What is the title of your latest release?
LONG WAY DOWN
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
She thinks she’s marrying the perfect man. But nothing is as it seems.
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I needed two small towns divided by both a river and economics.
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Most definitely.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Wily, Quixotic, Sensitive
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
How to fly a single engine plane; how to rig explosives in a rock quarry
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Both. I sort of play leapfrog. I leap forward for a while, then jump back a few spaces, fix some things, then go forward again.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Caviar – Beluga to be sure.
Describe your writing space/office!
I write in a small upstairs room in our 1925 Craftsman house in Burlington, Vermont. My desk—an old pine dining room table I found at a garage sale—is set in front of a huge window. When I’m not staring into my computer screen, I can watch the comings and goings in my neighborhood as well as the sailboats and kayakers on Lake Champlain in the distance. It’s a western view so I also get amazing sunsets over the Adirondacks. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see A LOT of sunset pictures!
Who is an author you admire?
Claire Pooley. She really gets into the head of her characters and oh but they are always so full of charm and wit.
Is there a book that changed your life?
Atonement by Ian McEwan. Brilliant story, brilliant writing. It got under my skin and stayed there.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I was at a dinner party, and I excused myself when I saw my agent’s name come up on my phone. Otherwise, I never would have left because this friend is an amazing cook. Plus, she’s British and she finds it incredibly rude to use one’s phone during a meal.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Suspense
What’s your favorite movie?
The Best Years of Our Lives
What is your favorite season?
Autumn
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Being grateful I made it through another year
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
TV: The Jackal, Book: The Death of Us by Abigail Dean
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Asian
What do you do when you have free time?
Bike, cook, walk, read, try to get my cat to play with the multitude of toys we bought for him, stare off into the distance.
What can readers expect from you next?
Another murder mystery.
She thinks she’s marrying the perfect man. But nothing is as it seems.
Perfect for fans of Rachel Hawkins and Darby Kane, this suspense-packed novel entangles readers in family lies and shocking secrets that will leave you breathless.
Deni Rydell believes her life is finally about to change for the better just as soon as she marries Cal Cooper Jr., heir to a massive California mining fortune.
When Cal and his parents perish in a plane crash, Deni’s dreams are shattered. She’s hoping to find solace with Cal’s brother Grant, who only recently returned to the small town of Gold Hills after a year’s stay in rehab. Too bad Grant is caught up trying to please Erika, the mysterious woman he brought home with him.
Meanwhile, Gold Hills detective Robyn Torres is assigned to investigate a vicious murder which she assumes to be a drug robbery that turned deadly. The deeper she digs, though, the clearer it is that she couldn’t be further from the truth. Soon enough, Torres begins to uncover a series of disturbing family secrets and dark lies connected to the Cooper family that threaten to destroy everything Deni knew to be true.
Thriller Crime [Crooked Lane Books, On Sale: October 21, 2025, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9798892423335 / eISBN: 9798892423328]
Lisa Kusel is the author of the psychological thriller The Widow on Dwyer Court, the short story collection Other Fish in the Sea, the novel Hat Trick, and Rash, a memoir about her time living in Bali. When she’s not meditating, cooking, or volunteering at the local food shelf, she can be found wrangling words (as well as her crazy cat, Dave) at her desk overlooking Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont. Her forthcoming thriller, Long Way Down, will be published in October 2025.
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