As the contracts director for Ballantine, most of my work is finished before a manuscript ever arrives on an editor’s desk. Because of that, I have to rely on my colleagues to tell me about authors they feel I would like to read. Recently while in a meeting, I let it slip that I had never read Martha Grimes. Immediately I was told that I had to, that I would love her — and I was asked if I had lived under a rock. Since I had a long train trip ahead of me, I said I would try her — and someone volunteered a copy THE OLD CONTEMPTIBLES from their office. I am hooked!!!. Richard Jury and his friends are such a smart, eccentric, and funny bunch that I ordered Martha Grimes’ other books the morning after my train ride.
–Amelia Zalcman, Director of Contracts
