Why am I passionate about this?

As an author, teacher, and newspaper journalist, my reading pattern has been eclectic; I’ve been enthralled with War and Peace and laughed at Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum—and it all started when my mother introduced me to Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods when I was seven. How I ended up writing mysteries is something of a mystery to me, but I love writing setting, character, and the puzzle of it. With its fourth installment, A Deathly Irish Secret, the Blanche Murninghan mysteries keep on. I also wrote a suspense novel, The Boys of Alpha Block, about my years of teaching at a boys’ prison in Florida. The latter is not so funny.


I wrote

A Deathly Irish Secret

By Nancy Nau Sullivan,

Book cover of A Deathly Irish Secret

What is my book about?

When Blanche “Bang” Murninghan inherits part of an Irish castle, she takes off for the auld sod with her cousin,…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of One for the Money

Nancy Nau Sullivan Why did I love this book?

An old friend gave me her much-thumbed copy of Evanovich’s One for the Money at a time when I was down.

I can’t tell you how much the book lifted me up—Stephanie Plum’s debut in the long-running series as a sharp, sometimes bumbling bounty hunter is laugh-out-loud funny. Her love interests only complicate matters: the dark, handsome, elusive Ranger, and Morelli, a cop on the run who Stephanie lost her virginity to when she was sixteen.

Of course, I raced through the numbers with Stephanie, right up into the books entitled twenty-something. Evanovich’s seemingly effortless writing style hooks the reader and reels in the laughs. Go, Steph!

By Janet Evanovich,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked One for the Money as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Stephanie Plum is down on her luck. She's lost her job, her car's on the brink of repossession, and her apartment is fast becoming furniture-free.

Enter Cousin Vinnie, a low-life who runs a bail-bond company. If Stephanie can bring in vice cop turned outlaw Joe Morelli, she stands to pick up $10,000. But tracking down a cop wanted for murder isn't easy . . .

And when Benito Ramirez, a prize-fighter with more menace than mentality, wants to be her friend Stephanie soon knows what it's like to be pursued. Unfortunately the best person to protect her just happens to…


Book cover of Tourist Season

Nancy Nau Sullivan Why did I love this book?

No one does Florida-Funny like Carl Hiaasen.

A long-time columnist for the Miami Herald, Hiaasen has written theme-based novels about the foibles of Florida living—the politics, the sugar industry, the plastic surgery industry, the lottery. I imagine him banging out these novels with sardonic ire, seething at what has happened to his beloved Florida. But his rants are so funny readers need to stop from choking and hold onto to their hats.

I’ve read all of his books, and Tourist Season is one of my favorites, hooking me on page one with that mysterious limb found on the beach, page one. Then the race is on to find the culprit—and the rest of the poor devil who’s missing a leg. When asked where he gets his ideas, Hiaasen once said, “The police blotter…You can’t make this stuff up.”

By Carl Hiaasen,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Tourist Season as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Take a trip to exotic South Florida with this dark, funny book that established Carl Hiaasen as one of the top mystery writers in the game.

The first sign of trouble is a Shriner's fez washed up on a Miami beach. The next is a suitcase containing the almost-legless body of the local chamber of commerce president found floating in a canal...

The locals are desperate to keep the murders under wraps and the tourist money flowing. But it will take a reporter-turned–private eye to make sense of a caper that mixes football players, politicians, and one very hungry crocodile…


Book cover of Gone Wild

Nancy Nau Sullivan Why did I love this book?

The first sentence of Gone Wild: “Allison Farleigh felt the dull tingle of a leech on her neck.” And with that, we are off and running in the jungle.

Hall does not waste any time setting Allison up: in the first pages, her daughter is murdered and a python nearly crushes her to death. It’s dire. But then along come Rayon and Orlon, two bumbling amoral poachers. Hall’s injection of humor with these two characters is drop-dead funny and a welcome relief in this intriguing story.

Kudos to Hall for his research, and for exposing the horrific industry of selling exotics. And thank you, Mr. Hall, for giving us the extraordinary Allison Farleigh. We can only hope, as we read, that Rayon and Orlon have met their match.

By James W Hall,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gone Wild as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From James W. Hall, the highly acclaimed best-selling author of Hard Aground, Mean High Tide, and Bones Of Coral, comes a stunning and superbly rendered new thriller in which the most deadly animals in the jungle are the ones that kill for money. With one poacher's bullet, a young woman's life is tragically, brutally taken--and her mother's is shattered forever.  Thus begins Gone Wild, James W. Hall's electrifying new novel, which penetrates the lush, sultry jungles of Africa and Malaysia to explore the mercenary slaughter of animals-and to expose the savagery and humanity in us all. Gone Wild brings back…


Book cover of The Thursday Murder Club

Nancy Nau Sullivan Why did I love this book?

