Cayce Osborne's debut thriller centers on Petal, a smart-mouthed forty-something with a dark secret from her teenage years. An introvert and a bit of a slacker, Petal is happy chilling out, smoking weed, and binging on junk food and 90's action movies. But when an anonymous best-selling "fiction" novel comes out that calls her out by name and delves into her traumatic past, Petal returns to her hometown to search for the mysterious author - risking her life in the process. It's a wildly entertaining ride that more than lives up to it's cool, original premise and you can buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Know-What-You-Did-Novel/dp/1639103295/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1702012074&sr=8-1
Cayce was kind enough to share the stellar query letter that got her a deal with Crooked Lane Books:
To the Crooked Lane Books editorial team: Thank you for considering my voice-driven mystery novel I Know What You Did, Petal Woznewski, complete at 72,500 words. In reading through your team bios, I noticed several people have ties to Madison, Wisconsin, which felt fortuitous. Madison is my hometown, and where the majority of my book is set. While that's not the only reason I think my novel could be right for Crooked Lane Books, it was a nice surprise and made me want to submit it to you right away. Forty-four-year-old introvert Petal Woznewski is in a rut, but she likes it that way. Predictability is as comfortable as her trusty Doc Martens, broken in from hours spent walking New York City sidewalks. She’s learned to compartmentalize the tragedies in her past, and focus on what keeps her sane in the present: a loud action movie on Netflix, a well-rolled joint, her part-time boyfriend Gus. These avoidance tactics work, until a new novel drags her skeletons out of the closet and onto the bestseller list. The book claims to be fiction, but it contains more of her childhood than any “novel” should—including the 1991 death of her best friend Megan. Petal would rather walk naked through Times Square, holding a sign reading Ask Me About My Tattoos, than return to her hometown of Madison, Wisconsin. But it’s the only place she can uncover why an anonymous author has exhumed her well-buried secrets after 30 years in the dark. I Know What You Did, Petal Woznewski will appeal to fans of modern, voice-driven noir, in the vein of Sara Gran’s Claire DeWitt series, and readers who like revisiting dark childhood secrets, as in All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda. I’m a writer and graphic designer from Madison, WI. I work in science communication and public engagement at the University of Wisconsin. My writing has been published in Exposition Review, Typehouse Magazine, Still Point Arts Quarterly, and elsewhere. I am included in several story anthologies; most recently, Triangulation: Habitats by Parsec Ink, Things with Feathers from Third Flatiron, and Monsters Monsters Monsters Monsters from Hellbound Books. I have been a writing tutor, an associate editor at a literary magazine, and I currently write a monthly subscription newsletter about writing, reading, and life. I’m active on Instagram (@cayceosbornewriter), dabble on Twitter (@cayceosborne) and run my own website at cayceosborne.com. I appreciate the time it takes to go through submissions like mine. As requested, the first two chapters are pasted below, and the full manuscript is ready to send if you are interested. I look forward to hearing from you. Cayce Osborne
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