Unraveling the Dark: Stories of Mystery and the Uncanny

Join Durham County Library for a dialogue with acclaimed mystery novelist Ashley-Ruth M.

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Books, a notebook, and a desk lamp, woodcut illustration

Fig. 01 — Main Auditorium, Main Library (300 N. Roxboro St)

About the event

Join Durham County Library for a dialogue with acclaimed mystery novelist Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier and award-winning horror author P.M. Raymond exploring the storytelling impulse behind both fear and curiosity. From the clues that illuminate human motive to the darkness that conceals it, their work reminds us that every revelation carries its own chill. Ideal for readers who love fiction that lingers long after the last page.

P.M. Raymond is an award-winning author and aspiring screenwriter from New Orleans who knows a thing or two about good gumbo, grits, and café au lait. She is a 2026 Killer Shorts Screenplay Semifinalist, the Sisters in Crime 2024 Eleanor Taylor Bland Award Winner, and 2024 Claymore Award and Killer Shorts Screenplay Finalist. She was named to the 160 Black Women in Horror in 2023. Her interconnected short story collection, Things Are as They Should Be and Other Words to Die For, will be released April 2026 from Uncomfortably Dark Horror. She teaches the course Masters of Dark Fiction at North Carolina State University and Duke University in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute program. Her work has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Writer's Digest, Punk Noir, Flash Fiction Magazine, Kings River Life Magazine, The Furious Gazelle, and Dark Yonder, among others. You can find her at https://www.pmraymond.com/

Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier's work has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, and other esteemed anthologies. Originally from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ashley-Ruth writes mysteries highlighting the vibrant culture of her home. Ashley-Ruth is a 2022 winner of NCWN’s Jacobs-Jones award, a 2023 SMFS Derringer finalist, a Killer Nashville Claymore finalist, a 2024 recipient of MWA’s Barbara Neely grant for Black mystery writers, and a 2026 Agatha Award nominee. THE BUSH TEA MURDER is her first novel-length work. She currently lives with her family and teaches first grade in Apex, North Carolina.

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