Kathleen Kent’s fifth book titled The Burn, sequel to the Edgar-nominated The Dime, is a contemporary crime novel set in Dallas. Kirkus gave The Burn a starred review, and The Washington Post writes, “Raymond Chandler praised Dashiell Hammett for taking crime fiction out of the drawing room and into the streets. With Betty Rhyzyk, Kathleen Kent brings those mean streets to life as excitingly as anybody has in years.” Ms. Kent is also the author of three bestselling, award-winning historical novels, The Heretic’s Daughter, The Traitor’s Wife, and The Outcasts. She has written short stories and essays for D Magazine, Texas Monthly and LitHub, and has been published in the crime/horror anthology Dallas Noir. In March 2020 she will be inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for her contribution to Texas literature.Author Note: I grew up in Texas, but lived and worked in New York City for twenty years. After returning to Dallas, I was enchanted, but also baffled, by the rich, and sometimes absurd, cultural soup that is Texas, with its cowboys and Confederate Army re-enactors standing toe-to-toe with wealthy bankers and society doyens. I knew that someday I’d want to write a novel about this city of contradictions. My heroine, Detective Betty Rhyzyk of THE DIME, was developed in part from my personal experiences with members of my family who are in law enforcement, and my growing admiration for the female police officers who are forced to confront “the way things are done in the South”. It was immensely fun developing a fearless female character who stands up for herself, and for all women, bringing to life the sprawling, fractious city known to Dallas locals as Big D.
