Follow reporter Laura Cunningham as she takes her last shot at determining the fate of a friend who disappeared twenty-four years earlier, even as she deals with a marriage careening toward divorce and an attractive and very attentive ex-husband who just happens to be the cop who investigated the fire in which her friend went missing.

Praise for Chasing Ashes

I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working alongside Joanne McLaughlin for – well, never mind how many – years, both in the journalism trenches at the Philadelphia Inquirer and as fellow members of Philadelphia’s acclaimed Rittenhouse Writers’ Group fiction workshop. Our shared status as single moms trying to juggle demanding careers with fierce writing ambition further cemented our bond. The day job kept our kids fed; the writing workshop fed our souls. She was even the model for a character in my first published novel, a dear friend whose killing spurred my protagonist to action. (Sorry about the murder thing, Joanne.)

And while I treasure so many aspects of our friendship, one that touches me especially deeply has been the privilege of an early look at her novels. Her trilogy, Never Before Noon, Never Until Now and Never More Human, is like Joanne herself, whip-smart and funny, heartfelt and deeply informed. Who knew how seamlessly vampires blended into the prog-rock world?

Testament to the strength of her trilogy: with each book, I wished for an accompanying Court of Cruelty soundtrack, so compellingly did she portray the undead rock stars.

Her fourth novel, Chasing Ashes, is both a departure from those earlier books and a leap forward.

In it, reporter Laura Cunningham takes her last shot at determining the fate of a friend who disappeared twenty-four years earlier, even as she deals with a marriage careening toward divorce and an attractive and very attentive ex-husband who just happens to be the cop who investigated the fire in which her friend went missing.

In the near-quarter-century since Kate McDonald’s disappearance, Cunningham has gone from college journalism student to a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, and now has the skills, along with the added benefit of current technology, to do her friend justice.

McLaughlin’s own considerable journalism chops are on full display as she leads her protagonist through a harrowing investigation fraught with both physical and personal peril.

Laura Cunningham’s wonderfully messy personal life—the cheating husband who wants to work things out, the fresh involvement of the ex now that the investigation is revived, a son from each marriage whose needs are always in conflict with the demands of the investigation—provides the flashes of humor that balance out the rising tension. Likewise, the observations of another of Laura’s college friends who runs the local coffeehouse crackle with wit.

Chasing Ashes touches on social issues of the 1990s that remain relevant today, with its focus on the charismatic leader of The Challenge, the halfway house for troubled young people that went up in flames the night Kate disappeared.

Cults of personality often fail under scrutiny, and as Laura dives ever deeper into her investigation she realizes that almost nothing about The Challenge is as it originally seemed.

Which proves the maxim that every reporter learns early: If your mother says she loves you, check it out. Laura Cunningham checks things out, making for an ending that left me gasping.

— Gwen Florio is the award-winning author of eleven mystery novels and a literary stand-alone, Silent Hearts. www.gwenflorio.net

Chasing Ashes is a one-sitting book, and for lovers of mystery, a story that will induce insomnia.
Author Joanne McLaughlin’s real-world journalism chops shine in this stylish and smoothly unfolding mystery and its characters. Her portrayal of investigative journalism, and cop methods and argot spice the story, yielding a true crime flavor.
Nor are characters sacrificed on the altar of plot; rather love and loss, and, yes, subtle sex, make them all too human instead of the puzzle-solving automatons common in the mystery genre.
Lanny Larcinese, author of Get Bek and Fire in the Belly, lannylarcinese.com

Author Joanne McLaughlin

Joanne McLaughlin writes sexy vampire novels, sharp mysteries, and sweeter short fiction. She is the author of the Vampires of the Court of Cruelty trilogy (“Never Before Noon,” “Never Until Now,” and “Never More Human”), the crime thriller “Chasing Ashes” (Celestial Echo Press, coming in fall 2023), and the stories “Peppina’s Sweetheart” and “Grass and Granite” (available for Kindle).