"Master of suspense” Hank Phillippi Ryan will be our guest at the Literary Cafe. Hank is the award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of 13 psychological thrillers. She's also the Emmy-award winning investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV. Hank's newest novel, "Her Perfect Life", is a chilling psychological standalone about fame, family, and revenge, and Publishers Weekly calls it “a superlative thriller.” For the Literary Cafe, Hank will be in conversation with Lexington's own Marjan Kamali (author of TOGETHER TEA and THE STATIONERY SHOP) about writing suspense, why readers love thrillers, and making the leap from television reporter to novelist.

About Hank Phillippi Ryan

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the USA Today bestselling author of 13 psychological thrillers, winning the genre’s most prestigious awards: five Agathas, five Anthonys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also the on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, with 37 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Book critics call her “a master of suspense,” “a superb and gifted storyteller”; she’s the only author to have won the Agatha in four categories: Best First, Best Novel, Best Short Story and Best Non-Fiction. Her newest is HER PERFECT LIFE, a chilling psychological standalone about fame, family, and revenge. It received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, calling it “a superlative thriller.” B.A. Paris says, “Shocking, suspenseful… kept me guessing until the end.” and Julie Clark says, “You will read this in one sitting!” It is now nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. Her next is THE HOUSE GUEST, coming February 2023.

Hank is a founder of MWA University, host of CRIME TIME on A Mighty Blaze, and co-host of First Chapter Fun and The Back Room. She is a past president of National Sisters in Crime. Visit Hank at HankPhillippiRyan.com, Twitter @HankPRyan, Instagram @hankpryan and Facebook at HankPhillippiRyanAuthor.

About Marjan Kamali:

Marjan Kamali is the award-winning author of The Stationery Shop (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster), a national bestseller, and Together Tea (EccoBooks/HarperCollins), a Massachusetts Book Award finalist. She is a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship. Kamali’s novels are published in translation in more than 20 languages and The Stationery Shop was awarded the Prix Attitude in France. Her essays have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Literary Hub, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. The Stationery Shop is being adapted into a TV series at HBO and Together Tea was adapted for the stage.

Kamali holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley, an MBA from Columbia University, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from New York University. Born in Turkey to Iranian parents, Kamali spent her childhood in Turkey, Iran, Germany, Kenya, and the U.S.  She currently teaches creative writing at GrubStreet and lives in the Boston area with her family.

This is a hybrid program - you can attend in person or watch via Zoom. If you are attending via Zoom, please register to receive the Zoom link.  In person attendance is on a first come basis.

Copies of Hank's book will be available for purchase through Maxima Book Center.

In collaboration with Ashland Public Library, Franklin Public Library, and Peabody Institute Library, Danvers.

This program is sponsored by the Cary Library Foundation.