Jess

Cannon

Mystery Author

Critically Acclaimed Nonfiction Writer

Travels from: Austin, TX

“Jess Cannon has delivered a heartfelt, hilarious read that’s perfect for the beach. A Zoom with a View is quirky, witty, plotty, and full of small-town charm… This book was written for me, and it’s as delightful as the premise promises! A thoroughly enjoyable, wickedly twisty, heartwarmingly funny debut!” — Ali Hazelwood, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Jess Cannon is the fiction pseudonym of Jessica Goudeau. She spends her days writing award-winning journalism and her nights plotting fictional murders. She lives with her family and an irascible blue heeler in Austin, Texas, where her funky community is a constant source of joy (and writing material). She has a PhD in literature from the University of Texas, teaches fiction and nonfiction at Wilkes University, and has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Teen Vogue, among others. She also co-hosts “The Beautiful and Banned” podcast with Christine Renee Miller.

Her first cozy mystery, A Zoom with a View, released on May 5 with Dutton. It’s the first of the Blue Oak series featuring Leo, a failed academic who moves home to her quirky hometown and keeps stumbling over dead bodies. Kirkus Reviews wrote, “Nothing—and no one—is quite what they seem… a smart, funny mystery with twists and turns to spare” and The Gloss Book Club raved, “This novel delivers a sharp, entertaining mystery wrapped in small-town drama… a fresh, snarky, and thoroughly engaging read.” #1 NYT-bestseller Ali Hazelwood said: “Jess Cannon has delivered a heartfelt, hilarious read that’s perfect for the beach. A Zoom with a View is quirky, witty, plotty, and full of small-town charm. A recovering academic returning to her small Texas town and investigating a murder while navigating her own love triangle? This book was written for me, and it’s as delightful as the premise promises! A thoroughly enjoyable, wickedly twisty, heartwarmingly funny debut!” The second book in the series, Finnegan’s Not Awake, releases in spring 2027.

As Jessica Goudeau, her first two narrative nonfiction books, After the Last Border: Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America (Viking, 2020) and We Were Illegal: Uncovering a Texas Family’s Mythmaking and Migration (Viking, 2024), received many accolades, including the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, a Christopher Award, the Writers League of Texas Nonfiction Book Prize, and being named a finalist for the LA Times Biography Book Prize; they were both New York Times’ Editors’ Choice books.

Jess's Featured Titles

A Zoom with a View: A Mystery

Dutton |

May 5, 2026

Mystery

A fiction debut filled with heart and humor, A Zoom with a View will make you want to move to Blue Oak—if only the annual Fourth of July festivities didn’t end with a dead body.

Leo can’t believe she’s back in Blue Oak. Her small, quirky Texas hometown feels suffocating after trying to make it big as an English professor in New York—especially due to her strained relationship with her overly hair-sprayed mother, Karina. But with Leo’s career in academia in shambles, at least she’s able to work as a photographer for her godmother’s real estate business. And her best friend, Emily, is around to help her navigate through the mess—and maybe force her to reconnect with her old high school boyfriend, Mack.

But while at work, Leo makes a grisly discovery at one of her godmother’s properties: the dead body of rival real estate agent and social media influencer Chaz. Even worse, Leo and Emily have been secretly running a snarky Reddit page making fun of Chaz’s cringe-inducing advice and duck-faced selfies. When someone she loves is accused of the murder, Leo finds herself flung headfirst into a dangerous investigation, teaming up with a local detective who is a lot more attractive than she remembered when they were both teenagers. Meanwhile, Karina has been acting stranger and stranger, as if all her hair hides a big secret. . . .

