Category: Q&A

Lost and found

NH’s Lisa Gardner discusses her new thriller

Lisa Gardner of Jackson, known for her bestselling Detective D.D. Warren, FBI Profiler and Tessa Leoni thriller series, releases her newest, Before She Disappeared, on Jan. 19. It’s her first standalone novel since 2004. Gardner talked about the story and the inspiration behind it.

What is Before She Disappeared about?

It’s based on a new character, Frankie Elkin. She’s a recovering alcoholic, short on belongings and long on regret. She now travels from town to town trying to help [missing] people who are forgotten. In this case, she comes to Mattapan, Boston, where a 15-year-old Haitian girl went missing almost a year ago. She disappeared in the middle of the day without a trace. The police have no leads, and it’s not the kind of case that earns any media attention, but it’s exactly the kind of case that [fits with] Frankie’s mission. She is there to make a difference, no matter what the cost.

What was your inspiration for this story and character?

Most of my books have been ripped from the headlines, so to speak. For Before She Disappeared, I had read an article in the BBC on a real-life woman, Lissa Yellowbird-Chase. She had no police background, no specialty. She’s just an everyday person who had grown increasingly frustrated by the number of women who were going missing on tribal lands and, in many cases, not looked for at all. … She decided to do something about it and got involved in finding one of the women. It’s now become her life work. She’s an ordinary person doing the extraordinary, and I was captivated by that [and the idea] that any of us could make a difference. … Then I found out that there are entire online forums that are populated by amateur sleuths, drone operators, people who are willing to donate their canines to help search for missing people … and I thought, what might [a person doing that] look like? A woman who gives up all of her belongings, has no stable relationships or job, no white picket fence? I loved that in creating Frankie Elkin. She’s leading an anti-life. She has none of the trappings that most of us would say are earmarks of success and yet … she has found herself.

Is the theme of forgotten and uninvestigated missing people something you intended to address in Before She Disappeared?

Absolutely. After reading about Lissa Yellowbird-Chase, I did more research and … became aware of such things as the Black and Missing Foundation, which has a website with hundreds and hundreds of cold cases of missing Black children, men and women. Most of these cases, we’ve never heard about. … It’s a really sad nationwide trend that, often because of socioeconomics or your skin color or where you live, you can really fall through the cracks.

This is your first standalone novel in 17 years. What made you decide to take a break from your series?

I loved this notion of writing about an everyday person trying to make a difference. All of my previous novels are about an FBI agent, a police officer, etc. … but Frankie is like you or me, so it’s [easier] to try to be in her shoes. If you showed up in Mattapan, Boston, and wanted to find a missing person, what would you do? What questions would you ask? How would you go about it? It’s fun for the reader because for once the [protagonist] has the same [lack] of training, so if Frankie can figure it out, so can you.

Do you have any plans to continue Frankie’s story?

Yes, at least one more [book]. I really ended up loving Frankie, and I think she is now one of my most compelling characters. … Detective D.D. [the protagonist of Gardner’s D.D. Warren Series] is aggressive and has the right as a police officer to bully people into answering questions. That’s not Frankie. Frankie is very vulnerable and has to use that vulnerability as her strength. She gets people to talk to her simply by making them want to share their stories. I’ve just found that intriguing and powerful. So I’ve happened to come up with yet another book. … It involves Frankie and has to do with a number of people who are still missing on national public lands. … I’m writing it now and hopefully [will have it published] by this time next year.

What has it been like, releasing a book during a pandemic?

It’s very different. I’ve worked on this book for an entire year, and I don’t want to just release it out into the wild, so to speak; I want to connect with my readers, answer their questions and hear what they have to say. … But, like all things pandemic-related, we’re learning as we go and finding different ways to connect. Zoom is great. It means a great deal to still be able to connect with some of my readers virtually.

Lisa Gardner presents Before She Disappeared
Gardner kicks off her virtual book tour with a livestream book launch on Monday, Jan. 18, at 6 p.m., hosted by White Birch Books in North Conway and 93.5 WMWV with Roy Prescott. The tour continues through Feb. 4 with virtual events hosted by bookstores throughout the country. For more information, visit lisagardner.com.

Featured photo: Lisa Gardner. Courtesy photo.

Meredith Touma

Meredith Touma of Derry is the owner of Sal Terrae Seasonings (salterraeseasonings.com, and on Facebook and Instagram @salterraeseasonings), a company offering four hand-crafted spice blends using various herbs, salts, peppers and other ingredients. Named after the Latin translation of “salt of the Earth,” Sal Terrae started last April as a grassroots project when Touma, a stay-at-home mom for 14 years, began sharing her spice blends with neighbors, friends and community members. Over the summer she brought her spices to farmers markets in Nashua, Bedford and Exeter. Sal Terrae’s spice blends, each of which is prepared at Creative Chef Kitchens in Derry, are the Classic, with local lavender and fennel; the Italian, with herbs like rosemary, sage, thyme, basil and oregano; the Inferno, a hot, earthy blend with Trinidad scorpion and ghost peppers; and the Beach, which has cinnamon, oregano, clove, ginger, mace and smoked paprika. Four-ounce bottles of each of Touma’s blends are available at The Grind in Derry, Mr. Steer Meats in Londonderry, the East Derry General Store and Donahue’s Fish Market in Plaistow. Online ordering is also available.

What is your must-have kitchen item?

I love to cook, and anyone who’s always in the kitchen knows the importance of a good, sharp knife.

What would you have for your last meal?

Just a regular simple broth fondue. We like to season that with the Inferno blend.

What is your favorite local restaurant?

