Jo Dereske says 'Farewell, Miss Zukas'

With the June 18, 2011 publication of Farewell, Miss Zukas, Jo Dereske concludes a series of twelve titles she began with the 1994 release, Miss Zukas and the Library Murders. The Miss Zukas series focuses on middle-aged librarian Wilhelmina "Helma" Zukas, whose talent for solving crimes equals her bibliographic expertise.

Dereske explains in her Summer 2011 newsletter that she decided to publish this final Miss Zukas mystery under her own imprint – June Creek Books. "Many factors contributed to my decision to bypass traditional publishers and shepherd Miss Zukas into print independently, but ultimately it was the decision that made the most sense. More control, more freedom, more – ahem – money," she wrote.

Dereske adds that she had not planned to write a twelfth Miss Zukas mystery. She did so, though, because "many readers felt Helma’s story was unfinished, and after a while, so did I."

Farewell, Miss Zukas finds Helma in the midst of wedding plans. Her long-time suitor, Wayne Gallant, Chief of Police in Helma’s hometown of Bellehaven, Washington, has at last proposed. These pleasant preparations are interrupted, however, by the theft of a wedding ring and a Lithuanian carving from her mother’s apartment.

"This final adventure includes all of the elements readers have grown to relish in the Miss Zukas mysteries," Dereske commented in a press release about her novel. "Once again, Helma proves that persistence pays but, ultimately, crime doesn't."

The complete list of Dereske’s Miss Zukas series publications appears below:

1. Miss Zukas and the Library Murders (Avon Books: 1994)
2. Miss Zukas and the Island Murders (Avon Books: 1995)
3. Miss Zukas and the Stroke of Death (Avon Books: 1995)
4. Miss Zukas and the Raven's Dance (Avon Books: 1996)
5. Out of Circulation (Avon Books: 1997)
6. Final Notice (Avon Books: 1998)
7. Miss Zukas in Death's Shadow (Avon Books: 1999)
8. Miss Zukas Shelves the Evidence (Avon Books: 2000)
9. Bookmarked to Die (Avon Books: 2006)
10. Catalogue of Death (Avon Books: 2007)
11. Index to Murder (Avon Books: 2008)
12. Farewell, Miss Zukas (June Creek Books: 2011)