The Regulator welcomes Nora Gaskin Esthimer, editor of the anthology Carolina Crimes, and author of the new crime thriller, The Worst Thing, for a reading and talk about elements of suspense and what makes a great crime novel.

"Who says a nice girl can't write a convincing psychopath? ..." --Kim Church, author of Byrd

When Kellah Mace’s parents are killed in an accident, she overhears someone say, “She’ll go through life knowing the worst thing has already happened.” Kellah takes these words to mean she need fear nothing -- only the loss of someone else she loves. Albert Darwin operates outside of society's norms, but so does his nemesis --Kellah Mace. If the FBI can't catch him, can she?

The Worst Thing turns the commonplace objects from young women’s lives— selfies, cellphones, Google maps, scissors, glossy magazines, vintage fashion, and ponytails— into elements of suspense. The book talk is free and open to the public.

Nora Gaskin Esthimer is the author of two previous books, Time of Death: The True Tale of a Quest for Justice in 1960s Chapel Hill, and a mystery, based on a true crime, Until Proven: A Mystery in 2 Parts. As the founder, editor, and publisher of Lystra Books based in Chapel Hill,, Gaskin has stewarded more than twenty books into publication. She is also the editor of  Carolina Crimes: 21 Tales of Need, Greed, and Dirty Deeds, an anthology set in the Carolinas. A North Carolina native, she loves the Piedmont landscape with its hills, woods, and curves that keep viewers from seeing what's ahead; it’s the perfect place for a mystery/suspense writer to live.