Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Sabitha: Looking for thrills and suspense? Tony Healey has you covered with his latest book, The Girl Between. Tony, can you introduce us to your mystery novel?

Tony: Five years ago Maddie Ryan found herself the target of a vicious serial killer and barely escaped the encounter with her life. She lost everything in the process and had no choice but to leave Seattle and start afresh. Now a resident of Sanctuary Bay, a small seaside town, Maddie owns a popular local diner and has done everything in her power to leave the past behind her.

But when local girl Ruth Preston goes missing over Thanksgiving, Maddie finds herself drawn into assisting police chief Ben Taylor to help find her—and realizes that her long-dormant ability to see the dead has been reawakened.

With winter holding Sanctuary Bay in its icy grip, and the truth of Ruth Preston’s disappearance proving all the more elusive, Maddie must reconcile the specter of her past with the new life she has made…

The Girl Between is a gripping small-town mystery with a paranormal twist that will appeal to fans of The Family Plot by Megan Collins, Later by Stephen King, and the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr.

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Tony: I wrote two mystery novels for Thomas and Mercer, then four westerns for Berkley, and so when it came to writing my latest I really wanted to return to some of what I’d done with T&M, a mystery with a paranormal edge. But whereas Ida Lane in my Harper and Lane series can see things about people by touching them, I wanted a main character who could literally see the dead. That, combined with a desire to write a small-town romance at some point, gave me the bones of what would become The Girl Between. The novel is a complete story in and of itself, but there will be a direct sequel, The Wolf Circles, next year at some point that will complete the story of the main character, Maddie Ryan. It’s envisioned primarily as a two-book series (but that could change if readers enjoy the books and demand more, of course!)

Sabitha: Do you have a playlist for your book?

Tony: I listened to a LOT of Bob Dylan during the writing of The Girl Between. I also listened to a lot of jazz, but I’d say Dylan was definitely my jam this time around–I made a playlist called Seven Eras: The Best of Bob Dylan that the Night Beats community might enjoy.

Sabitha: What book do you tell all your friends to read?

Tony: I will always point readers to An Unsettled Grave by Bernard Shaffer, which is my favourite of his Santero and Rein series. I also like to pontificate about a book that inspired me during the writing of The Girl Between, and that is Who Haunts You? by Mark Wheaton. It’s a ghost story told through the lens of neurodiversity, and I couldn’t put it down.

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Tony: The Night Beats community can find me over at www.tonyhealey.com and on Threads. The Girl Between is out and if anyone would like a free review copy in PDF format, just give me a shout.