Vanessa Lillie Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Vanessa Lillie is a suspense thriller and mystery author from Miami Oklahoma best known for “Little Voices,” her debut novel published in 2019. She is an Oklahoma native and went to college at Rockhurst University in Kansas City before she graduated and moved to Washington D.C. While in the capital, she joined several writer groups that include the Romance Writers of America DC chapter and credits much of her writing knowledge to the local chapter. It was from attending these meetings that she met and made a lot of friends who encouraged her and offered feedback on her manuscripts. She currently lives in Providence Rhode Island alongside her husband and child. When she is not writing her novels, she loves to organize literary and book events in the robust creative community in her city.

Vanessa has a background in marketing and has asserted that if she had not found a career in writing she would have worked in the tourism bureau of her adopted state of Rhode Island. She had always loved writing and reading but it was not until she was in her early twenties that she got serious about it. It took her a decade and three books before she found a narrative that her agent and publisher loved. Before becoming an author, she held a variety of jobs that include public relations and marketing. Lillie loves disseminating information and news and hence her job has been very helpful in her later career as an author. She has also served as a waiter at bars and restaurants while she was in college and the ability to be gracious and work hard has also helped a lot in the tough world of writing. Writing has been a way through which she processes her feelings. She will often make a list or jot down a few things in her journal to focus and calm her mind when she is not feeling so well. She loves how writing requires the naming of emotions and problems and the power that gives to anyone. Since he started writing her novel when she was in post-partum, it helped her explore the good parts and the bad parts which she then distilled and shared in her debut novel.

Vanessa Lillie had a tough road to publication just like many of her peers. She worked on her writing for more than a decade but was unsuccessful in finding an agent or publisher. She then decided to change her approach and took a break away from work to become a new mom and take care of her newborn son. It was a particularly difficult period in her life as she had a lot of complicated feelings she wanted to put down on paper. Since she always loved thrillers, she was interested in taking the scary and difficult parts of being a new mom and explore them in thriller form. For more than fifteen months, she was a stay at home mother and hence she had a lot to write about. She attended weekly mom groups, hung out with new friends she had made as a mother, and like every new mother became obsessed with everything about infant and newborn developmental stages. While she had a lot of support and love around her, she often felt very alone. It was exhausting and isolating and since she loved writing, she thought he should take some time to write about her experiences. Lillie also wanted to write a lead character that was at the center of a thriller novel as a mother. She wanted her to be solving crime mysteries while at the same time breastfeeding or pumping milk for her child. Vanessa hoped that through her novel, she could encourage parents struggling with how to reconcile motherhood with who they are or were before they became mothers.

Vanessa Lillie’s debut novel “Little Voice: is the story of Devon Burges, a seven-month pregnant woman. She is rushed to hospital in Providence with the survival of her baby and her own in doubt given that the baby’s placenta was ripped. Just before the doctors perform the critical C-section surgery, she learns that Belina Cabrala her best friend’s body had been found at a local cemetery, presumably murdered. Two months after she was discharged from hospital, she vows to find the man that killed her friend especially when she discovers that the prime suspect is Alec Mather who had been her friend. Her friend’s husband begs her to let go of the matter. He is worried that she may go too far as she had when she worked domestic violence and sex crimes prosecution in DC that had almost got her disbarred. She had become so involved in the intricacies of the cases that he was soon blacking out and hearing voices. Devon and Jack had moved away from Washington to settle in Rhode Island, where they could escape the pressure of city life. Devon may be feeling some stress as he remembers the events from the past. Her state worsens as she delves into the intricacies of the case and she discovers that Alec had acted in a disreputable way in addition to being involved in some illegal acts.

“For the Best” by Vanessa Lillie is a compelling thriller mystery that opens to Jules Worthington in a lot of trouble. Her wallet had been found next to a dead man and as expected she is the lead suspect in the killing. She is dangerously close to getting her life destroyed after years building a perfect career and family. She had nothing to do with the murder and desperately tries to clear her name. But the complication is that she was drunk during the time of the murder and seems to have insomnia. Unhappy with how the police are conducting their investigations, she decides to investigate on her own. Fueled by gin, she proceeds to unearth a series of clues and in the meantime also sets up a vlog that goes viral and makes her some kind of celebrity. But she is soon forced to deal with her demons including excessive drinking and turbulent childhood. The more she investigates the more she comes to know about not only the murder but also her past. While she may find the killer the resolution of the case might not set her free.