Gerritsen Celebrates New Novel, TV Show

Maine author Tess Gerritsen – a regular presence on the New York Times bestseller list – is coming to Bar Harbor for a booksigning at Sherman’s on Saturday, Aug. 7, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Ms. Gerritsen is the author of 22 novels including the international bestselling series about detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles, friends who sometimes team up to solve crimes in Boston.

Her newest novel, “Ice Cold,” is the eighth book in that series and its release corresponds with the debut of a TV series on TNT this month called “Rizzoli & Isles” which is based on the novels.

In “Ice Cold,” Rizzoli and Isles stumble across a mystery in the tiny snowbound village of Kingdom Come, Wyo., where Isles finds herself trapped by a snowstorm during a trip to a medical conference. When she disappears, Rizzoli investigates, at first believing that Isles is dead.

To see a video trailer for “Ice Cold,” go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U9dsnQTWC0.

In addition to the Rizzoli and Isles books, Ms. Gerritsen is the author of five medical thrillers and nine romance novels. Her books have been translated into 37 languages, and more than 20 million copies have been sold around the world. In 2006, she won the Nero award for literary excellence in the mystery genre for “Vanish” from The Wolfe Pack, an organization that honors the Nero Wolfe mystery novels by Rex Strout. And in 2002 she won the RITA award for best romantic suspense from the Romance Writers of America for “The Surgeon.”

Her novels often include medical knowledge that Ms. Gerritsen came by the hard way. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, she went to medical school at the University of California-San Francisco, earned and M.D. and became a practicing physician.

While on maternity leave from her job, she began to write fiction and in 1987, her first novel – a romantic thriller titled “Call After Midnight” was published. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift,” which aired as a 1993 CBS movie of the week starring original “Charlie’s Angels” star Kate Jackson.

Ms. Gerritsen’s first medical thriller, “Harvest,” came out in 1996 and marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list.

Though retired from practicing medicine and writing full time, Ms. Gerritsen often lectures at science education events and teaches a writing course on Cape Cod for physicians who want to become novelists.

Anyone who would like signed copies of her books cannot attend the booksigning at Sherman’s on Aug. 7 should call Sherman’s at 288-3161 to reserve copies.

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