Landis Wade, Author of "Deadly Declarations," in Conversation with Susan Zurenda

Hub City Bookshop is excited to host author and popular book podcaster Landis Wade at the Shop for a reading and conversation about his new mystery book, Deadly Declarations. The book, which is the first in a new mystery series, follows an unlikely trio of retirees at the Independent Retirement Community (aka "The Indie") who team up to investigate the death of a 96-year-old resident. As they delve deeper into the man's past, they stumble upon a 250-year-old mystery related to the long-vanished First American Declaration of Independence. Solving this mystery could change the course of American history forever--as long as the trio doesn't die trying. 

Wade will be in conversation with Susan Beckham Zurenda, fellow Southern writer and Spartanburg local. Zurenda is the author of the novel Bells for Eli. Come out to the Bookshop at 6pm on Thursday, April 14th! This event is free and open to all, but save your spot and your copy of the book below! 

Register Here!

About the Book 

It’s modern day in the New South City of Charlotte, North Carolina, when three retirees at the Independence Retirement Community, a/k/a The Indie, team up to solve two mysteries related to the death of a 96-year-old resident. Why was his manuscript about the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence missing when they found his body? And why did his handwritten will dated the day he died disinherit his beloved granddaughter (his only heir), and leave his $50 million fortune to Sue Ellen Parker, the most despised resident at the Indie?

At the urging of Chuck Yeager Alexander, an optimistic soul who loves historical conspiracies, and Harriet Keaton, a former businesswoman with an extreme dislike of Sue Ellen Parker, Craig Travail, a trial lawyer recently ousted from his law firm after 40 years, reluctantly goes to court to challenge the dead man’s will for the granddaughter. This decision sets in motion a series of dangerous events that could lead the threesome to discover the answer to a revolutionary war period mystery that has evaded historians for 250 years.

Deadly Declarations plunges readers into the world of history and retirement, where getting older is a combination of fear, doubt, humor, and new life, and then transports readers to the courtroom and to the Virginia countryside to prove that age is just a number when searching for and finding the truth about the past.

Praise for Deadly Declarations

“A page-turning tale that takes an unexpected journey through law, history, and retiree living.” – Kirkus Reviews

“Cozy mystery fans will revel in this delightful mix of history, courtroom drama and engaging characters.” – BookLife Reviews

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About the Author

Landis Wade is a recovering trial lawyer and host of the popular Charlotte Readers Podcast (where he has conducted more than 300 author interviews), whose third book—The Christmas Redemption—won the Holiday category of the 12th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards. He lives in Charlotte, Durham, and Watauga County, North Carolina, where he writes and podcasts, visits his grandchild, and fly-fishes. His love of history led to the novel, Deadly Declarations.

About the Conversation Partner

Susan Zurenda taught English for 33 years on the college level and at the high school level to AP students. Her debut novel, Bells for Eli (Mercer University Press, March 2020; paperback edition March 2021), has been selected the Gold Medal (first place) winner for Best First Book—Fiction in the 2021 IPPY (Independent Publisher Book Awards), a Foreword Indie Book Award finalist, a Winter 2020 Okra Pick by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance, a 2020 Notable Indie on Shelf Unbound, a 2020 finalist for American Book Fest Best Book Awards, and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for 2021. She has won numerous regional awards for her short fiction. She lives in Spartanburg, SC.