Deb Collins

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the quiet community of Spur Lake, twelve women have spent thirty years together as mothers, wives, neighbors, and friends. They’ve raised children, held down jobs, hosted parties, and learned to hide behind polite smiles.

And then they found a cure for their inescapable boredom.

Every year, the Belladonna Dozen gather to draw anonymous Dares from a black velvet bag. What started as a harmless thrill has twisted, over time, into something darker-a ritual of humiliation and revenge where old grudges wear the mask of friendship, and loyalty is measured by how far you’re willing to go.

A decade into the game, Edie Monroe discovers that one of the Dares hides a deadly intent, and she realizes that, in friendships this tangled, every woman has a motive. Every woman has opportunity. And every woman has secrets worth killing to protect.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Deb Collins is a thriller author who writes about women behaving badly, which may or may not stem from her inherent personality. A Texas native, she lives in Austin, where you can find her soaking up the heat outside or hunched over a bowl of queso at a Tex-Mex restaurant. Or maybe in Mexico. 

The Belladonna Dozen is her first novel. Find out more at debcollinsauthor.com

TALKING POINTS

• Why women who have spent decades raising families, building careers, and caring for others can find themselves questioning their purpose and searching for what comes next.
• How boredom and the desire for excitement can push ordinary people to take increasingly dangerous risks.
• Why women over 50 deserve the same recklessness, unpredictability, and moral complexity that fiction hands so easily to younger characters.
• How women are taught to play nice, but age and experience can bring out a more unapologetic side.
• How decades of friendship can strengthen bonds while also revealing how much we’ve grown apart or changed over time.
• Why the desire to belong can keep people in toxic friendships, even when those relationships become harmful.
• How a harmless game of dares can spiral out of control when the participants become so attached to the group that refusing to play feels impossible.
• How guilt, secrets, paranoia, and mind games make the pressures of motherhood and midlife fertile ground for psychological thrillers.
• How a real-life White Elephant party inspired a psychological thriller about twelve women, thirty years of friendship, and a deadly game of dares.
• The challenge of creating twelve distinct female characters, each with her own personality, secrets, and motivations.

TIMELY TIE-INS

November 

• National Novel Writing Month
• Friendsgiving / Thanksgiving gatherings – 21–26

December 

• Read a New Book Month
• Holiday Parties & White Elephant Gift Exchanges

January 

• New Year’s Day / New Year’s Resolutions – 1
• The Belladonna Dozen publication date – 12
• National Be On-Purpose Month – All Month

February 

• International Friendship Month 
• National Library Lovers’ Month
• National Make a Friend Day – 11
• Galentine’s Day – 13

March 

• Women’s History Month
• National Reading Month
• International Women’s Day – 8
• National Write Your Story Day – 14