A PHOTOGRAPHIC DEATH by Long Island author Judi Culbertson on sale today

This May, HarperCollins/Witness Impulse is publishing A PHOTOGRAPHIC DEATH (on sale May 27), the bibliophile mystery and family drama from local Long Island author and bookseller Judi Culbertson. Drawing on her experience as a used and rare book dealer, Culbertson has crafted her admirable heroine, the bookseller-turned-amateur detective Delhi Laine, who is back with another mystery, though this time, it’s a family affair.

Nineteen years ago, Delhi Laine’s two-year old daughter disappeared. After a frantic but inconclusive search, authorities determined that she must have drowned, her body washed away from the picturesque English park in which she was playing.

Delhi’s heart has never healed, yet her family has since soldiered on. But when a mysterious letter arrives containing the ominous words, YOUR DAUGHTER DID NOT DROWN, their lives are once again thrown into turmoil. With her family torn between fighting for the past and protecting the future, Delhi is caught in the middle. For a mother, the choice to find her daughter seems easy. But for a family left fractured by the mistakes of the past, the consequence, and the truth, may be infinitely more costly.

JUDI CULBERTSON draws on her experience as a used-and-rare book dealer, social worker, and world traveler to create her bibliophile mysteries. She has co-authored five illustrated guides with her husband, Tom Randall, of such cities as Paris, London, and New York. She is also the author of the acclaimed nonfiction titles SCALING DOWN and THE CLUTTER CURE. She lives in Port Jefferson, New York, with her family.