The Big Interrogation: Aric Davis lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan and has set his new novel there. Rough Men follows Will Daniels, a writer dragging himself out of the gutter, and the path he takes after his son Alex is killed. Complicating matters is the fact that his son had just robbed a bank and killed a customer. Justice for Will, in this case, is difficult to reconcile with his new, more legit life.

The Big Interrogation: Thomas Maltman's first novel, the Civil War-era set The Night Birds won an Alex Award, a Spur Award, and the Friends of American Writers Literary Award. His new novel, Little Wolves is set in a small Minnesota town at the end of summer in 1987. A high school boy walks into town and kills a sheriff and then himself. His father and his English teacher both search for understanding in a town that has hidden many ills over the years.

Sorry victims and perpetrators, but I don't have an interview ready to go for this week. I hope to have one for next week.

Day Twelve: Another tale of true crime for the last of the 12 Crimes of Christmas. Alex Heard reminds of us of one of America's highest profile rape trials that became an international story. The Eyes of Willie McGee: A Tragedy of Race, Sex, and Secrets in the Jim Crow South was an Edgar finalist for true crime book of the year.   

Day Eleven: Here's brief interview with Charlaine Harris about Deadlocked, the 12th and penultimate Southern Vampire Mystery, a.k.a. The Sookie Stackhouse Books. The final book in the series, Dead Ever After, will be released in early May 2013.

Day Ten: Eoin Colfer is best known for his Artemis Fowl series, but in 2011 he released his first grown up crime novel, Plugged. I got a chance to interview him at Bouchercon in St. Louis that year.

Day Nine: Here's my 2010 interview with Laura Lippman about her stand-alone novel, I'd Know You Anywhere. I truly think this is one of the best interviews I've ever been a part of. Please listen.

Day Eight: Here's a 2011 interview with Bill Loehfelm about the first book in his Maureen Coughlin series, The Devil She Knows.