Laura Lippman and Megan Abbott Dish on Their Documentary Obsessions, Money and More (Exclusive)

Megan Abbott and Laura Lippman are no strangers to adapting their work for the screen. Abbott was the co-creator and executive producer of USA’s adaptation of her book Dare Me, worked as a staff writer on HBO’s The Deuce and is currently involved in developing her new book El Dorado Drive (out June 25) for the screen. She will also co-write and produce a television series based on Laura Lippman’s series of books following private investigator Tess Monaghan.

Lippman, for her part, is also the author behind Lady of the Lake, which became a hit Apple TV+ series and was named a Grand Master of this year’s Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America. Her latest book, Murder Takes a Vacation, came out June 17.

Below, in an exclusive conversation for PEOPLE, the two titans of mystery dish on everything from money to writing for different media.

The following conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Megan Abbott: With our new books, it seems we’re both writing about women reinventing themselves or trying to. And we’re both writing about their relationship with money. Was that your plan from the start, or did it sneak in as you went? 

Laura Lippman: I am always writing about money, one of our greatest topics, and yet one that seems to wax and wane in literary fiction. I wanted to write about money and a woman on the precipice of a large change that wasn’t exactly her idea, a change that seems exciting to others, but frightening and unwelcome to her. And I’ll admit that was a little autobiographical in its way. But my sense is that you were not working autobiographically at all, so what was your starting point? 

MA: I became fascinated with the recent, pretty dramatic rise of women involved in multi-level marketing (MLM) and pyramid schemes. This is a long tradition, of course, going back to Tupperware and Mary Kay, but I started to think about the way money’s never just about money. For the three sisters in my book, it’s — at different times — about security, independence, freedom, revenge, power. But, weirdly, it is sneakily autobiographical: it’s the first book I’ve set in my hometown of Grosse Pointe, just outside of Detroit. Growing up as the auto industry collapsed definitely affected my view of money. You see how quickly it can all go away.

Though in the case of your protagonist, Muriel Blossom, it’s about a windfall! Since we both love movies, I couldn’t help but imagine it as a Hollywood confection: a glamorous cruise, a delicious international murder mystery…

LL: There’s a little covert autobiography in my book as well — a woman unexpectedly alone in her 60s, and the opportunities she finds therein. But the first shiver of the idea, to use Nabokov’s indelible phrase, was a rewatch of Charade [the 1963 Audrey Hepburn-Cary Grant mystery caper]. Over the past few years, I’ve found myself wanting to re-examine and flip our sturdiest stories, especially in terms of gender. I couldn’t help thinking how the story would play out if the woman were older, the man young and pretty. Did you have a cinematic inspiration as well? And I’m not thinking about the LuLaRoe documentary, although I have watched it at least five times. 

MA: I was inspired by the rash of MLM docuseries, especially Murder on Middle Beach about a woman murdered in suburban Connecticut whom, it turned out, was involved in an all-women money-making scheme. But, in writing it, I had another, more surprising inspiration. I kept thinking of the book as “Goodfellas in a country club.” So, in many ways, it’s a gender/class flip on one of my favorite movies.

The PEOPLE App is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more!

But thinking of your autobiographical connection, you certainly are taking up new opportunities. You’re creating a Tess Monaghan series for television! (And I’m lucky enough to be a part of it.) What made you decide to take this new challenge on now?

LL: I can’t believe there’s an MLM/grift docuseries I missed; I am obsessed with them.

As for Tess on television — with you! — I recently shared my own very idiosyncratic but informed opinions about writing books and television. I honestly believe that any voracious reader who wants to write a book can write a book. You learn the process, the language, without realizing it. Conversely, I believe that even ardent fans of film/television have no idea how to do it, they need mentors. The fact that my mentor is going to be you — well, that’s the kind of happy ending that neither one of us writes.  

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer , from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott is available now for preorder, wherever books are sold.

Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman is on sale now, wherever books are sold.