(Fiction, 368 pp., 2022)
Recently motherless twelve-year old Sheldon Horowitz survives a suspicious late-night road accident in rural Massachusetts that kills his father. Bereft but resourceful, Sheldon sets out to avenge his death. Sheldon’s nascent sleuthing panache and daring-do charm foreshadow future capers in Miller’s Norwegian By Night (2013), in which octogenarian Sheldon is a maverick crime-solver wielding hilariously farfetched (but effective) tactics. How to Find Your Way in the Dark weaves a boisterously sly coming-of-age backstory full of murder and mayhem, gangsters and thieves, pranks and revenge, and borscht belt shenanigans on the cusp of WWII—while simultaneously offering serious insights into antisemitism, world events, and the enduring value of close friendships.
Review by Beth Dworskin, Jewish Book Council, July 26, 2021
Review by Sarah Weinman, The New York Times, July 16, 2021
Review by Publishers Weekly, July 2021
Review by Alice Cary, Bookpage, August 2021
Review by Goodreads, July 27, 2021
Interview with Derek B. Miller, Book Q&A with Deborah Kalb, July 28, 2021