John Nardizzi


New England Crime Bake - Life of PI...

Thanks to the organizers of New England Crime Bake for having me close the show with Life of PI- Investigating Innocence!! What a passionate audience, really memorable. Here with great writer and comrade in pens Kate Flora

Tried to dispel one #PIMyth this past weekend at my presentation - "modern investigators just sit at a desk and do database research"
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We still gumshoe!! (often over food or coffee) #CrimeFiction


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Concord Festival of Authors

Want to thank the Friends of the Concord Library and host Kate Flora for inviting me to be part of Mystery Night at Concord Festival of Authors on October 30. Excellent discussion and a friendly group of readers. And a gorgeous library too.


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Tewksbury Public Library book talk....

Very much looking forward to giving a book talk about 'The Burden of Innocence' (and some information about the NE Innocence Project too) for the Tewksbury Public Library this summer. Please join us on Tuesday, July 25 at 7pm!

“We’re Not Making This Up"

Sisters in Crime New England is sponsoring a “We’re Not Making This Up” panel on Tuesday afternoon, November 15, at 1 PM at the Canton Senior Center, 500 Pleasant Street, Canton, MA 02021. I will be participating along with some excellent writers and speakers like Kate Flora, Frances McNamara and Joanna Schauffhausen. We will talk about how real-life crime has led to story-telling in both non-fiction and fiction works.

Boston Book Fair 2022

The Boston Book Festival will take place in Boston on October 29. The great writers organization Sisters in Crime New England (SinCNE) is sponsoring a booth for this year’s festival. Sisters [and Misters like me] will be there so stop by at 1:00 PM to talk all things crime.

Boston University Summer Journalism Academy...

Spoke to a great young class at Boston University Summer Journalism Academy about the book and how I work on innocence cases with New England Innocence Project…the instructor told me a good thirty-five percent of the kids chose the NE Innocence Project as their main project. Tremendous to see the energy coming from this book and rallying a group of young writers. The written word is alive and well!

2022 Shamus Award finalist...

The Burden of Innocence was shortlisted today for the 2022 Shamus Award in the Best PI Paperback category by the Private Eye Writers of America! Very exciting news to be nominated in such a crowded field of fantastic writers.

Past Shamus winners include some of the top writers in the genre: Laura Lippman, Robert B. Parker, Walter Mosley, Sue Grafton, Lawrence Block, Bill Pronzini, Livia Washburn, Sara Peretsky. Great company to keep on the mean streets of modern publishing…


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SINC at Warwick Public Library, RI

Thank you to SINC New England and the Warwick Public Library for hosting a fantastic book talk. Enjoyed meeting the talented writers Maureen Boyle, Jan Brogan, and Kate Flora.


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Real stories behind the book...

Thank you all for supporting the tremendous launch of The Burden of Innocence, which is getting great reviews on many retail sites!  Getting a lot of questions about the real stories behind the scenes. Some news on this point ...

Parts of the book are based on the case of my client, James Watson. He spent 42 years in a Massachusetts prison for a crime he did not commit until we freed him from prison and cleared his name forever. He is am amazing person who credits his family and sense of humor for helping him persevere. A few weeks ago, I went to the Innocence Network conference in Phoenix with James, his family, and the rest of the legal team to celebrate. This event hosted over 200 exonerated men and women, as well as 500 investigators, lawyers and family members. Wow, what an emotional conference. A lot of pain, happiness, and wisdom mixed together. As one exoneree said: "Don't count the days, just make the days count."

Here are some photos from this incredible week in Phoenix. Our crew controlled the pool table for 3 hours on consecutive nights and crushed all comers, much to the chagrin of several west coast lawyers. You heard it here first: James' prison rec room had a pool table, as did my law school housing complex.🎱

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Noir at the Bar - Caffe Avellino...

Starting to set some local readings. If you live in the area, stop by and say hello!

  • Noir at the Bar - Caffe Avellino, 242 Humphrey Street, Swampscott MA 01907. Thursday, June 9, 2022 at 7:00 PM.