There’s a thin line between a courageous decision and a regrettable mistake, and Clare Carlson teeters on that line with grace and aplomb. News editor for a New York City television station, Clare covers assignments in dark places about murder, accidents, and lawlessness – and she loves her job.
For this and the other novels in the Clare Carlson Mystery Series, R.G. Belsky mines his own career as a journalist in New York at hard-driving publications including the New York Post and the New York Daily News, and as a news editor at NBC News. Belsky knows his subject matter – from the Manhattan neighborhoods he’s frequented to the inside workings of a busy newsroom and the eccentric, smart, and sometimes inept people who work there.
AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF A BEAT REPORTER
Because of this, It’s News to Me (Oceanview Publishing) reads swiftly, spare, and journalistically sharp, much like the way Clare Carlson talks in this crisp new addition to the series. Here, Clare takes on the murder of Riley Hunt, a lovely and beloved coed, brutally beaten and left dead on a sidewalk near Washington Square. This time, the shelves and cupboards of the rabbit hole hold mobsters, war veterans, cops and robbers, secrets, victims, and killers. Most of which Clare Carlson has dealt with before.
Despite her persistent and admirable resolve in the face of things that go bump in the night and the barrel of a handgun pressed against her head, she’s a consistently relatable protagonist. She can’t resist eating junk food; and her love life, when she manages to even get a date, is pathos. She makes mistakes, she gets confused and she relies on her best girlfriend as her necessary confidant. She’s totally human and likable.
THRILLING INVESTIGATIVE WORK
As she plows through surveillance camera tapes, laptops, and human resource files, Clare finds bits and pieces that she needs to make whole. How is the owner of a popular restaurant connected to the Deputy Commissioner of the NYC police department? A drug-addicted veteran of the Afghanistan war and the pretty Riley Hunt? Who is Pete Bevilocqua, what does a well-known and prestigious university owe the mob, and why, exactly, did Riley’s mother change her name and move to Indiana?
It all crumbles together finally, of course, with enough delicate strands of loose ends left to keep Belsky’s fans eager for the next installment.
FOR FANS OF UNCOVERED SECRETS AND INVESTIGATIVE THRILLERS
It’s News to Me is the fifth book in the series, but each is easily read on its own. If It’s News to Me is a reader’s first introduction to the Clare Carlson series, he or she will likely go looking for books 1-4. It’s easy to fall in love with Clare Carlson and R.G. Belsky’s brisk and decisive prose.
The earlier books in the series include Yesterday’s News, Below the Fold, The Last Scoop, and Beyond the Headlines.
Fans of R.G. Belsky’s investigative writing style are also sure to love his Detective Abby Pearce books, as well as his Jessie Tucker Mystery Book series, both written under the pseudonym, Dana Perry.
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About R.G. Belsky:
R.G. Belsky is an award-winning author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His newest mystery, It’s News to Me, is being published in October by Oceanview. It is the fifth in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. The first book, Yesterday’s News, was named Best Mystery of 2018 at Deadly Ink. The second, Below the Fold, won the Foreward INDIES award for Best Mystery of 2019. The third Clare Carlson mystery, The Last Scoop, came out in 2020. The fourth book, Beyond the Headlines, came out in hardcover in 2021 and paperback in 2022. Belsky has published 20 novels — all set in the New York City media world where he has had a long career as a top editor at the New York Post, New York Daily News, Star Magazine and NBC News.
He also writes thrillers under the name Dana Perry, and he is a contributing writer for The Big Thrill magazine.
