Hank Phillipi Ryan's THE WRONG GIRL

Kerry Hammond reports from the Tattered Covered bookstore on Hank Phillipi Ryan's book talk and signing. 

I made another trek to the Tattered Cover bookstore in Highlands Ranch this week.  Hank Phillippi Ryan was in town on a book tour for her latest crime novel The Wrong Girl.  This book is the second in a series featuring Boston investigative reporter Jane Ryland, and was released just this month in hardcover.

As the author explained to her fans at the Tattered Cover, writing about an investigative reporter in Boston was no real stretch for her.  Hank’s day job is just that, an investigative reporter with Boston’s NBC affiliate.  She has won 30 Emmy’s for her news stories, along with dozens of other awards, including twelve Edward R. Murrow’s.  She has published six crime novels with two different female protagonists.

It was fascinating to hear the author talk about her nearly 40 year career in broadcasting, and how it led her to her dream of writing novels.  I think my favorite story, though, was how she and her sister used to ride their ponies to the local library in rural Indiana as children, taking turns holding on to the reigns while the other went inside for books.  A memory that makes it all the more exciting to now have her own novels in libraries around the country.

The author was gracious enough to answer several audience questions and reveal a little more about her writing habits and ability to hold down two full-time jobs and still have a life. She then autographed books and chatted with everyone who came out to see her. 

Incidentally, the first book in the Jane Ryland series, The Other Woman, was the winner of the MWA/Mary Higgins Clark Award and is now out in paperback.  If you’re a fan of audio books, The Other Woman is available from Macmillan Audio and is read by Ilyana Kadushin, who also read the Twilight book series.  Listeners will also get a bonus track or two, which contain Lee Child and Hank interviewing each other.

I can’t wait to read The Wrong Girl.  The book jacket description had already hooked me, but to hear Hank go a little bit more in-depth really added to the intrigue.  Her third book in the series is already written and submitted, so fans of Jane Ryland have even more to look forward to.