Celebrating our 1-Year Anniversary!
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | Bar Parisette, 2829 W Armitage Ave.
Join us for a particularly special evening as we celebrate one year of the Chicago Literary Salon with bestselling author Katherine Reay and her newest novel, The Undercover Bookshop.
One year after our very first salon, we’ll gather on November 4—this time at Bar Parisette—to toast a year of books, authors, new friendships, and memorable conversations, while stepping into a world of cozy mysteries, clandestine operations, and charming English bookshops.
Set in the winter of 1950 in the picturesque Cotswold village of Great Rollright, The Undercover Bookshop introduces Gemma Brown, an amateur sleuth who would much rather be living inside one of her beloved mystery novels. Newly arrived in the village, Gemma sets about creating an idyllic life for herself—and opening the village’s first bookstore. But when she begins to suspect that the town’s best baker may actually be a Soviet spy, her cozy new existence takes a decidedly more dangerous turn.
What follows is a clever blend of historical fiction and mystery, complete with village gossip, secret identities, MI5, the KGB, and, of course, books. Library Journal calls it a novel that “readers who enjoy cozy mysteries mixed with historical fiction will love,” while Kirkus Reviews describes it as “an origin story of the next generation’s Miss Marple: cozy, clever, canny, and grounded in history.”
For this anniversary edition of the Chicago Literary Salon, guests will enjoy drinks and bites before settling in for an intimate conversation with Katherine about The Undercover Bookshop, the real history woven throughout the novel, creating a compelling amateur sleuth, and bringing the world of postwar England to life on the page.
Following the conversation, guests will have the opportunity to meet Katherine, have their books signed, and mingle with fellow readers over drinks. We’ll also raise a glass to the first year of the Chicago Literary Salon—and to everyone who has helped turn this little idea about bringing readers and writers together into such a wonderful literary community.
Your ticket includes:
A copy of The Undercover Bookshop by Katherine Reay from Three Avenues Bookshop
Drinks and bites at Bar Parisette
An intimate author conversation and Q&A
Book signing and time to mingle with Katherine
A special sensory experience from Ten4 Candle Co. inspired by the world of The Undercover Bookshop
A special toast celebrating the Chicago Literary Salon’s first anniversary
Professional event photography by eebauer photography
Come for the books. Stay for the intrigue. And help us celebrate the first chapter of the Chicago Literary Salon.
About Katherine Reay:
Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of twelve novels and one non-fiction work. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Northwestern University, her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Redbook, USA TODAY, The Daily Beast, Criminal Element, and many more. She holds a master’s in marketing from Northwestern University as well and currently resides in Montana with her husband and their dogs. Her latest novel, THE UNDERCOVER BOOKSHOP, inspired by classic British mysteries, follows Gemma Brown,in the small English village of Great Rollright, and her “mentor” — the Cold War’s greatest female spy— Ursula Kuczynski Beurton.
About The Undercover Bookshop:
During the winter of 1950 in the small Cotswold village of Great Rollright, amateur sleuth Gemma Brown starts to suspect that the town’s best baker, Ursula Beurton, is a Soviet spy, tumbling her headlong into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse that ends with a decision that will lead her to the Undercover Bookshop and change her life forever.
Recently moved to the English Cotswolds, Gemma Brown desperately wants to create the kind of idyllic life she’s read about in her favorite mystery novels, with herself as the leading lady. But fitting in proves difficult as Gemma is more adept at solving mysteries and setting up the village’s first bookstore than she is at baking cakes or grasping social niceties. Nevertheless, she finds a friend in Peggy, a young woman recently moved to town herself, and Ursula Beurton, who is not only the village’s best baker but an enigmatic figure who sparks controversy in the small-town gossip network.
As Gemma spends more time with Ursula, she begins to suspect all those novels are affecting her thinking. The oddities she starts to notice must be her imagination because, if not, they point to something far more dangerous than winning the local baking contest or being placed on the church committee. Could her neighbor be a real spy?
Following her instincts and a few skills learned through fiction, Gemma soon becomes embroiled in an international intrigue involving the village’s mysterious benefactor, Lady Marchmont, MI5, and the KGB. In an unexpected twist, however, Ursula asks Gemma for a favor which may endanger all their lives as their next chapter unfolds in Gemma’s new venture, the Undercover Bookshop.