Although Vrai (short for Vraiment), an art history librarian in Baltimore, has not spoken to her friend Skip for over a year, after his sudden death she dutifully takes his ashes and his dog home to his mother in Knoxville, Tennessee. Vrai has no idea why Skip stepped into traffic in Baltimore with his hands over his eyes, or why he so abruptly ended their longtime friendship.

After Skip’s funeral, Vrai rescues ten-year-old Jonathan, who has been abandoned in the funeral home parking lot. The Blizzard of 1993 soon strands this unlikely duo at the Smoky View Motel, where Jonathan comes across clues pointing to a possible suspect in Skip’s death.

What ensues is a very personal search for justice, during which the lives of Vrai and Jonathan are changed forever.

Published by She Writes Press. Cover designed by Julie Metz.

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PRAISE FOR TRUE STORIES AT THE SMOKY VIEW

Winner of the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) Gold Medal for Regional Fiction, South.

“What’s better than discovering a wonderful debut author? Discovering a wonderful local debut author. With True Stories at the Smoky View, Jill McCroskey Coupe, a former Johns Hopkins University librarian, delivers an offbeat tale of justice, happenstance, and the power of story.” To read The Ivy Bookshop‘s review by Rebecca Oppenheimer, please click HERE.

“You’ve got to love a novel whose protagonist is an emotionally adrift art librarian turned kidnapper and detective.” Read Paula Martinac’s review from Story Circle Book Reviews by clicking HERE.

And from Library Journal: “There is something for everyone in this light/dark Southern novel by a writer to watch.”

And from Booklist: “This debut author has a knack for storytelling and great characters.”