DANBURY — Newtown Woman’s Club will sponsor an Author Book Signing Luncheon on Saturday, February 22, at noon, at Barbarie’s Black Angus Grill, 5 Eagle Road in Danbury.

Connecticut native Valerie Taylor will be the featured author. Her latest novel, A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery, is her first in a new series launched last year.

Taylor was born and raised in Stamford. She graduated twice from Sacred Heart University, with a BS in Business Administration and an MBA. She climbed the proverbial ladder in her early years at Xerox and then helped launch Executive Development Associates, a start-up executive education and coaching firm. There she dabbled in writing business communications and newsletters.

Her writing career took off when she joined Optima Group, and then later Clarion Brand Communications, where she focused on branding and crafting dozens of retirement planning programs for banks, mutual fund companies, and insurance companies.

Because of her reputation in this niche, Russell Investments recruited her to join the firm in the state of Washington. During her ten-year tenure there, Taylor led the firm’s defined contribution marketing efforts for both pre- and post-retirement investment programs.

After a Rick Steves Tour to Venice, Florence, and Rome, Taylor retired and returned home in 2016 to Connecticut, where her children have grown up and settled. When she’s not writing, reading, practicing tai chi or cheering for the Boston Red Sox or New England Patriots, she is sharing her wisdom and values with her granddaughter, who is growing up much too fast.

Taylor’s debut novel, What’s Not Said, launched in September 2020. The sequel, What’s Not True, was published in August 2021. The final book in that trilogy, What’s Not Lost, was published in February 2023.

A new series is now underway, this time a cozy mystery. A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery was published in April 2024.

The book introduces readers to retro-music store owner Venus Bixby, who will do almost anything to be named to Chatham Crossing’s prestigious Town Committee. But when she stumbles over a body in the garden where her 50th birthday party is scheduled to be held, becoming both a suspect and a sleuth is not what Taylor’s new protagonist had in mind.

Taylor is a member of the Independent Book Publishers Association, CT Authors and Publishers Association, Sisters in Crime, and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. She has won many awards, including, recently, 2023 and 2024 Literary Titan Gold Book Awards, 2024 Firebird Book Award, and Cozy Mystery and Summer Beach Read honors.

Tickets for the Newtown Woman’s Club event are $35, which includes lunch and the presentation. Reservations are required. To make one, and for additional information, contact Marie Sturdevant at 203-304-0192 or Marg Studley at 203-426-3651.