Step aside Irving Bacheller. The North County has a new, celebrated novelist in Tessa Wegert.
Two weeks ago Wegert released her latest mystery/crime thriller, “The River Runs Black,’’ the second in her North Country series set along the St. Lawrence River. The books are a spinoff of her popular six-novel series on detective Shana Merchant set in the Thousand Islands.
Wegert’s latest novel begins with a teenager dying from a drug overdose in Alexandria Bay, followed by a huge cocaine seizure from a speedboat crossing the U.S.-Canada border. When lab results show the two batches of coke are unrelated, investigators realize the drug network is more massive than they imagined. The situation kicks into hyperdrive when the 16-year-old daughter of an investigator goes missing.
It’s the same brand of mystery and suspense that has endeared Wegert to her Shana Merchant followers, especially the Thousand Islands denizens whose towns and villages play prominent roles in the books.
Until Wegert began to dominate the literary landscape, the North Country heralded Bacheller (1859-1950), a Pierrepont native educated at St. Lawrence University. He wrote a series of books about hardy, rural types. His most popular book, “Eben Holden: A Tale of the North Country,’’ was published in 1900 and sold more than 1 million copies.
But there is a new GOAT (greatest of all time) with a fondness for the St. Lawrence, its islands and its villages. Wegert developed that affinity in her mid-20s through her boyfriend’s family, which owned a cottage in the area. After they married, the St. Lawrence became a second home.
“After visiting the Thousand Islands for many years, I knew it well and was surprised to find there hadn’t been much crime fiction set in the area. When I set out to write a locked-room mystery, which ultimately became my debut, Death in the Family, the region—which is very atmospheric and rich in interesting history —felt like a natural fit.’’
Wegert was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before the family settled in Lennoxville, Quebec, just outside of Sherbrooke, about two hours east of Montreal.
“I was raised by an academic and a librarian, so their influence — and being surrounded by books — led to a reading obsession and later contributed to my interest in writing,’’ she said. “My father is a published nonfiction author, and I studied English before completing a degree in Communication Studies at Montreal’s Concordia University.’’
Her husband’s work took her to Chicago, Detroit and Naples, Florida, before they settled into Darien, Conn., with their son and daughter.
“It didn’t occur to me that I might be able to publish books of my own until I was almost two decades into a career as a journalist and copywriter. Up until that point I’d only written short stories and poetry, though I did win a few awards for those. My first novel was published in 2020, and it kicked off the Shana Merchant series.’’
Wegert parlayed the Merchant character, a New York State investigator, into a series of six novels:
“Death in the Family” (2020): Thirteen months after the NYPD detective was abducted by a serial killer, Merchant opts for a lower-stress job in the Thousand Islands. Immediately, she is called to solve a murder within a family on a private island.
“The Dead Season’’ (2020): Merchant investigates two crimes simultaneously, one in the Thousand Islands and one in her hometown of Swanton, Vermont.
“Dead Wind’’ (2022): Merchant is summoned to Wolfe Island to investigate the murder of a local official who defrauded the local government in a windfarm deal. The investigation is complicated by an old nemesis who taunts Merchant.
“The Kind to Kill’’ (2022): Merchant can’t seem to live a peaceful life. When a visitor goes missing during Pirate Days in Alexandria Bay, Merchant’s investigation is complicated by an op-ed piece in the local newspaper, asserting that trouble follows her since she was first abducted by the serial killer.
“Devils at the Door” (2023): Merchant takes in her problematic niece and copes with her odd behaviors. When Shana investigates a drowning, the weird teenager is discovered at the scene.
“The Coldest Case” (2024): Two Instagram influencers join six others on tiny Running Pine Island during the isolation of a frigid winter. When one of the social media mavens goes missing on an ice-fishing trip, Merchant investigates as a severe storm approaches.
Those six books led to a North Country spinoff series, which started with “In The Bones,’’ the mystery of how a woman’s corpse was found in the home of a retired hockey star in Cape Vincent, followed by her latest, “The River Runs Black.’’
Wegert doesn’t fret about book sales.
“For me, storytelling is everything,’’ she said. “I’d be writing even if nobody was reading my work. But it’s really satisfying to know that so many readers are committed to the series and invested in the characters I’ve created.’’
Wegert, who aims to write between 1,000 and 2,000 words daily, intends to release a third book in the series in fall 2027.
“While it’s still a work in progress, I can share that next year’s book involves a fictional owner of the world’s smallest inhabited island and a murder mystery weekend that doesn’t go as planned.’’
Wegert credits the celebrated authors who wrote police procedural novels before her — Agatha Christie, Tana French, Jane Harper and Louise Penny – for helping her to define and hone her style and character development.
So what is the North Country’s murder mystery kingpin reading now?
“I’m currently reading Carter Wilson’s upcoming thriller “When They Find Me,’’ which is excellent.’’
Its release date is November 10.
Morristown native Jim Holleran is a retired teacher and sports editor from Rochester. Reach him at jimholleran29@gmail.com or view past columns under “Reflections of River Rat’’ at https://hollerangetsitwrite.com/blog/
