Hi, I’m Maureen Gill and I want to thank you for taking the time to visit my web page. 

I carefully created this website to have a casual and inviting appearance; I want people who visit here to feel as if they're sitting with me on a front porch swing sipping coffee and chatting.

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LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT JANUARY MOON 

January Moon is a detective story about a Chicago homicide detective who partners with an Illinois State Police homicide investigator to solve the mysterious death of a thirteen-year-old girl. 

The story begins in Urbana, Illinois, travels to Chicago, wanders up to Wisconsin, and then journeys up to the Upper Peninsula, Michigan (the "UP"), a strange and wonderful place some call "Yooperland."  Important characters in the book also come from Africa and at some point I also reference Berne, Switzerland, as well as that most exotic port of call known as Billings, Montana. The story is packed with jihadist-wannabees, right wing religious extremists and racists, and a generous sprinkling of cops, feds, politicians and a really dangerous villain one reviewer called a "living, breathing hate machine." And oh yes: there's also a dog.  A wonderful, wonderful dog.

More information about the dog is included here in a short story titled "The Dogs" (it's also a trailer at the end of the ebook). 

A very important part of the story concerns the very sensitive and appalling subject of female genital mutilation or female cutting, sometimes more inaccurately referred to as female circumcision. I know that could be a huge turn off to some people but more times than not readers have told me how surprised they were that their fascination with the story overrode their squeamishness.  I think this may be because I tried to not sensationalize the subject.  You'll have to determine that for yourself.  More about female genital mutilation can be found under "Maureen's Musings" at this web site. As far as I can tell, January Moon is the first work of American fiction to situate FGM within the genre of a detective novel. 

However, January Moon also concerns racism, religious fanaticism, mental illness and animal abuse. I like to think that it's also a love story. Yes, in my mind it is also very much a wonderful love story -- actually several love stories.  Del Carter and his fiancee Jessica Farrell represent young love, the sort of love that is pregnant with hope and plans; Fred Wiley and his beloved Elnora ("Eliot") Ness speak to an older generation, to those who know how easily hopes and dreams can turn into regret and heartbreak. I like to think that Wiley and Eliot show us how sometimes a great love can triumph over the greatest betrayals and make healing possible.

READERS AND CRITICS LOVE JANUARY MOON (A Few Excerpts from Reviews):

Book Critic and Author, Tyler Tichelaar Wrote: "Move Over Michael Connelly—Maureen Gill Has Arrived!"

Author and Reviewer Kathleen Valentine Wrote:  "January Moon is a Good Example of Doing it Right."

Read the full review @

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004E112LW

PRAISE FROM REAL COPS:

Maureen Gill swaggers through her debut novel with the impressive power, precision and dead-on aim of the last gun standing after the smoke clears. Her characters are finely drawn coordinates in a lethal landscape, tripping the dark fantastic through a plot with more twists than a dry martini. This powerful cocktail is served straight up, an incendiary shot of fire, darkness, and all that lurks in the shadows of man. Literati, take note: There's a new gun in town and she's taking no prisoners. With each page of January Moon, Gill secures her rightful position as an ascendant star. Gina Gallo ("Armed and Dangerous: Memoirs of a Chicago Policewoman")

January Moon is a masterpiece, a tour de force. Gill's prodigious research, poignant narrative, astonishingly fresh voice, and passion for her characters will have you laughing on one page and crying on the next. This gifted storyteller has spun a remarkable and totally unique story that culminates in a suspenseful, astonishing ending; it will leave you breathless and hungry for more great work from this exceptionally talented author. I was a Chicago Policeman for thirty years, a homicide detective for ten of them, and I can assure readers that this author has captured the essence of a real criminal investigation with amazingly accurate insight. The voices of her cops, feds, politicians, ME and other remarkable cast of characters ring so true with me that I could almost swear I was there, right in the thick of it, as each incredible element in her story unfolded before my astonished eyes. January Moon is an absolute must read. Lt. Dennis Banahan, CPD ret. (“Threshold of Pain”)

MORE 5-STAR PRAISE FOR JANUARY MOON AND MAUREEN GILL

Maureen Gill is an exciting new voice. It's a rare talent that can tackle topics such as female genital mutilation, racism, religious extremism, mental illness, or animal abuse as compellingly, brilliantly, and insightfully as Gill. Her gift for humor is equally wondrous; she uses it as a soothing balm, lavishly applied, just in the nick of time.  

January Moon and Maureen Gill are as brisk and refreshing and able to blow you over as a gale force wind off Lake Michigan

January Moon is a great read! I was absolutely hooked from the beginning. It's a unique story about very sensitive subjects written with a lot of skill and class, drama and humor.

I love this author’s style! Her writing is quick, quirky, witty, dramatic, totally irreverent (and bitingly sarcastic) and also full of compassion and understanding.

January Moon hooked me right from the beginning, held my attention all the way through, and delivered a smashing good ending that obviously sets the stage for the next book (which I hope is available soon).

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