Local author Bob Kimball has spun a good tale in “News to Die For.” It’s a mystery, a love story, and perhaps most of all, a window into the newspaper business.
The Lafferty family owns and manages The Tucson Independent, a daily paper with a proud history and a fragile present. The heroic protagonist, publisher Meghan Lafferty, faces multiple adversities, including the violent deaths of two of the most important people in her life, her dying newspaper, an evil stepmother, embezzlement, a lightning strike and her own serious illness.
Throughout the twisting and twisted plot, we get a bird’s eye look into the daily running of a newspaper. Kimball, a retired (2005) editor and publisher of the Nogales International, also includes some local landmarks and a foul mouthed, but talented, reporter who hails from Patagonia.
The bibliography is a treasure trove for those interested in reading more about journalism and the newspaper business.
“News to Die For” is Kimball’s first novel. It is available at Amazon.com in both soft cover and kindle editions.