Megan Abbot + Chelsea Cain

Who says girls can’t be crime writers? Well, no one actually, because that’s clearly not a valid argument. But just in case some loser out there is preparing his talking points, let me present a succinct rebuttal: Megan Abbott and Chelsea Cain. Abbot is author of recently released The Fever(“a chilling story about guilt, family secrets, and the lethal power of desire” set in a small town whose female teenage inhabitant are in the throes of a mysterious plague), while Cain has produced numerous best-selling books. Her latest, One Kick, is the first in a new series featuring protagonist Kick Lannigan—famously kidnapped as a child, and now called upon to help solve a new missing child case. These ladies are clearly queens of suspense: The Guardian called One Kick “a dark, dangerous journey into evil to find the vanished children, and entirely hide-away-until-you-finish-it gripping,” while the New York Timesfound The Fever “a gripping and unsettling novel.” See the terrible two in conversation at The Strand.