Veritas
When the hallowed halls of academia become the stage for murder, newly appointed Dean Beth Ellis's search for the truth leads her to unexpected discoveries about her own heart. For Beth Ellis, Grafton College and its faculty and students are her home and family. But the president of the college rubs everyone the wrong way, the new English professor on campus isn't much more popular, and Beth has her hands full trying to keep the peace as various campus factions quarrel. Still, she didn't expect a tenure battle to end in murder. Sally Sullivan left the Chicago police homicide division and returned to her hometown where, as chief of police, she expected her greatest challenges to be dealing with car accidents and drunk drivers. But faced with a murder investigation with more motives than evidence and an inexperienced staff, Sally finds small-town policing isn't as simple as she thought. Neither are her growing feelings for Beth Ellis. As Sally and Beth's different worlds collide, their desire to solve the murder is complicated by their unexpected attraction. A second murder on campus places the survival of the college itself, their tenuous relationship, and even their lives in jeopardy.
Anne Laughlin
Anne Laughlin was born and raised in Chicago, a city that often serves as the setting for her novels. She has written seven books for Bold Strokes Books, all stand-alone crime novels of the classic mystery, police procedural, and psychological thrill variety. She is the winner of four Goldie Awards from the Golden Crown Literary Society and has been shortlisted three times for a Lammy Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation. In 2022 she was awarded the Alice B Medal for excellence in lesbian fiction. She has written a number of published short stories. Her story “It Only Occurred to Me Later” was a finalist in the Saints and Sinners Short Fiction Contest. "Swan Club" appeared in the award-nominated anthology of queer crime fiction, Crime Ink: Iconic.

