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The mystery writer behind ‘Jamie Day’ finally steps into the light
Under a pen name, this BU alum has become a bestselling author of New England-set suspense. Now he talks his New England roots, Boston rocker days — and his latest New England-set mystery.
Mystery writer Jamie Day feels like a bit of a mystery himself.
There’s no photo accompanying a vague official author bio: “Jamie Day lives in one of those picture-perfect, coastal New England towns you see in the movies. And just like the movies, Jamie has two children and an adorable dog to fawn over…”
Google’s AI overview uses “she” pronouns. No personal website.
Unlike say, Riley Sager — pen name for Todd Ritter, author of some stellar New England-set suspense — Massachusetts’s Daniel Palmer has done a scant few interviews, and all under his pen name.
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He’s the son of Boston doctor and New York Times bestselling medical suspense author Michael Palmer, and wrote a few installments in his father’s series as Daniel Palmer after his death. (Dr. Palmer, a Swampscott resident at the time of his death in 2013, “offered books that opened a window into the medical profession, the Boston Globe noted his obituary, and took “readers inside the city’s hospitals.”)
Daniel Palmer then wrote dark psychological thrillers and family dramas as DJ Palmer, he tells me in our recent phone interview.
“That was fun, but my heart lies more on the humor side than pure thriller. I wasn’t really able to bring my true self into those novels as much as I wanted to,” Palmer, 56, tells me from his North Shore home.
“When COVID struck, I felt I needed to lighten the mood. It just occurred to me I could pivot and write books bending toward mystery, but that wouldn’t have you hiding under your Adirondack chair. I wanted to find that sweet-spot between beach read, psychological suspense, and family drama.”
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As Jamie Day, he’s done just that, writing fun New England-set suspense with a vibe he aptly calls “Adirondack chairs with menace.”
I loved his buzzy 2023 Massachusetts-set “The Block Party” (still an Amazon Editor’s Pick for “Best Mystery/Thriller/Suspense.) He followed that with the Maine-set “One Big Happy Family” in 2024.
His latest, the Vermont-set “The Lake Escape,” is on shelves now. Think “The Four Seasons” meets Katherine Greene’s “Lake of Lost Girls” set in remote New England wilderness.
The nutshell: Julia, Erika and David grew up summering at Lake Timmeny in Vermont. As adults, they still vacation at the lake with their families. But this summer, Julia and Erika are shocked to see David has demolished the quaint home built by his grandfather to create a giant sleek “monstrosity.” Then David shows up with a new (much) younger girlfriend.
Meanwhile, skeletal remains are found nearby. And haunting lake lore: every 30 years, the lake claims a victim who vanishes without a trace. When David’s girlfriend vanishes exactly 30 years after the last disappearance, Julia and Erika wonder not only about the lore, but how well they know David.
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One thing that hooked me with “Block Party” was Palmer’s humor and wit, which shines here as well.
I called the father of two at his North Shore home — where he lives with partner Kathleen, and their three dogs — to talk about his Boston rocker days, Lexington roots, and the joy of writing as Jamie Day.
Interview has been edited and condensed.
Boston.com: From what you were telling me, it seems you found a creative freedom when you started writing as Jamie Day.
Jamie Day: It’s really my authentic voice. I gave a lot of book talks [when I was writing] as DJ, and I’d crack jokes. I was good at getting the audience laughing. People would buy the book and be all joyful. Then I’d see them at another book talk, and they’d be angry. “Where’s the jokes and humor? This was terrifying.”
[laughs]
So this is just more of who I am as a person. I think it brings my own sensibility and humor to the page, which I’m really enjoying. They’re summer beach reads, with undercurrents of danger. There’s humor, and redemption. I like when bad guys get their due and good guys learn something along the way. They’re a joy to write, and I want them to be fun to read.
