Dear Gentle Reader,

Lots of McIntyre’s news about the Beltie Prize and CrimeScene were disseminated last week, but we would now like to draw your attention to something of grave importance; the cut to and possible elimination of federal money for SNAP (federal food assistance). CORA (the Chatham County food pantry) recently expanded to support western Chatham County and Siler City when these cuts started playing out. Now they are feeding federal workers and people without SNAP as well as their usual customers while covering more of the county. Also, people are relinquishing pets as they cannot afford to feed them. A bag of dog or cat food can go a long way. So come visit us to feed your mind and your altruistic side as well: we are collecting food and monetary donations. These needs are not going away…

Thanksgiving hours. McIntyre’s is open Wednesday through Friday from 10am-6pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 10am-5pm. The lone exception this month is that we will be closed Thanksgiving Day. We will open and ready to welcome you at 10am on Friday, November 28th.

Ellery Adams will be here this Saturday, November 15 at 11am to discuss her latest mystery in her Secret, Book & Scone Society Series, The Tattered Cover, with Kelly Mullen, This is not a Game. It was a dark, rainy night at Nora Pennington’s Miracle Books when a mysterious death brings the Secret, Book, and Scone Society into the Halloween season on the trail of a murderer . . . As the residents of Miracle Springs, North Carolina, select their costumes, plan parties, and get excited for a night of tricks or treats, Nora joins in on the festivities by hosting medium memoirist Lara Luz at the bookstore.

In This is Not a Game, Widow Mimi lives on idyllic Mackinac Island, where cars are not allowed and a Gibson martini with three onions at the witching hour is compulsory. Her estranged granddaughter, Addie, is getting over the heartbreak of not only being dumped by her fiancé, Brian, but also being cut out of the deal for the brilliantly successful video game, Murderscape, they invented together (with Addie doing most of the heavy lifting).

When Mimi gets an invitation from local socialite Jane Ireland—a seventy-something narcissist who’s having a salacious affair with her son-in-law—to a charity auction, she invites Addie. But Mimi doesn’t tell her that a blackmail threat from Jane looms over the party’s invitation.

Next Saturday, November 22, Libby Buck drops by to share from her novel, Port Anna, an enchanting debut novel exploring second chances and blossoming romance in a charming port town in Maine, perfect for fans of J. Courtney Sullivan’s The Cliffs and Catherine Newman’s Sandwich.

All the best from the Usual Suspects,

Pete, Johanna, Sarah G., Tyler, Amy, Juliana, Sarah C. and Keebe