Thriller writer Jeff Shelby debuts his cozy author alter-ego, Jeffrey Allen, with the release of this month's Stay at Home Dead. When stay-at-home dad Deuce Winters finds the dead body of a former high school rival in the back of his minivan, his life of folding laundry and caring for his daughter takes a turn as he tries to find the murderer. I asked the author about his own experience as a stay-at-home dad and how it influenced this fun mystery. Plus, Allen also shares his method for writing hilarious stories and tells us what's next for cozy hero Deuce!

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While I assume you don't normally find dead bodies in your minivan or spend a whole lot of time clearing your name for murder, I am wondering if you have anything in common with your character Deuce?

I stayed at home with my daughter until she was seven. It was truly a privilege and the best decision I ever made. I was a Room Mom at her preschool and kindergarten and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had that time with her. I was minimally harassed by PTA moms.

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Congratulations to The Tattooed Girl: The Enigma of Stieg Larsson and the Secrets Behind the Most Compelling Thrillers of our Time by Dan Burstein, Arne de Keijzer and John-Henri Holmberg and The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. Both of these 2011 books are among the titles nominated for a 2012 Edgar Allen Poe Award.

The 2012 Edgars, as they are informally called, are selected by Mystery Writers of America. The winners will be announced this Spring at the 66th annual banquet. This year’s Edgar Awards Grand Master is bestselling author Martha Grimes.

RT featured The Tattooed Girl in the September 2011 issue, as that month’s non-fic pick. The book is an unauthorized but incredibly in-depth guide to all things Stieg Larsson and his series. In the September issue, RT’s Managing Editor Liz French interviewed Dan Burstein, one of the book’s co-authors. He gave us a look inside the non-fic work and what inspired its creation ...

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Stieg Larsson’s Millennium series, which as most people know was imported from Sweden, has become an American phenomenon. So it’s no surprise that readers are anxious to get their hands on more novels from authors overseas.

To feed this demand, Grand Central Publishing is teaming up with Little, Brown Book Group U.K. for a new joint-publishing venture. Together, they plan to acquire and publish six mysteries in the crime, suspense and thriller subgenres which will be translated for American readers. The new project will be headed up by a director from each country.

Dan Mallory, the U.K. program director from Little, Brown said, “In recent years, fiction in translation, especially genre fiction, has enjoyed increased market pull in the English-speaking world. Now, in tandem with Grand Central, we're pleased to offer an utterly unique opportunity within English-language publishing: the chance for foreign writers to be published throughout the English-speaking world by a single company. In an increasingly globalized market, an author's international profile is more valuable than ever, and our new venture will enable us to coordinate our efforts and expertise in order to build those profiles and power those authors to brand status around the world.”

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Today RT’s Morgan and Whitney Dish about Rick Mofina’s latest suspense The Burning Edge. Investigative reporter Jack Gannon knows he has a good nose for stories, but with his new executive editor pressuring him, will he be able to connect the dots between a terrorist threat and a vicious roadside slaying before it’s too late?

Whitney: Now you know that I don’t normally venture into what I consider “boy book” territory — and without a romance in sight this is definitely that type of story — but I have to say, I really loved the book!

Morgan: I knew that you were going to like Jack Gannon. This is the third book I have read in Rick Mofina’s series and they are always a fast-paced reads with amazing characterization and terrific plotting.

Whitney: Jack’s particularly excellent. Mofina does a great job of bringing his hero to life as a multifaceted man who is able to express his frustrations with his job, with his ex, with his shifty-seeming sources. 

Morgan: And he does this all without ever taking away from the action of the story.

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Father and son Michael Palmer and Daniel Palmer are both thriller authors and both have books releasing this February. In the latest issue of RT BOOK REVIEWS they interviewed each other for the article “Father Knows Best?” Today we bring you two never before seen questions (and answers).

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Michael: I remember when you started playing in bands after college. During the day you had some of the most heinous jobs imaginable. Could you tell us about some of them? 

Daniel: Let’s see … I used to play guitar and hand out leaflets for lunchtime harbor cruises dressed as pirate. Business people would often try to kick my peg leg out from underneath me. I opened and closed a juice bar, and then auctioned off the remnants of Juicy Juice when my business partner failed to pay his storage warehouse bill. Oh, did I mention that I used to work in that storage warehouse? Worst of all, though, was the Barmuda Triangle, a college dive where I tended bar and which was so cash strapped, a repo man from our vending machine company once carted away the sanitary napkin dispenser. That was a real low point for me. 

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Daniel: You have been writing for many years. Is there any part of the craft that comes more easily now than when you first started? 

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