Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Murder mysteries are super popular. I've

written about this in our newsletter, which you can subscribe to, by the way, at npr.org slash

newsletter slash books. And I heard from readers that a big part of the draw for these books is that

the mystery gets solved. This creates a sense that

the world, however messed up it may be, is fixable. Liza Telly's got a different theory. She's the

author of the new book, The World's Greatest Detective, and her Just Okay assistant, which is about

exactly what the title says. A grizzled old pro teams up with a green

newbie at solving a crime. And in this interview with NPR's Ayesha Rosco, Tully says that

the draw of the murder mystery isn't necessarily just the idea of order versus disorder,

but that it's an exploration of what makes us human.

That's coming up.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.

On our new show, Sources and Methods, NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand

why distant events matter here at home. Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get

your podcasts. In a new murder mystery, a young woman, Olivia Blunt, is eager to impress her new boss,

the no-nonsense detective Aubrey Merritt.

They have a big case hours away in Vermont. Merritt doesn't drive. Blunt does. The vehicle,

a rattled trap of a Jeep with 200,000 miles on it. At exactly 8 o'clock, Merritt emerged

from the building. She was always punctual and

abhorred people who weren't. Her disapproval extended to early birds as well as latecomers,

which was why I hadn't gone to her door when I'd arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

...