Some 200 authors will showcase their recent works on Saturday at the Kentucky Book Fair in Frankfort.
They include Linda Atkins of Louisville, who just published her fourth crime novel, "Deadline for Murder."
Atkins is a former Jefferson County prosecutor and defense lawyer who 14 years ago decided to call on her experience to launch a writing career.
Her first three novels followed the adventures of criminal defense attorney Hilary Adams. Atkins tells WFPL that Adams is back in "Deadline for Murder"—with a new job.
WFPL's Rick Howlett interviews Linda Atkins
Atkins said her story is based in Louisville, and she discusses how she became a crime writer.
"I think the impetus was my husband and I represented a woman who was accused of killing three of her family members," Atkins said.
"It was in rural Appalachia; it was my first introduction to rural Appalachia. She had been tried and convicted. We took it on a retrial after appeal was successful and the conviction was overturned. We knew we had an uphill battles because we had been involved in death penalty litigation before, but the facts were so intriguing that we did accept the case. And it turned out to be stranger than fiction."
