When I met Joelle Charbonneau at Bouchercon right around this time last year (and subsequently drafted behind her and Stacia Decker into a St. Martins party), she’d just signed a deal for a novel about … a rollerskating detective. Back then I cocked my head and squinted. A rollerskating detective? Hmm. Then again, who was I to judge, as I was (and still am) writing a novel involving an older gentleman who saunters about in army boots and a skin-colored Speedo. …. Anyways, what I noticed about Joelle last year was kindness (she took pity on this California boy who’d come to Indy in October with little more than T-shirts) and swift grace (she’d written her book in a matter of weeks, if I recall correctly). … Now look at Joelle and her comedic mystery, Skating Around the Law. Publisher’s Weekly calls it a “funny debut.” Kirkus calls it “funny and sexy.” A megastore made it its book of the week. Barnes & Noble is celebrating it on its mystery site. Even hardboiled aficionado Jed Ayres is singing its praises as he also looks back longingly (with a long sad swallow) on his own roller-rink days.

Very cool, Joelle.