Exactly how does one twisted psyche pile up such cold-blooded carnage? To find out, simply get into the head of Stacy Willingham, if you can. She’s the Charleston-based scribe of Southern Gothic murder mysteries who, since her 2022 bestselling debut A Flicker in the Dark , keeps on slaying in ink.

Aug. 26 marks the debut of her fourth nail-biter, Forget Me Not. Set in a muscadine vineyard on an island inspired by Wadmalaw and informed by the author’s fascination with the Charles Manson murders, it follows a journalist, Claire, who returns home to South Carolina to grapple with past personal demons and runs afoul of new ones, too.

A ticketed publication day event with Willingham in conversation with author Kristen Ness takes place 6 p.m. Tuesday at Charleston Library Society, co-present

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