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It’s different from when I just focused on these creepy dark thrillers and said, “How can I make it creepier?” Now I think, “How do I keep the intensity, but bring some humor? How do I keep the tension, but surprise you with where the story goes?”
And all three Jamie Day books are set here in New England.
Yeah, a lot of times I’ll make up a location just to avoid any challenges with geography. “Block Party” took place in the fictional town of Meadowbrook, which is kind of Longmeadow to me. Then “One Big Happy Family” takes place in this crazy hotel on the coast of Maine. The hotel is real, I acknowledge that in the book — Land’s End Inn in Provincetown. I renamed it the Precipice Hotel and moved it to the coast of Maine. “The Lake Escape” takes place at the fictitious Lake Timmeny, but it’s based on a real lake in northern Vermont. So there’s geographical aspects that are accurate, and aspects I fictionalized.
Tell me a bit about you. You said you grew up in Lexington. Your dad wrote. Did you want to be a writer as a kid?
Never crossed my mind. I was mostly interested in music and film. I was a where-the-wind-takes-you type. Very entrepreneurial, up for anything. I didn’t have a traditional life-plan. It was more going where the spirit moved me — and it took me all over the place. Lots of rock bands, and starter jobs, e-commerce jobs. But once I settled into writing, I haven’t looked back. I find the process of constantly creating to be joyful.
You said you graduated Lexington High School ‘87, then graduated Boston University for undergrad ’91, and grad school in ’94. What did you study at BU?
I got a master’s in mass communication. I was destined to be an advertising copywriter. That was my vision. I was a middling rock and roll musician in the Boston club scene.
What bands that people might know?
None.
[laughs]
I think we got one write-up in a newspaper. They called us “up-and-coming,” and then we went — because we broke up right after that.
[laughs] What was the band name?
I think it was The Mighty Swell. But by that time, I had been a brunch chef, worked as a deckhand, then shoreline entertainment, at Bay State Cruise. I managed a storage warehouse. I opened up a juice bar in Brookline Village, called The Juice Cafe. So I had a wild, varied background.
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Then I went for my masters at Boston University. I ended up in New York City. Instead of being a copywriter for Madison Avenue, I got swept up in the dot-com boom.
So your original goal was to be a Don Draper.
Yeah! I thought I’d come up with all the clever lines. But I ended up making sure people could buy stuff over the internet. So I took a long, circuitous wandering route, but I’ve come to who I really am. Jamie Day is what feels most comfortable to me.
What sparked this latest story?
My father bought a lake house in Ware, New Hampshire. That became a family retreat for my kids, along with my mother’s summer house on the North Shore. I took that idea of the family camp, then thought that an isolated lake up in the mountains with dark woods seemed good for a mystery.
I went to summer camp as a kid, and there was always lake lore and camp lore passed down. I thought that’d be fun to bring in. I wrapped that around a mystery that spans generations.
But it’s really about friendships. I thought about three people who grew up together and vacation together, yet don’t really know each other. They’re all carrying tremendous secrets.
Why Vermont?
I think there’s something, in the reader’s mind, idyllic about a summer Vermont vacation. Readers are from all over, and so I wanted to ground them in something that has familiarity — beautiful, lush, green Vermont in the summertime seemed right.
True. What are you working on now?
My next book, “Beach Thriller,” is a suspense from a multi-generational perspective. It’s about a writer, Holly, forced to return to her summer vacation home in Beauport, Massachusetts, which is fictionalized.
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I’m having a blast writing this one as well. I know most of my characters are women, but I feel very comfortable writing female characters. Kathleen has been a tremendous source of support as a creative collaborator, both from the process, bouncing ideas off each other, and helping with the women’s perspective.
I always remind myself that we’re all very busy, and there’s so much competing for our attention these days. I never lose sight of the fact that it’s an honor for somebody to take their time to engage with something I’ve created. I never lose the appreciation for that. It’s really what drives me to do the best work I can possibly do.
Lauren Daley can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagram at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.
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