Interviews, profiles and podcasts:
"Damian Barr's Literary Salon Book of the Week Podcast," Lit Hub
"Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books Podcast," Zibby Owens
"On Dark Academia," The Florentine
"PhD-eadly: PW Talks with Joanna Margaret," Publishers Weekly
"On Ancient Discoveries Inspiring Literary Mystery," Writer's Digest
Praise for A Darker Shade of Noir:
“Joanna Margaret’s horrifying tale of a parasitic twin and artistic muse…will burrow under your skin and live forever in your darkest dreams.” BUST
Praise for The Bequest:
**Named One of the Top Ten Mystery and Thriller Releases for Fall by Publishers Weekly and a "Most Anticipated" October Thriller by Bustle, PopSugar, & CrimeReads**
"15 October Books to Make You Think and Feel," Good Morning America
"The Season of Dark Academia," The New York Times
"This debut novel is a high-tension tale of academic skulduggery and murky aristocratic intrigue." The Daily Mail Must Reads
"There are crime and thrillers galore to choose from, spanning the current love for all things dark academia seen in Joanna Margaret’s The Bequest..." The Bookseller December 2023 Paperback Previews
“As Isabel embarks on a high-stakes intellectual treasure hunt that will take her from the Falcone family’s Genoese palazzo to archives in Florence and Paris, the author not only maintains suspense but makes the historical figures come vibrantly alive through their correspondence… readers will eagerly await Margaret’s next.” Publishers Weekly
"There’s an academic bent to the mystery; this one will appeal to lovers of Dan Brown and Elizabeth Kostova and other mysteries of old documents and historical figures." Kirkus Reviews
"This is a fun, twisty college-set gothic mystery that's a bit National Treasure-meets-"dark academia" thriller, with a dash of The Secret History thrown in. There's fantastic world building here, and sumptuous locations from Scotland to Italy to France. The story finds Isabel Henley trying to leave behind a failed affair in the States to start a PhD in Scotland, only to find her would-be mentor dead on arrival." The Ankler
"Kimberly M. Wetherell's skilled narration creates the perfect backdrop for this dark academic thriller." AudioFile
"The Bequest is a terrific dark academia thriller that leans literary and oozes atmosphere." Books & Wheels
"Joanna Margaret’s debut The Bequest goes on sale in the middle of the college school year. And the timing is PERFECT because we know you’ll be wanting those dark academia feels—an autumn sweater, the conspiratorial whispers of PhD students, and professors wanting us to hunker down in the library 'tombs' with this delicious mystery." Barnes & Noble
"Interlocking mysteries lie at the heart of Joanna Margaret’s richly atmospheric and irresistibly readable debut novel, the harrowing saga of a young American woman historian who finds herself embroiled in a Machiavellian plot reaching back to 16th century Italy. Whether evoking present-day Scotland in a windswept region overlooking the North Sea, or Renaissance Genoa in a time of vertiginous political plotting, The Bequest is filled with unexpected turns and revelations for the reader as well as the historian-heroine." Joyce Carol Oates
"A first rate mystery by a first time author. Intriguing plot and well drawn characters." Martin Cruz Smith
"This debut from art historian Joanna Margaret hopscotches across European art and academia hot spots and delivers on a wild ride with nods to gothic fiction and dark academia, accompanied by smart notes of Hitchcock to round out this exemplary thriller. With a doctoral candidate at the center of the plot, you can expect an erudite unraveling of the mystery, as well as some pressure cooker atmospherics from some of the grandest spots on the international intellectual circuit." Dwyer Murphy, Editor-in-Chief, CrimeReads
“Intricately plotted, exquisitely written, and brimming with atmosphere, The Bequest is a brilliant debut, as smart as it is compelling." Tasha Alexander