The Bookplate is happy to announce another author event in town featuring former teacher-turned-author, Ken Linn. Join Ken and the Bookplate staff on Thursday, October 8th for a 6pm event at The Kitchen at The Imperial Hotel to discuss his book; Dwellings.
In the debut novel in the Pete Barrow Mystery Series, math teacher and part-time private investigator Pete Barrow takes on the case of a missing abused wife, last reported to be hiding out in Virginia’s rural Northern Neck Peninsula with a mysterious woman known as “The Bus Lady”. With the support of his girlfriend, school psychologist Wendi Wynston, and the sometimes-reluctant help of the county’s longtime African- American sheriff, Oscar Murphy, Barrow takes on the case that leads from a sketchy women’s crisis center to a selective program at a secretive estate. When two people turn up dead, the investigation veers off into dangerous territory populated with an ambitious group of lawyers, a six-year-old boy of questionable origin, a threatening thug for hire, and a wealthy man with a dark and twisted secret.
“Pete Barrow is a math teacher who solves crimes. It seems an odd combination of skill sets, but watching him patiently pull in bits of seemingly random information and try to fit them into patterns must be a lot like a mathematician building an equation to reach a defensible answer. This book is a good read, and Pete’s relationship with Oscar the Sheriff and his girlfriend Wendi adds a lot of fun banter reminiscent of Robert Parker’s Spenser and Hawk. Give us more!”—J. Long
“I had so much fun reading this book. Being a former math teacher I especially enjoyed the references to teaching. The story is interesting and so intriguing I had trouble setting the book down until completed.” —K. Melhunek
Ken Linn spent four decades teaching high school mathematics in both private and public
schools throughout the Chesapeake Bay region of Virginia and Maryland. His professional debut short story, “Stray”, appeared in the January/February 2021 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and was included in the list of “Other Distinguished Mystery and Suspense of 2021” in the volume The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022. Preceding the novel, Dwellings, his three short stories featuring private investigator Pete Barrow and Sheriff Oscar Murphy have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. A fourth Barrow story is forthcoming in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine in summer 2026. The next novel in the series is scheduled for release in early 2027. He is an active member of Mystery Writers of America.
For more event details contact The Bookplate at 410-778-4167 or contact@thebookplate.net. The next author event is with Lisa Lynn Biggar on October 14th. These events are free and open to the public, but reservations are strongly recommended. The Kitchen at the Imperial Hotel is located at 208 High Street in Chestertown, Maryland.
