Gin Phillips Brings Ruby Falls to Oxford's Thacker Mountain Radio Hour

A free Thursday night at Off Square Books will do something a standard author signing cannot: put Oxford on Mississippi Public Broadcasting's statewide schedule.

Gin Phillips, whose crime novel Ruby Falls was published by Atlantic Crime this past March, brings the book to Thacker Mountain Radio Hour on April 9, with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. and the live show beginning at 6 p.m. at 129 Courthouse Square. Mississippi Public Broadcasting will film the taping for later broadcast, extending the evening's reach well beyond the storefront.

The Thacker Mountain format, hosted by Jim Dees and backed by the show's house band, blends author conversation with live music and audience Q&A. April's episode adds Delta String Band and additional local performers to the lineup, giving the night the shape of a variety show as much as a literary reading. A book-signing typically follows the taping.

Ruby Falls arrives with notice for its historical, atmospheric storytelling, a tradition that runs deep in North Mississippi's literary identity. Oxford's reputation as a regional literary hub, sustained in part through Square Books and Thacker Mountain's years of live programming, makes it a natural landing point for authors working in that vein.

The live recording means the conversation Phillips has with Dees and the Thacker audience will circulate to viewers across Mississippi on future broadcast dates, extending the city's cultural profile alongside the author's reach.

Square Books' event listing notes that reserved signed copies are available ahead of the evening. The show is free and open to the public.