Mystery Writer to Speak in Vernon Hills

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist turned mystery writer Julia Keller kicks off a new season in Cook Memorial Public Library’s popular Authors Out Loud series.

The former Chicago Tribune columnist will speak about her writing, read from her work, and sign books Wednesday, September 4 at noon at Aspen Drive Library, 701 Aspen Drive, Vernon Hills. The event is free and open to the public; registration is required.

Keller’s new release, “Bitter River” (out September 3) has received both popular and critical praise, including a starred review in Kirkus and Booklist. The story follows Bell Elkins, prosecuting attorney in a small West Virginia mountain town, as she searches for clues in a murder case and copes with complications in her own life. As in her popular debut novel, “A Killing in the Hills” (2012), Keller weaves a compelling and haunting mystery set against the Appalachian region’s stark beauty and extreme poverty.

Booklist hails Keller for combining “masterful storytelling, a vivid sense of place...a complex cast of characters, and a suspenseful, superbly executed plot that displays a depth rarely seen in mystery fiction.” Bestselling crime author Michael Connelly praised “Bitter River,” saying it “has an elegiac force to it that is powerful and gripping. Bell Elkins is one of the most fully realized characters in fiction today. I just turned the last page on this one and I want more.”

Julia Keller spent twelve years as a reporter and editor for the Chicago Tribune, where she won a Pulitzer Prize. A recipient of a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, she was born and raised in West Virginia and lives in Chicago and Ohio. “Bitter River” is her second adult novel.

Books will be available for purchase and signing, courtesy of Lake Forest Book Store. An optional $6 box lunch is available from Jason’s Deli; pay in advance and in person at Cook Park or Aspen Drive Library before August 29. To register for the author event, call 847-362-2330, visit the library or go to webres.cooklib.org.