Tom Ricks came up with a list of the five books that helped him write his new crime novel, “Everyone Knows But You.” And none of them was a crime novel. Three were works of Maine history and social context: “The Lobster Coast” by Colin Woodard, “The Lobster Gangs of Maine” by James Acheson and “Liberty Men and Great Proprietors” by Alan Taylor, about clashes over land in Maine just before and after the American Revolution.
The other two were the novel “Abide with Me” by Maine author and Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout and the classic children’s picture book “One Morning in Maine” by Robert McCloskey. Ricks, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for journalism, has been coming to Maine off and on for about 30 years and has had a house on Deer Isle since around 2010. So both the state and getting the facts straight are important to him.
He admits he likes that, in writing fiction, he can make up the story. But he refused to make up Maine. “There is a uniqueness to Maine, and I wanted to get the culture and feel of the place right.
I did not want to caricature it,” Ricks, 68, said from his home in Deer Isle. Ricks’ new book – his first crime novel and only his second work of fiction in a 40-plus-year career – went on sale last week. He’s having a book launch event Tuesday night at Mechanics’ Hall in Portland, where he’ll read from the book, talk about it and take questions from the audience.
It’s the story of an FBI agent who seeks s.
