Join former Best of Burlington copy editor Jennifer Goss Duby at the Norwich Bookstore , where she’ll be in conversation with well-known Vermont author Sarah Stewart Taylor about her first novel, Belle. 

Proudly published by Level 4 Press, Belle is a darkly comedic tale about one of America's most prolific female serial killers. Set in 1890s Indiana, the story follows its titular character as she builds her dream life through a thriving lonely hearts club business—with an ever-growing body count. The novel deftly balances dark humor with poignant observations about love, desire, and the prices we're willing to pay for happiness. Because as it turns out, her male victims themselves would do it all again in a heartbeat, even knowing their grim fate.

 "We wanted to explore Belle Gunness not just as a historical figure, but as a woman facing timeless struggles for independence and success," says co-author J.G. Duby. "While her methods are undeniably extreme, her fundamental desire to control her own destiny resonates with modern readers, as does the deep loneliness at the core of the male characters."

 J.G. Duby is a crime fiction writer who lives in the woods of New Hampshire with her husband and no pets because her younger daughter took them with her when she moved out. Her older daughter took the good blender. J.G. has been a mass transit bus driver, paraeducator, and lexicographer, and now works as a technical editor. Belle is her fiction debut. You can find her at www.JenniferGossDuby.com

Sarah Stewart Taylor is the author of the Sweeney St. George series, set in New England, the Maggie D’arcy mysteries, set in Ireland and on Long Island, and Agony Hill, the first in the Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows series, set in rural Vermont in the 1960s. The second Warren/Bellows mystery, Hunter's Heart Ridge, will be out August 2025. You can find her at www.SarahStewartTaylor.com. 

Eden Francis Compton is a pseudonym for the writing team of William Roetzheim and Randy Becker.

Location: Norwich Bookstore, 291 Main Street, Norwich

Date: March 6, 2025

Time: 7pm

Cost: Free

Information: (802) 649-1114