In this episode of Read Between the Lines, host Molly Southgate sits down with Bryan Gruley, award-winning author and former journalist, to talk about his latest suspense novel, Bitterfrost — set to release on April 1, 2025.
Bitterfrost follows Jimmy Baker, a former minor-league hockey player turned Zamboni driver in his small Michigan hometown, who finds himself entangled in a gripping double-murder investigation. As past violence resurfaces, Baker must confront guilt, memory, and mystery in a town frozen in more ways than one.
Bryan shares:
The real-life inspiration behind Bitterfrost
How hockey culture and crime fiction collide
Writing deeply atmospheric Michigan noir
His journey from journalism to bestselling author
What fans of Starvation Lake and Bleak Harbor can expect next
If you love literary thrillers, small-town secrets, and complex characters, this conversation is a must-listen.
Purchase Bitterfrost and all of Bryan's books at Bookshop.org:
https://bookshop.org/a/10588/9781448315406
Bryan Gruley is the Amazon Charts bestselling and award-winning author of Bitterfrost, the Starvation Lake trilogy (Starvation Lake, The Hanging Tree, The Skeleton Box), and two novels set in the fictional Bleak Harbor (Bleak Harbor and Purgatory Bay).
A journalist for over 40 years, Bryan shared in the Pulitzer Prize awarded to The Wall Street Journal for its coverage of the September 11 attacks. A graduate of Notre Dame, avid hockey player, and amateur musician, Bryan lives in northern Michigan with his wife, Pam.
Bryan Gruley, Bitterfrost, Starvation Lake, Bleak Harbor, Michigan fiction, murder mystery, hockey thriller, crime fiction, small-town mystery, journalist turned author, literary suspense, pulp noir, cold case, Zamboni mystery, thriller 2025, Amazon Charts author, Edgar finalist
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