Shelf Life

Tag: Layne Fargo

  • Young Rich Widows: Big Hair, Big Egos, and Big Trouble

    Young Rich Widows: Big Hair, Big Egos, and Big Trouble

    “It sounds like the opening of a joke: Four lawyers die in a plane crash.

    “But no one is laughing inside the brand-new 1985 Cessna careening toward the dark icy Atlantic waters. One engine is already on fire and the other about to blow.

    “On the manifest: three men, one woman, and a screaming pilot.

    “’MAYDAY MAYDAY’

    “All four partners. The only partners. The foundation of the firm. This group has never traveled together before. It’s like the virgin who gets knocked up on her wedding night: It was just one time. But once is enough to end it all.”

    Four award-winning mystery writers, Vanessa Lillie, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, Kimberly Belle have teamed up to write Young Rich Widows (Soucebooks), set in 1980s (for those who weren’t around think big hair and  big shoulder pads, ostentatious living like that seen on such shows as Dallas and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous thriller about four rich widows who have not only lost their partners in a mysterious plane crash but also are realizing four million dollars is missing as well.

    And to make it worse. That’s mob money and they want it back. Not next week, but right now.

    The women don’t like each other. Indeed, one, Camille, a former saleslady and now a much younger second wife, is having an affair with Peter, one of the partners who was married to Justine, a former fashion model, while another, Meredith is a stripper who was in a passionate relationship with the only female partner.

    Complicated? Well, it gets even more so, in this comedy/mystery written by Lillie (Blood Sisters), Fargo (They Never Learn), Holahan (Lies She Told), and Belle (The Personal Assistant).

    For one, there’s the long-simmering romantic spark between Crystal and the mobster who is threatening them. He happens to own the strip club where Meredith works. And is Camille more than a homewrecker? Is she a thief like her former employer claims? And then there’s the land deal if they can make it happen, will restore their fortunes—but is that handsome developer who is chasing after Camille to be trusted? Is anyone?

    When you’re in danger, you have to work together or die alone and that’s what these women do, bonding in a way that never would have happened before the crash, and they learn to trust one another as they fight to stay alive.

    The review originally appeared in the New York Journal of Books.

    It is available on Kindle and as an audiobook.

  • Thriller writer channels anger into her books

    Thriller writer channels anger into her books

    Layne Fargo

    Scarlet Clark, the lead character in Layne Fargo’s newest psychological thriller, “They Never Learn,” is not your typical English professor. While she takes her studies and students seriously, for 16 years she’s also been on a mission, to eliminate men at Gorman University she considers to be bad guys. By planning carefully and keeping the murder rate down to one a year, she’s managed to avoid discovery.

    That is until her last killing — the poisoning of a star football player accused of rape — doesn’t go so well. She posted a suicide note on the guy’s Instagram account, but it turns out you can’t kill a star athlete without some ramifications.

    Suddenly, the other suicide notes written by Scarlet are under review and her current project — dispatching a lewd department head who also is her competitor for a fellowship she desperately wants (not all of Scarlet’s killings are devoid of self interest). Trying to forestall discovery, Scarlet insinuates herself into the police investigation while under pressure to get away with this next kill.

    But it’s even more complex than this. After all, it is a Fargo book, and the Chicago author who wrote the well-received “Temper” likes the complexities and power struggles inherent in relationships.

    In this case, adding to the drama is the transformation of Carly Schiller, a freshman who has escaped an abusive home life and now immerses herself in studies as a way of avoiding life. But when Allison, her self-assured roommate, is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly dreams of revenge.

    Fargo, vice president of the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime and the cocreator of the podcast Unlikeable Female Characters, has a little bad girl in her too.

    “I love the sinister title of ‘They Never Learn,’” she said, adding that this, her second thriller, has everything she loves in a book — sexy women, Shakespeare references and the stabbing of men who “deserve” it.

    Fargo was enraged at what she saw as the injustice of the appointment of a man accused of rape into a high position.

    “I channeled that all-consuming anger into a story where men like that are stripped of their power, where they get exactly what they deserve,” she said.

    This are article also ran in the Books section of the Northwest Indiana Times.

  • They Never Learn

    They Never Learn

                  Scarlet Clark, the lead character in Layne Fargo’s newest psychological thriller, They Never Learn, is not your typical English professor. While she takes her studies and students seriously, for 16 years she’s also been on a mission, to eliminate men at Gorman University she considers to be bad guys. By planning carefully and keeping the murder rate down to one a year, she’s managed to avoid discovery. That is until her last killing—the poisoning of a star football player accused of rape—doesn’t go so well.

    She’d posted a suicide note on the guy’s Instagram account, but it turns out you can’t kill a star athlete without some ramifications. Suddenly, the other suicide notes written by Scarlet are under review and her current project—dispatching a lewd department head who also (not all of Scarlet’s killings are devoid of self-interest) is her competitor for a fellowship she desperately wants.  

    Trying to forestall discovery, Scarlet insinuates herself with the police investigation while under pressure to get away with soon with this next kill.

      But it’s even more complex than this, after all it is a Fargo book and the Chicago author who wrote the well-received Temper, likes the complexities and power struggles inherent in relationships.

     In this case, adding to the drama is the transformation of Carly Schiller, a freshman who has escaped an abusive home life and now immerses herself in studies as a way of avoiding life. But when Allison, her self-assured roommate, is sexually assaulted at a party, Carly dreams of revenge.

    Fargo, Vice President of the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime, and the cocreator of the podcast Unlikeable Female Characters, has a little bad girl in her too.

    “I love the sinister title of They Never Learn,” she says, adding that this, her second thriller, has everything she loves in a book—sexy women, Shakespeare references and stabbing men who deserve it.

    She was enraged at what she saw as the injustice of the appointment of a man accused of rape into a high position.

     “I channeled that all-consuming anger into a story where men like that are stripped of their power, where they get exactly what they deserve,” she says.

    It’s a timely topic and Fargo is excited that PatMa Productions optioned the TV rights for her book, and she’ll be writing the pilot. 

    That’s a form of sweet revenge.

    Layne Fargo Virtual Book Events

    When: Thursday, October 22; 6 to 7:30 p.m. CT

    What: Layne Fargo in conversation with Allison Dickson, author of The Other Mrs. Miller, to celebrate the release of her new novel, They Never Learn.

    This event is hosted by Gramercy Books in Columbus, Ohio, and will be livestreamed on their Facebook page, with participants able to ask questions of both authors in the latter portion of the program.

    For more information and to stream: https://www.facebook.com/GramercyBooksBexley/events/?ref=page_internal

    When: Sunday, October 25, 1 p.m. EST

    What: Fiction: Witches and Other Bad Heroines by Boston Book Festival

    To register: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/bad-heroines/register