Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Midwest Chapter’s
2025 Hugh Holton Award
for an unpublished manuscript
Sixty-something Ellen Sesso writes the senior sex blog Forever 69, digs into the surprisingly dark history of her hometown as president of the historical society, and has a problem: one of her friends wants her dead.
Beloved, notorious, and occasionally feared in her Michigan village, Ellen is known as much for her senior sex blog as for her relentless curiosity about the town’s past. When she’s bludgeoned during her annual harvest party and left for dead, the only clue to her attacker is an unfinished text: Tom. Unfortunately—or fortunately, darling, as Ellen might beg to differ—her life is full of Toms, including the police chief secretly in love with her, her scoundrel of an ex-husband, and a tantalizing married friend.
As Ellen lies in a coma, Police Chief Tom Kurland investigates with his new deputy while Ellen’s best friends and daughter join the search for the person who betrayed her. The investigation soon reveals her tangled love life may not be the only reason someone wants her dead. Before the attack, Ellen uncovered a dark chapter in the town's history. With every buried secret that surfaces, the pressure on the killer grows to finish the job—and silence Ellen forever.
Currently seeking representation.