A Dark and Lonely Place

I attended the Florida Heritage Book Festival and Writers Conference in St Augustine in September.  Some of the speakers included Steve Berry, Jeff Lindsey, and Jeff’s wife Hilary Hemingway (niece of Ernest Hemingway).  A banquet honored Edna Buchannan.  She discussed life in Miami, her time as a crime reporter for the Miami Herald, and her latest novel, A Dark and Lonely Place.  I subsequently read the book and was captivated from the first page.  It weaves the true historical tale of one of Florida’s most famous outlaws, John Ashley, and his legendary gun-toting girlfriend Laura with a fictional parallel story of a modern man and woman, who at first sight, feel an uncanny attraction and who seem predestined to face the same tragedies as the original couple.