shot at a record deal? Vibrant descriptions of Boston’s former music scene overshadow the plot, but readers with a taste for noir are sure to want to see more of the edgy Tara. Agent: Colleen Mohyde, Doe Coover Agency.

April 1, 2024
Simon, noted for pet-themed cozies, turns her hand to something darker. Buttercup, Emily Kelton's cat, is a bit player, relegated to hunting for treats and twining around the legs of visitors. Instead of focusing on her feline, Em trains her sights on making her way up the ladder at the Standard, "Boston's smaller, scrappier morning paper." Still on probation, she keeps trying to offer her editors something juicy to print without breaking rules whose violation could get her fired. Her latest case on the police beat could go either way. The murder of a low-level drug dealer is sure to pique the interest of a crime-conscious public, even though there's no name and no motive--yet. But poking at Ruiz, the beat cop, for details may alienate a valuable source of information. In the other direction, Em clearly runs the risk of becoming too close to tall, handsome detective Jack Harcourt, whose information comes at a price. As more murders follow, Em senses a pattern, but details that would confirm her suspicions are hard to come by. As she struggles to find her place in a male-dominated newsroom, Em runs the risk of spoiling her relationship with her best friend, city hall reporter Theresa "Roz" Roscommon, and missing the opportunity to bond with intern Krista Lolly. Simon's staccato prose sets a tense mood that keeps readers on the edge as Em keeps threatening to go over it. New territory for Simon that's definitely worth another chapter.

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