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Left Bank Books in Belfast invites the public to an in-person conversation between acclaimed writers Kate Miles and Tess Gerritsen on Tuesday, May 24 at 7 p.m. at the bookstore.
The event is free and no tickets are required, but there will be an attendance cap and masks will be mandatory (regardless of vaccination status).
The event is a celebration of Miles’ latest book Plot: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders, an unforgettable tale in which Miles recounts his four-year investigation into the still-unsolved 1996 murders of two skilled backcountry chiefs at their remote campsite in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, next to the Appalachian Trail.
The two victims, Lillie Winans and Julie Williams, had met and fallen in love the previous summer while working at a world-famous women’s outdoor program.
When Miles, an award-winning journalist and outdoor expert, began investigating the case, she discovered conflicting evidence, conflicting timelines, and details that simply didn’t match. With unprecedented access to crucial crime scene forensics and key witnesses, Miles uncovers the truth. She’s convinced that an innocent man has been under suspicion for decades, while the real culprit is a known serial killer, if only the authorities would take a closer look.
Dragged is a fascinating, revealing and heartbreaking work, offering a braided narrative about two remarkable women, the forensics of a cold case, and the startling pervasiveness and long shadows cast by violence against women in the outback.
John Grisham hails the book as “A beautifully written account of a great American tragedy. I couldn’t put it down.”
Miles, a wilderness expert who taught at Unity College in Unity, the same university where Winans had studied, had been haunted by her murder for many years.
When in 2016 the FBI issued a public appeal for new information about the murders, she was assigned the story as a correspondent for Outside. She said: ‘As a survivor of sexual assault I found emotional healing and a strong sense of self [while] backpacking on the Appalachian Trail…and I was devastated when I learned of Lillie and Julie’s murder.
Internationally acclaimed best-selling author Tess Gerritsen, known for her medical thrillers and series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles, which inspired the TNT television series ‘Rizzoli & Isles’ , will join Miles in the conversation.
Gerritsen’s books have been published in 40 countries and over 40 million copies have been sold.
In addition to Dragged, Miles has published work in The Boston Globe, the New York Times, Politics, and Weather. She is also editor-in-chief of Down East magazine.
To register for the free event, email (info@leftbankbookshop.com) or call 207.338.9009. Left Bank Books is at 109 Church Street in Belfast city centre, and there is ample free parking in front of the store and in land adjacent to the city.
