Larchmont Resident Pens New Mystery Thriller Set in Westchester County

The shocking murder of a high school girl in a Northern Westchester town leaves detectives befuddled and others haunted by menacing dreams and signals from a mysterious woman muttering Latin.  

Lis Wiehl, a Fox News Channel legal analyst and Larchmont resident, described her new mystery thriller Waking Hours as the first in a trilogy set in a seemingly sleepy, small Westchester town.

The book focuses on two protagonists—Dani Harris, a forensic psychiatrist, and Tommy Gunderson, a former NFL linebacker—who were high school sweethearts.

“When I look at big crimes I want to bring together both of my interests, and to really think about how the characters would react to them,” she said.

In bringing the scenes and storyline to life, Wiehl visited places similar to those depicted in the book. Her characters are based off of people she has interviewed or prosecuted. For her, writing, like the law, is based in storytelling.

“Law is about people and conflict,” she said. “In reporting or prosecuting stories of the day, you don’t leave that at the door,” she said.

Wiehl’s background as a former federal prosecutor and her passion for telling stories stems, in part, from her atypical upbringing.

“My father was an FBI agent; my mother, an immigrant from Denmark, was an English teacher. My dad told me amazing stories [growing up, but it is really] now that I appreciate them,” she said.

A mother of two, she considers her 14-year-old daughter “the best agent” because she recruits her friends to read and critique. But during the writing process, “sitting in sweats, with no makeup on,” she sometimes wonders “if anyone will read it at all."

"It's so gratifying when people do and write to me," she said.

Waking Hours is set in the fictional town of East Salem (based on the actual town of South Salem, NY), where not only is the standard setting of trees, roadways and homes like the actual landscape of northern Westchester, but also where a mix of people and demographics are visible and vibrant.

“One can [envision] the rich and non-rich folks mixing,” she said, “and with the added connotation of ‘Salem.’”

The book is appealing to both men and women of all ages, Wiehl said.

“There are no swear words and very little sexual content,” she said. “And that is how I want to write.”

And although the book hints of mystical qualities and the supernatural, Wiehl insists that the backbone of the story is reinforced with science and protocol.

“You won’t finish the book feeling like you’ve been duped,” she said. “It has a sense of authenticity,” because the facts, the actions and the protocol are based on real life. “It is formulaic.”

The Lipstick Club is a Larchmont-based, women-only group that meets once a month. Waking Hours is published by Thomas Nelson and is available at major retailers as well as locally at  in Larchmont.