An author reception and book signing to celebrate Andrea Zimmermann’s new book, Horse Latitudes: A Martin Sharp Mystery, will be held in the first floor meeting room of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street, on Saturday, June 27, from 2 to 4 pm. The event comes two weeks after the library hosted a special event highlighting more than 15 local authors.

All are invited to drop by for some home-baked goodies and conversation with the author. Books will be available for purchase if desired. There is no registration.

Horse Latitudes, Zimmermann’s fifth book, is a page-turner set on the shores of Lake Michigan that evokes the rich landscape and waters of Grand Traverse Bay, its history, and its people.

The story opens when Martin Sharp, a powerhouse attorney in Chicago, hears his old friend and mentor has gone missing on Grand Traverse Bay. He drops everything and heads to a small town in northern Michigan to find him. Martin starts to investigate and discovers that the town, under its idyllic veneer, roils with tribal disputes, tension between locals and tourists, racism, and the exodus of the younger generation. Within days, Martin’s quest for his missing friend turns into a hunt for a serial killer. And as the nightmare unfolds, he is shocked to realize the role he played in setting it all in motion.

Zimmermann loves northern Michigan for its beauty, vast waters, Native American presence, and connection to her family.

“My family is from Michigan — both my parents and siblings were born there; I came along after they had relocated to Connecticut,” Zimmermann said. “I didn’t really have a feel for the state until I was an adult and spent time with family on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay. Now I try to visit for a week every summer.”

Although the book was completed last fall, it “took a village” to create the cover for Horse Latitudes, according to the author. Zimmermann envisioned a design that captured the essence of Gull Island with its isolation, ruins, and cacophony of seagulls. Eliza Van, who does beautiful watercolors (and is, like Zimmermann, a former Newtown Bee reporter), accepted the commission and rendered the scene, to which Zimmermann added the prow of the sailboat. The cover design was completed by another creative friend, Lys Guillorn at Still River Editions in Danbury.

“It is exactly as I envisioned it,” said Zimmermann. “I’m so thrilled and grateful that Eliza and Lys were able to create the perfect cover. And they were both very good-natured about my ‘particularness!’”

Zimmermann is the author of three nonfiction books: 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; and another mystery, A Legacy of Lies: A Rock Ridge Mystery.

Copies of her new book, Horse Latitudes: A Martin Sharp Mystery, will be available at the author reception for those who wish to purchase a copy, and Zimmermann, of course, will be delighted to sign her books.