Richard Osman’s touch with this intrepid group of septuagenarians who solve murders is outrageously hysterical, and insightful.

The Thursday Murder Club meets weekly at their assisted living complex, and their kick-off investigation is to look for the killer of a developer with suspicious plans for the surrounding property in the idyllic English countryside. Each of the four members of the club brings something to the table, mostly under the guidance of Elizabeth (a former spy) and Joyce (seemingly a bubblehead with iridescent smarts).

The guys bring their own baggage, wit, and forthright manners, and they all jump right off the page, mostly together. They are a tight, loyal group. Osman is a screenwriter, and his ability to deliver dialogue that is short and sharp goes directly to the funny bone.  

By Richard Osman,

Why should I read it?

25 authors picked The Thursday Murder Club as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A New York Times bestseller | Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment

"Witty, endearing and greatly entertaining." -Wall Street Journal

"Don't trust anyone, including the four septuagenarian sleuths in Osman's own laugh-out-loud whodunit." -Parade

Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves
A female cop with her first big case
A brutal murder
Welcome to...
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.

When a local developer is found dead…


Book cover of Nine Perfect Strangers

Nancy Nau Sullivan Why did I love this book?

Nine Perfect Strangers, with an Agatha Christie twist, finds these characters holed up at an exclusive spa with a looney-tune leader, and they are more or less held captive while the truth unfolds.

I chose this book because Frances, the failing writer, struck such a note of humor, I almost fell out of my chair reading of her mental state and ambivalence toward a doofus she meets at the spa. While she laments her shortcomings, she is irresistibly drawn to this guy. (Do I empathize?)

Moriarty has a facile ability to draw distinct features in her characters and pull them along until they work themselves out. A favorite author of mine. 

By Liane Moriarty,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Nine Perfect Strangers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Now a Hulu original series

“If three characters were good in Big Little Lies, nine are even better in Nine Perfect Strangers.” ―Lisa Scottoline, The New York Times Book Review

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies

Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? In Liane Moriarty’s latest page-turner, nine perfect strangers are about to find out...

Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t…


Explore my book 😀

A Deathly Irish Secret

By Nancy Nau Sullivan,

Book cover of A Deathly Irish Secret

What is my book about?

When Blanche “Bang” Murninghan inherits part of an Irish castle, she takes off for the auld sod with her cousin, Haasi, for a visit. She’s not there a day when the body turns up in the castle kitchen, and Blanche somehow lands at the top of the Garda’s list of suspects. Where Blanche goes, trouble is never far behind. Things get stickier when she stumbles on a long-dead skeleton in the family closet, and the odd circumstances of his death. It takes all of her pluck and wit and humor—and Hassi’s—to get out of this mess and right the family name. Blanche has lots of help from the wonderful villagers at Ballycill, some supportive and some not so much, who make her visit to Dunfaedan castle more than memorable.

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My Year of Casual Acquaintances

By Ruth F. Stevens,

Book cover of My Year of Casual Acquaintances

Ruth F. Stevens Author Of My Year of Casual Acquaintances

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

From the time I was a girl, I’ve loved stories that put a lump in my throat even as I’m laughing. As a fiction writer, that funny-sad tone is the one I go for in my own work. I gravitate toward female protagonists of all ages who break the mold—women who are intelligent and strong but who also have unconventional, quirky personalities. Women who can be hilarious, infuriating, and heartbreaking—sometimes all at once. Because they are complex and unique, these women tend to struggle with life’s challenges more than their contemporaries. That’s what makes their stories so interesting, and why I have chosen the books on this list. 

Ruth's book list on smart, quirky women facing personal struggles

What is my book about?

When Mar’s husband divorces her, she reacts by abandoning everything in her past: her home, her friends, even her name. Though it's not easy starting over, she’s ready for new adventures—as long as she can keep things casual. Each month, Mar goes from one acquaintance to the next: a fellow gym member down on her luck, a flirty hip-hop instructor, a bossy but comical consultant. . . and a handsome novelist who wants more than she can give. Mar learns from each encounter. But can she open herself up to true connection?

Surrounded by quirky, endearing characters, Mar navigates her…

My Year of Casual Acquaintances

By Ruth F. Stevens,

What is this book about?

"A fun, entertaining novel! I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book as much as I did." -Leslie A. Rasmussen, award-winning author

When Mar Meyer's husband divorces her for another woman, she reacts by abandoning everything in her past: her home, her friends, even her name. Though it's not easy to start over, Mar is young-looking, fit, and ready for new adventures-as long as she can keep things casual.

With each passing month, Mar goes from one acquaintance to the next. Among them: a fellow gym member down on her luck, a flirty hip-hop instructor, a bossy but comical…


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