Geoffrey Bates will read from his debut novel, “Bitter Passage: An Allegheny Beckham novel,” at South Bristol’s Rutherford Library on Wednesday, Nov. 20, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Light refreshments will be served during a reception when books will be available for purchase and signing.

Deputy Sheriff Allegheny Beckham’s yearning for a quiet return to Chamberlain County, Maine, after years as a beat cop in south Chicago, is shattered by a murder/kidnapping investigation. Dispatched to a remote ridge during a late winter nor’easter, she discovers an SUV cut open by the Chamberlain county snowplow. A frozen corpse triggers an investigation. As Beckham peels back layers of deceit, she embarks on a harrowing journey that tests her every limit and forces her to confront a lifetime scarred by loss, guilt, and feral survival. When the violent finale unfolds, she discovers the cost of redemption may be higher than she ever imagined. Bitter Passage is a riveting tale of resilience, justice, and the enduring struggle to confront the shadows of the past.

“Bitter Passage is a tightly-crafted police procedural that takes place during a classic Maine winter,” says Robin Merrow MacCready, South Bristol resident and recipient of the Edgar Award® for her Young Adult novel Buried. “It kept me guessing ’til the end.”

“Bitter Passage is Bates's first novel, and it's a damn good one,” says Mort Castle, three-time recipient of the Bram Stoker Award®, and the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Horror Writers Association. “There is mystery here: murder, missing kids, and intrigue . . . but above all, there's the journey of Allie Beckham, who must study clues, the person in her mirror, and the private ghosts who haunt her.” 

A patchwork of moves beginning and ending in his native New England has provided Bates with a rich palette of experience from which he shapes his narratives. With degrees from the University of Georgia and Ohio University, Bates found a professional niche in arts administration and settled near Chicago. He now lives and writes year-round in South Bristol.

Bitter Passage is available for purchase at Sherman’s Booksellers throughout Maine, Left Bank Books in Belfast, BookStacks in Bucksport, and via Amazon in print and Kindle formats.

Rutherford Library is located at 2000 State Route 129 in South Bristol. Regular hours are Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information about this or other events, please call (207) 644-1882, email sblibrary2000@gmail.com, or check the library’s Facebook page at RUTHERFORDLIBRARYMAINE.