Zoe Wallbrook shares how her debut mystery, History Lessons, blends academia, amateur sleuthing, and suspense in this clever, twisty campus mystery with heart.

In today's special July 4th Book Gang episode, author Zoe B. Wallbrook joins me for a smart and surprising conversation about her dazzling debut, History Lessons. This mystery novel brings the classroom to the crime scene.

When a brilliant but insufferable colleague is murdered, Professor Daphne Ouverture's quiet academic life gives way to a dangerous investigation filled with buried secrets, institutional reckonings, and revolutionary echoes.

In the spirit of the assignment, this July 4th, we're turning the spotlight on liberty—not just American, but French too. In this week's savvy conversation, Zoe and I discuss:

• How Daphne's specialty—Black families in 18th-century France—reframes historical narratives and why fiction can be a powerful tool for expanding the lens of academic research.
• What it takes to write a compelling mystery with real-world research at its core—and how Zoe's Pitch Wars experience and academic life shaped the story.
• Surprising intersections between the American and French Revolutions—and what Daphne might rant about if she were giving a July 4th lecture on liberty and institutional power.

BONUS BOOK LIST: This week, I'm sharing 41 Unlikely Amateur Sleuths Are On the Case, featuring amateur sleuths who take matters into their own hands- from cozy, small-town investigations to gripping whodunits!

Meet Zoe B. Wallbrook

Zoe B. Wallbrook is a recently tenured professor whose academic research has appeared in outlets such as the New York Times and The New Yorker. She was selected for mentorship by LA Times bestseller Elizabeth Little, and History Lessons, her first novel, was a runner-up for the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award. Zoe's hobbies include beginning all emails with, "My sincerest apologies for my slow reply," pretending to understand how astrological signs work, and crying at the end of every Call the Midwife episode. She and her husband live with their stalker, a black lab/pittie mix named Sophie.

 

Mentioned in this episode:

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Download Today's Show Transcript

Join the July Book Club Chat (Husbands & Lovers)

BONUS BOOK LIST: 41 Unlikely Amateur Sleuths

History Lessons by Zoe B. Wallbrook

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Dawn by Octavia Butler

Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

Pitch Wars

Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little

Pretty as a Picture by Elizabeth Little

Papillon by Henri Charriere

Papillon

American Slavery, American Freedom by Edmund S. Morgan

Tyler Stovall

Sue Peabody

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

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