I am pleased to announce that True Crime Librarian will be hosting its first interview with a visiting author: John David Bethel!

After a long political communications career in Washington, D.C., Mr. Bethel has settled in Miami, Florida. His time inside the Beltway was undoubtedly rich, as his first book, Evil Town, a tale of murder, intrigue, and corruption at the heart of American government, has received praise from fellow civil servants for its accurate, stinging portrayal of Washington. While grounded in the real world, the events of Evil Town are Mr. Bethel’s creation (One hopes…)

On the other hand, Mr. Bethel’s new novel, Blood Moon, is based on a series of crimes ,committed by “the Sun Gym gang,” that took place in Miami in the 1990s. This orgy of violence featured just about every truly horrible thing human beings can do to each other. These evil acts were previously fictionalized in the 2013 movie Pain and Gain, which, strangely enough, despite sharing its title with a survivor’s memoirs, is billed as a comedy.

I’ve spent the weekend enjoying Blood Moon and will be sharing my thoughts with you on Monday morning. Monday evening I’ll sit down with Mr. Bethel to discuss Blood Moon, his time in Washington, his writing life, and how that career transition came about.

Until then,

L