Jennifer Weiner, mystery novelist

I’ve made mention of this before but I’m rather intrigued by the fact that Weiner (who was one of the first on the block with a writer’s blog) is shifting her attention from straight women’s fiction to a hybrid a la Susan Isaacs, whom she’s long acknowledged as an influence. She goes into more detail about her next book in a new interview with the Connecticut Jewish Ledger:

Q: Are you working on a fourth book and can you tell us what it is about?

A: My fourth book, “Goodnight Nobody” is a murder-mystery-slash-suburban satire set in the fictional town of Upchurch, Connecticut. It’s the story of Kate Klein, a lifelong New Yorker who finds herself living in Connecticut with three kids, wondering what happened to the life she used to have and the person she used to be. When one of her fellow mothers is murdered, and the police can’t figure out who did it, she decides to solve the crime. Of course, the drawback is that she can only fight crime Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:30 to 11:45 while her kids are in nursery school!

I predict many offshoots will emerge as a result.

Also, you have to love an interview where a question begins “Your sister actually used to babysit my kids…” Jewish geography, baby.