I have a soft spot for the East Derry Tavern. The food is spectacular. I have known [owners] Sam and Lina Patel for years … and they’ve done a magnificent job turning it into a gorgeous town gem.

What celebrity would you like to see trying one of your spice blends?

Definitely Gordon Ramsay. I know it’s very cliche, but he’s actually been a culinary inspiration of mine for 20 years. I’ve been following him even before he had all of his TV shows. We’ve eaten at The London in New York City, which is a stunning restaurant. … It would be an honor to be able to thank him for his inspiration.

What is your favorite spice blend that you make?

The Beach. I use it on everything from salmon to brisket and pork ribs.

What is the biggest food trend in New Hampshire right now?

Home cooking. People are forced to … be creative in the kitchen and to make things at home they would normally eat while out. There are so many Zoom classes out there now that you can sign up for.

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?

Coq au vin is probably my No. 1 go-to meal, especially in the winter season. I love cooking with chicken thighs. I give them a really hard sear and make them with tomatoes, carrots and tons of mushrooms.

Sal Terrae roasted corn and shrimp chowder
From the kitchen of Meredith Touma of Sal Terrae Seasonings in Derry

1-pound bag frozen corn
1 can unsalted creamed corn
3 to 4 slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
2 pounds medium peeled and deveined shrimp (marinated in 1 tablespoon Sal Terrae Beach seasoning at room temperature for about 10 minutes)
1 package chicken sausage (Buffalo or sweet apple), sliced into coins
1 large onion, diced
2 to 3 stalks celery, chopped
1 large carrot, grated
1 red pepper, julienned
3 to 4 cloves garlic, smashed
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream

Place frozen corn on a lined baking pan, toss with chopped bacon and roast in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until bacon is cooked entirely. Set aside. In a wide stock pan, sauté onion in olive oil for five minutes, until translucent. Add garlic, celery, carrots, sausage and red pepper. Sauté on medium-high until the sausages brown slightly. Add one tablespoon of Sal Terrae Inferno seasoning and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, stir in cream and add potatoes. Let simmer for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. If you prefer a creamier chowder, use an immersion blender to break up the potatoes. Return to a rolling boil and add shrimp, creamed corn and roasted bacon and corn mixture. Cook until shrimp are cooked evenly (about 3 to 5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Featured photo: Meredith Touma

New in town

Jessica Martin joins Intown Concord

Jessica Martin is the new executive director of Intown Concord, a nonprofit organization that promotes and celebrates small businesses, arts and culture and community events in downtown Concord. She talked about why she took the position, the challenges that come with it during a pandemic and what Intown is planning for 2021.

What is your background in this type of work?

I have a background in real estate. I was the executive director at the Greater Manchester/Nashua Board of Realtors for almost six years. I did all of their events — they had quite a few — and I really loved the event [planning] portion of that position. I ended up starting an event planning business on my own but kind of missed the normal 9-to-5, so I took a position at the Exeter Area Chamber of Commerce as their events and marketing director for a year. … I’ve also been working on my master’s degree at UNH in community development and policy practice.

What interested you in the position at Intown Concord?

This is the most perfect job I could have ever imagined. I was looking for a position where I could use my event [planning] skills but also my background experience from the Board of Realtors. … [As] a community organization that’s advocating [for] and promoting small businesses and the community, [Intown Concord] fits within that. It’s a marriage of events and marketing as well as the nonprofit management piece that I had done before and liked, so it checked all of the boxes for me.

What does your job as director entail?

Day-to-day is always different. I’m overseeing all of the events we’re working on [including] Market Days … and Midnight Merriment. We have one other staff person, Haylie Stoddard, who is our event coordinator and does a lot of our social media, and I manage the finances and anything that comes up with the businesses. I’m kind of the liaison between the businesses and our board of directors, working with them to make sure that we’re fulfilling our mission. A lot of my job is also just getting our mission out there and making sure people understand it and how valuable it is.

What are some of the biggest challenges coming into this new position right now?

The finances, managing staff, marketing, events — that’s all stuff I’ve done before, but [with Covid], this [job] is completely different. … I wasn’t [involved] when Intown Concord applied for [and] received PPE and a grant, and there’s going to be a rollout of another stimulus package soon, so [the challenge is] wrapping my head around that process and making sure I understand all of that. And not only do I need to learn it for myself, but then I also need to share that information as quickly and accurately as possible with the businesses that could benefit from it.

How are you handling those challenges?

A lot of education, and making sure I’m getting information from accurate sources. I’m attending a lot of webinars. I have one next week called “The New Hampshire Nonprofit Emergency Relief Fund Webinar.” The Small Business Administration also has a wealth of knowledge about basically anything that you need assistance with related to Covid.

What is Intown planning for this year?

I’m optimistic that we’ll be doing all of our events [in 2021]. They might look a little different. They might feel a little different. In what way? I’m not sure yet. … We have to keep social distancing in mind. … We’re doing our winter festival at the end of January, since people can be outside for the majority of it and will be spread out. … We also have to be strategic with the timing of [the events with] the vaccine and the weather. Usually our biggest event [Market Days] is in June, but does it make sense to keep it in June, or should we be talking about possibly moving it to August to allow for a little additional time for people to get vaccinated and feel comfortable with being in large groups again? We have to be really thoughtful about everything, more than in previous years … and we have to be really clear about social distancing and masks and stuff whenever we’re promoting an event so that people know we aren’t just being reckless.

What are you most excited about?

I’m so excited about Concord in general. … As I go to these places downtown, I’m just blown away by how much Concord has to offer — great restaurants, art, culture, hotels, so much stuff going on. It feels almost like a little hidden secret, and I just want to scream it from the rooftops. It’s really easy to promote a city that has so many exciting things to promote.

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