Mystery writer hosts talk at The Bookworm of Edwards

Summer means it’s time for beach vacations and camping trips, and the perfect time to read a new page-turning mystery. Durango author Scott Graham has just released a new book and will be at The Bookworm this week to talk about it.

On Tuesday, celebrate the latest release in Graham’s National Park Mystery Series, “Great Sand Dunes Massacre.” Graham’s latest novel, set in its namesake National Park, follows archaeologist Chuck Bender as he unravels a devious web of deception and deceit before one death turns into a massacre.

Graham’s National Park Mystery series, published by the nonprofit, environmental and social justice publisher Torrey House Press, has grown in popularity over the last ten years.

“I’m happy to report that sales of my series have steadily increased over the years — thanks in no small part to the hand-selling support of booksellers at independent bookstores like Bookworm of Edwards,” Graham said. “I was especially gratified to see sales of my series double last year, after the release of the Special 10th Anniversary Edition of ‘Grand Canyon Sacrifice’, featuring an all-new foreword by the wonderful Anne Hillerman. I have no doubt her kind praise of my series is the reason for last year’s big increase in sales.”

It’s not just the sales of his books, which support his nonprofit publisher, that Graham enjoys about being an author of such a long series. He truly enjoys revisiting his central characters. “I’m entirely grateful for the success my series has enjoyed over the last decade,” Graham reflected. “The length of the series has enabled me to delve deeper into my family of characters with each book, sharing their lives with readers as they grow and change over time. I keep waiting to see, when I begin each book, if I’ll grow tired of writing about the same crew of characters. Instead, the world I’ve created has continued to expand and grow more interesting for me to explore through my writing. I hope the same is true for readers as well.”

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Although “Great Sand Dunes Massacre” is the tenth book in Graham’s National Park Mystery Series, readers do not necessarily read the other nine books before they can enjoy his latest.

“Each of my National Park Mysteries is a standalone story that can be read without having first read the earlier books in the series,” Graham stated. “Readers can pick and choose which mystery they’d like to read based on their interest in a particular national park or plot line. That said, roughly a year passes between each book in the series, so those who read the books in order get to follow along as the blended Bender-Ortega family matures, and, in particular, as daughters Carmelita and Rosie grow from spunky adolescents into feisty teenagers.”

Through his books, Graham sends the Bender-Ortega family to ten different national parks across the West.

“I hope readers will enjoy the villainous tale I’ve worked to develop and share with them,” Graham stated. “After that, I hope they’ll come away with a new appreciation for the national park they’ve just read about, and why our national parks and public lands deserve all the support we can give them.”