UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect a rescheduled upcoming event at Brookfield Public Library.

Newtown author Andrea Zimmermann recently published a fictional mystery, A Legacy of Lies, A Rock Ridge Mystery.

It is a cozy book — think fresh baked goods and warm coffee by a fire — that local readers will find fun for even more than the puzzling mystery at the plot’s center. Some of the descriptions, while not exactly based on Newtown, bring up local sites with clarity. A library setting in the book, for instance, can easily be pictured as C.H. Booth Library, where Zimmermann worked as reference librarian.

Zimmermann has previously published The Great Danbury State Fair, The Case Files of Detective Laszlo Briscoe: True Crime in Newtown 1889-1933, and Eleanor Mayer’s History of Cherry Grove Farm.

Her latest published book was six years in the making, and she is already working on another book in the Rock Ridge Mystery series.

Prior to writing A Legacy of Lies, Zimmermann said she took courses on writing mysteries, and of course,she read many novels. The writing process took a long time and she learned as she went. At one point Zimmermann said she got stuck when faced with writing the ending. So she took a break.

While on “break,” Zimmermann focused on writing a short story. It helped her learn how to finish a piece, and in the process she realized why and how a person could do an awful thing. Zimmermann described trying to work out the motives of her characters and why someone would do an awful act.

The break also helped Zimmermann realize she wanted to add more characters to the plot. So she created an entire community for Rock Ridge, and she populated it with memorable characters. The added personas also allowed her to add other story lines.

Each day, Zimmermann said she worked on her book from 8 am until noon. Writing a book is difficult, she reflected, and it required dedication every day, even when it was frustrating.

Zimmermann said she did give “nods” to the people and places of Newtown in A Legacy of Lies, A Rock Ridge Mystery, but the book is not based on Newtown. Her extensive knowledge of Newtown though did help build details such as the interior of C.H. Booth Library, which helped “build” a library in the book. The history of Fairfield Hills and the buildings of Southbury Training School also offered inspiration.

Her background in journalism — local readers may recognize Zimmermann’s byline from her years at The Newtown Bee — and her experience as a librarian helped her add realism to the characters, particularly two of the main characters, journalist Alex Winchester and librarian Rebekka Larson.

All the characters are completely fictitious, however. They were born from her hours of working on the novel.

Zimmermann said she loves the “freedom of writing fiction” compared to her non-fiction books and other works.

Not only does Zimmermann have the next book in the A Rock Ridge Mystery series already in the works, but she also has another fiction book she is working on.

A Legacy of Lies, A Rock Ridge Mystery book was self-published and she illustrated the cover.

“I just wanted a certain feel about it,” Zimmermann said.

The book is available to purchase on Amazon in e-book form and it is available as a paperback, which does have “a certain feel about it.” The cover is near velvety soft and the pages thick.

A description for the book reads, “At twenty-four, New York City journalist Alex Winchester seems to have it all — a trust fund, awards for his journalism, lots of beautiful women in his life, and a small bachelor pad in the city. But despite appearances, Alex is lonely and short on cash.

“To clear his head, and get a dose of sympathy, Alex visits his aunt, the matriarch of the prestigious Winchester family, in the small town of Rock Ridge, Connecticut.

“He arrives on the heels of a break-in and immediately gets on the wrong side of his aunt’s brutish young caretaker — Weirdo Wolf, as Alex calls the muscle-bound, former juvenile delinquent. And when he volunteers for an author’s event, Alex is insulted and dismissed by the edgy librarian, Rebekka Larson, who is grappling with her own painful past.

“But if Alex thinks he has problems now ... well, he’s about to get the biggest shock of his life.

“This layered story sweeps a full cast into the mayhem as a book theft quickly escalates into blackmail and murder. The key to unraveling the mystery is hidden in the history of the town’s now-abandoned Marchfield Mental Hospital. What dark secrets from the past could wreak such havoc now?”

Kaaren Valenta, a retired Associate Editor of The Newtown Bee, is quoted on the book’s back cover, saying Zimmermann “has penned a real page-turner, a thoroughly engrossing mystery with a cast of well-drawn eccentric characters that grabs you from the first paragraph and doesn’t let go.”

Zimmermann said she wanted A Legacy of Lies, A Rock Ridge Mystery to be a fun read.

“I just really hope people enjoy it and have fun reading it,” the author said.

Zimmermann has a “meet the author” event scheduled for Brookfield Public Library, 182 Whisconier Road, on Thursday, January 27, from 5 to 6 pm. She will discuss her book and will sign copies, which will be available for purchase. (The event was originally planned for January 5,)

More information about Zimmermann and her books is available on her website apzimmermann.com.

Reporter Eliza Hallabeck can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.