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Tara Laskowski

Biography

Tara Laskowski

Tara Laskowski is the author of the suspense novels THE WEEKEND RETREAT, THE MOTHER NEXT DOOR and ONE NIGHT GONE, which won the Agatha Award, Macavity Award and the Anthony Award. She also wrote two short story collections, MODERN MANNERS FOR YOUR INNER DEMONS and BYSTANDERS. She has won the Agatha Award and Thriller Award for her short fiction and was the longtime editor of the online flash fiction journal SmokeLong Quarterly. She lives in Virginia with her husband, crime writer Art Taylor, and their son Dashiell.

Books by Tara Laskowski

by Tara Laskowski - Domestic Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Every year, the illustrious Van Ness siblings, heirs to a copper fortune, gather at their secluded winery estate for a joint birthday celebration. It's a tradition they've followed nearly all their lives, and now they are back with their significant others for a much-needed weekend of rest and relaxation. The trip should be the perfect escape, but it soon becomes clear that even a remote idyllic getaway can’t keep out the problems simmering in each of their lives. As old tensions are reignited, the three couples are pushed to the edge. Will their secrets destroy them, or will they destroy each other first? And who’s been watching them from beyond the vineyard gates? When a torrential rainstorm hits, plunging them into darkness, the answers prove all too deadly.

by Tara Laskowski - Domestic Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

The annual Halloween block party is the pinnacle of the year on idyllic suburban cul-de-sac Ivy Woods Drive. An influential group of neighborhood moms, known as the Ivy Five, plans the event for months. Except the Ivy Five has been four for a long time. When a new mother moves to town, eager to fit in, the moms see it as an opportunity to make the group whole again. This year’s block party should be the best yet...until the women start receiving anonymous messages threatening to expose the quiet neighborhood’s dark past --- and the lengths they’ve gone to hide it. As secrets seep out and the threats intensify, the Ivy Five must sort the loyal from the disloyal, the good from the bad.

by Tara Laskowski - Fiction, Mystery

One sultry summer, Maureen Haddaway arrives in the wealthy town of Opal Beach to start her life anew. There, she finds herself lured by the promise of friendship, love, starry skies and wild parties. But Maureen’s new life just might be too good to be true, and before the summer is up, she vanishes. Decades later, when Allison Simpson is offered the opportunity to house-sit in Opal Beach during the off-season, it seems like the perfect chance to begin fresh after a messy divorce. But when she becomes drawn into the mysterious disappearance of a girl 30 years before, Allison realizes the gorgeous homes of Opal Beach hide dark secrets. And the truth of that long-ago summer is not even the most shocking part of all.