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An Autumnal Chill
MCHUGH’S NEWEST NOVEL YOU NEED THIS FALL.
Software-developerturned-novelist Laura McHugh released her fourth mystery book this summer, What’s Done in Darkness, earning national recognition in Oprah Daily’s 2021’s Best Beach Reads, ELLE Magazine’s Best Books of the Summer list and Harlan Coben’s pick for Best Summer Thriller.
Staying true to her colors, McHugh details a chilling plot set in a remote rural town in the Ozarks. McHugh introduces her own spin on familial hardship as a young woman confronts her past — involving abduction and an oppressive cult. While this story stems from McHugh’s imagination, the inspiration was derived from real women’s abduction cases and their struggle to be heard and believed. The book broaches the way in which women can be victim-blamed or gaslit after suffering abduction or abuse — something McHugh is passionate about bringing attention to.
In our interview with McHugh, she shares her thought process behind
BY OLIVIA DESMIT · PHOTOS BY L.G. PATTERSON
What’s Done in Darkness, her accomplishments as a writer and her ambitions in storytelling.
Question: What is the main premise for your newest book, What’s Done in Darkness?
Answer: It is about a young woman whose family belongs to a strict, cult-like backwoods church where girls and women wear long dresses, behave submissively and enter arranged marriages in their teens. The main character, Sarabeth, seeks a way out of this life and is abducted from her family’s Arkansas farm. When she is set free, nobody believes her story — until five years later.
Q: How does this novel differentiate from your previous works? Q: What awards has your newest novel achieved?
A: It’s similar to my previous FASHION FASHION novels in some ways. It’s set in the Ozarks like The Weight of Blood, in a remote rural area,
and it’s dark and suspenseful and a bit creepy like all of my work. It touches on a favorite theme of mine. I’m always writing about family and its inherent complications. A: The book was published this year, so any awards or nominations would not happen until 2022. It has garnered some accolades, though. The most exciting
thing was seeing megabestselling author Harlan Coben holding up my book on the Today Show and declaring it the best thriller to read this summer. I’m a huge fan of Coben’s, and it was a thrill to see my book recommended on national television.
Q: Of the awards you have received in your career, which are you most proud of?
A: My debut novel, The Weight of Blood, won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel and that was a huge honor. When my name was called at the award ceremony, I couldn’t believe it. It was something I hadn’t dared to dream of when I was writing the book.
Q: What challenges do you face writing within the same genre and similar settings for your books?
A: Much of my work is inspired by true crimes in the Midwest and the Ozarks, and there’s no shortage of material in that regard. I set each of my books in a different — usually fictional — location in the Heartland. There is a focus on small towns and rural areas, and the stories and characters are different each time, which keeps things fresh for me.
Q: Do you have practices or writing methods that help you keep up with the captivating nature of your books?
A: I strive to craft suspenseful mysteries that will keep the pages turning. I usually start with a question that I’m dying to know the answer to, like “What happened to that missing girl?” or “Who killed that person — and why?” I do my best to write the story in such a way that the reader is dying to know, too, and won’t put the book down until the answers are revealed.
Q: What kind of impact do you imagine your books having on your audience?
A: I hope to entertain readers, and if my work can go beyond that and resonate with someone in a deeper way, that truly makes the work feel meaningful. I’ve had readers send me songs and artwork inspired by my books, and one reader sent me pictures of the cover of The Weight of Blood tattooed on her arm. Positive feedback from readers is one of the most rewarding parts of a writing career.
What’s Done in Darkness can be purchased locally at Skylark Bookshop, Plume and Barnes & Noble.
TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT’S POSSIBLE
From personal checking to commercial banking and the smallest loan to the largest investment, Central Bank of Boone County helps you turn what’s possible into what’s real. And as a community bank, we’re always looking forward — striving to create a better, stronger community for all. Discover more at centralbank.net/boone-county today.
PROSPERU & PARTNERS ARE WORKING TO TRANSFORM THE COMMUNITY
At Central Bank of Boone County, we work hard to ensure that comprehensive fi nancial education is accessible to all in our community. That’s why we created ProsperU, a free program that aims to help everyone — customer or not — create a healthy fi nancial life. That’s also why we partner with local organizations that work with often under- or un-served communities, establishing an environment where anyone can set and reach fi nancial goals, regardless of their circumstances.
HEAR FROM THE EXPERT
Central Bank of Boone County’s own Sarah Moreau teaches some of ProsperU’s most popular classes, including Personal Budgeting Basics and Understanding Your Credit.
The goal for all classes is the same: to learn steps for building a successful fi nancial life. After all, as Moreau says, “Everyone wants to be better with their fi nances, we all just need a little help knowing how.” And that is where our community partnerships come in.
HEAR FROM THE COMMUNITY
ProsperU partners with a variety of local organizations to ensure fi nancial education is accessible to everyone, including Job Point and Central Missouri Community Action (CMCA).
Jerrell L. Morton is the Director of YouthBuild at Job Point, an organization that helps individuals prepare and plan for their careers and to fi nd jobs. The YouthBuild program serves ages 16-24 and, in Morton’s words, its mission “is to empower the underserved and voiceless by way of education and developing self-awareness [and] worth.” ProsperU teaches a Financial Literacy course that fi lls the educational gap and helps equip YouthBuild students for the realities of a consumer-centric world.
Jennifer Klosterman is the BRIDGE Program Director at CMCA. CMCA helps families in poverty help themselves and others. According to Klosterman, “BRIDGE specifi cally works with families who have children in grades K-2 and bridging the gap between schools and families to help children be more successful in school.” ProsperU partners with BRIDGE to lead free fi nancial courses — including basic budgeting, debt management and more — for low-income families. Together, our goal is to help move people out of poverty and toward their fi nancial goals and stability. Klosterman says that through the ProsperU and CMCA partnership, “People have been able to pay off debt and start saving to own their own homes.”
STRAIGHT FROM A STUDENT
Take a look at what one of ProsperU’s Personal Finance students, Mrs. SM, has to say about the program:
Q: What did you hope to get out of ProsperU? A: How to budget and save on a tight income.
Q: What did you learn in the classroom? A: How to take my bills and compile them into one large spread sheet and make it easy enough to navigate to help prioritize my bills.
Q: How did you build upon that knowledge through your one-on-ones or other ProsperU experiences? A: Progress checks and accountability and how to budget within my means and not spend more than I’m bringing home.
Q: Have you reached the goals or dreams you set out to at the beginning of your ProsperU journey? A: Yes! My husband and I were able to buy our fi rst home because of [ProsperU]!
Q: What do you see in your future thanks to your participation in the program? How does that outlook differ from before you attended? A: The ability to be completely debt-free!
As our program continues to grow, we look forward to further fostering our relationships with these organizations and the people they serve. To fi nd out more about how ProsperU and Central Bank of Boone County are changing the lives of people in our community, check us out at centralbank.net/prosperu or feel free to reach out to us at 573-817-8900.
