Author Julie McElwain to make appearance at Downey library

The Friends of the Downey City Library will welcome Julie McElwain on Feb. 25 for their first author event of the year.

McElwain is a national award-winning journalist. She began her career working for a fashion trade newspaper in Los Angeles and is currently a West Coast editor for Soaps in Depth, a national soap opera magazine, covering the hit daytime drama, "The Young & the Restless."

Her first novel, "A Murder in Time," was one of the top 10 picks by the National Librarian Assn. for its April 2016 book list, and was selected as the mystery to read by Over-Drive, Inc., a digital distributor serving more than 34,000 libraries around the world. The novel was also a finalist for the 2016 Goodreads Readers’ Choice Awards in the Sci-Fi category.

In it, a brilliant FBI agent, Kendra Donovan, stumbles back in time and find herself in a 19th century castle, trying to solve a murder case without the use of modern day forensics. The sequel to "A Murder in Time" – "A Twist in Time" – is scheduled for release in April of this year.

McElwain will speak on Saturday, Feb. 25, from noon to 2 p.m. in the Downey Library Cormack Room. A light lunch will be served.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased in the used bookstore inside the library. Reservations can also be made by calling (562) 927-1548 or (562) 928-4327. All proceeds benefit the Downey Library.