Adam Ross has had quite a year. Back in June, the Nashville-based author saw his powerful debut novel Mr. Peanut published to rave reviews after months of increasing word-of-mouth buzz. Inventive and deeply moving, Mr. Peanut tells the unsettling tale of David Pepin, a video game designer and wannabe novelist who fantasizes continuously about killing his wife Alice. When Alice turns up dead, David becomes the prime suspect of Det. Ward Hastroll and Det. Sam Sheppard, investigators who have personal experience with marital problems and murder. As the mesmerizing mystery unfolds, Mr. Peanut deftly explores “the proximity of violence and love” in what Stephen King called the “most riveting look at the dark side of marriage since Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Named a 2010 NY Times Notable Book, Mr. Peanut was shortlisted for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize and has earned Mr. Ross praise as an eloquent and original new voice. Mr. Ross recently spoke with us via email about the positive response to Mr. Peanut, Hitchcock films, the art of M.C. Escher, marriage, and his upcoming short story collection Ladies and Gentlemen.