The 10th annual History Book Festival will host events from Friday to Sunday, Sept. 25 to 27, in Lewes.

Attendees can access their choice of 21 author presentations Saturday, Sept. 26, all free of charge. Three of these authors will discuss their books that focus on murder and mayhem throughout history.  

Ashton Lattimore will present her book, “Runner: A Novel.” 
 
One fateful summer in Prohibition-era Martha’s Vineyard, Earl Jameson, a successful Black fisherman-turned-rumrunner, disappears in a suspicious shipwreck. His daughter Lena steps up to take over his dangerous, illegal trade, working to save her family’s fortunes while preserving her own dream of a college education. That decision takes Lena and her siblings from the safe, colorful streets of Oak Bluffs through gangland Boston to the jazz-filled clubs of Harlem during its Renaissance, all in search of quick money – and the truth about the shipwreck and their father’s death. 

A critically acclaimed author of historical poetry and narrative nonfiction, Shelley Puhak will discuss her book, “The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal and the Making of a Monster.”  

For generations, the 17th-century Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory was known as the world’s most prolific female serial killer, legendarily torturing and killing 650 girls. New archival evidence and recent translations unravel this centuries-old mystery and myth, adding depth and dimension to the countess and to the turbulent era in which she lived. "The Blood Countess" reveals the tragic ease with which this powerful woman was vilified by innuendo and disinformation, and how myths too often shape how people understand history.  
 
Chris Sweeney will present his book, “The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem and the Magnificent Life of Roxie Laybourne."

In 1932, a diminutive, bespectacled young woman named Roxie Laybourne graduated with her BA in mathematics and general science in North Carolina before laboring behind the scenes at museums and labs. Three decades later, during her tenure at the Smithsonian, Laybourne pioneered the field of forensic ornithology. Using nothing more than her encyclopedic knowledge of birds, a microscope, and bits of feathers recovered from various crimes and aviation calamities, she solved mysteries, helping prosecute murderers, kidnappers and poachers while improving the safety of air travel for all.