Fiction, Mystery & Thriller

Humor and Community as Self-Care

After developing secondary trauma from writing about displacement and genocide, Cannon turned to fiction in order to find the lighter, lovelier side of life. As she wrote fun novels, she discovered she was still making the same argument as she once did in her nonfiction: the beloved communities around us are worth protecting and everyone deserves a chance to be loved for who they are. This intimate, powerful talk about finding humor and joy in the people in your life (even ones as quirky as the fictional inhabitants of Blue Oak, Texas, based on Cannon’s own neighbors in Austin!) especially resonates with people who are looking for connection in an increasingly isolated world.

Serious Structure and Fabulous Fun: Writing across Genres

As an award-winning journalist by day and a cozy-mystery writer by night, Jess Cannon knows how to write in multiple genres. In this approachable talk, she examines how she learned to structure narratives in multiple forms, why tropes matter so much (and how to play with them well), and the reason switching between genres is easier than you think. This is a talk that she would love to tailor to your group’s needs!

A History of Cozy Mysteries

This entertaining, informative talk goes back to the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction.” Between World War I and World War II, Agatha Christie published The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the first Hercule Poirot book, in 1920, and Dorothy Sayers published Whose Body?, the first Lord Peter Wimsey book, in 1923. These books were called “cozy” in the mid- to late-twentieth-century, with the rise of noir and thrillers depicting graphic violence. Cozies eventually came to be defined by several literary tropes, like an amateur sleuth, an unlikable murder victim, and a quirky community, among others. In solving the murder, cozy mysteries perform an important psychological function: in times when everything feels out of control, they provide an escape to a world where a regular person can restore order, where evil is contained, and a beloved community is protected. We’ll look at why we crave that order, how the genre has changed, and what they still give us today.

Shape It with Me!

Cannon is especially passionate about meeting the needs of your local community, so she’s very open to hearing what you’d love to learn from someone who has published across multiple genres and loves nothing more than to talk about the craft of writing.

“Pure escapist delight. A Zoom with a View is a joy to read; I fell in love with the sleuths of Blue Oak, and I can’t wait to see where they head next!” — Nina Simon New York Times bestselling author of Mother-Daughter Murder Night

“With a cozy setting, surprising twists, and the perfect amount of snark, A Zoom with a View is everything I want in a mystery! Jess Cannon’s voice is fresh and fun and extremely witty, and I found myself laughing every few pages. The cast of characters are incredible, and I’m thoroughly invested in their overarching story. I cannot wait to return to Blue Oak!” — Naina Kumar, national bestselling author of Say You’ll Be Mine and Flirting with Disaster

“Jess Cannon’s debut absolutely nails what I love about cozy mysteries: a fun setting, quirky cast of characters, satisfying mystery, and most importantly, a flawed and fascinating protagonist. Cannon’s fresh, fun voice and that bombshell ending leave me eager to return to Blue Oak for Leo’s next adventure.” — Mia P. Manansala, bestselling author of the Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mystery series

“Jess Cannon transforms small-town hijinks into big-time whodunit fun. A Zoom with a View is bursting with humor, heart, and a twist I never saw coming.” — Gigi Pandian, USA Today bestselling author and winner of the Agatha and Anthony Awards

“Jess Cannon’s smart and quirky debut has just the right amount of cozy vibes, humor, and intrigue to keep you flipping to the very last page.” — Nisha Sharma, RITA Award-winning author of My So-Called Bollywood Life

“A Zoom with a View is smart, surprising, and endlessly charming, with equal parts heart and snark. I’m already counting down the days until I can return to Blue Oak and spend more time with this delightful cast of characters who feel like old friends.” — Elise Bryant, NAACP Image Award nominee and author of It’s Elementary

“Nothing—and no one—is quite what they seem… A smart, funny mystery with twists and turns to spare.” — Kirkus

“This humorous mystery with a variety of quirky characters from the same hometown will have readers guessing who the killer is.” — Library Journal

Jess’s Events

Honors, Awards & Recognition

LA Times Book Prize Finalist, We Were Illegal
New York Times named We Were Illegal one of the “19 Nonfiction Books to Read This Summer”
Kirkus Starred Review
New York Times Editors’ Choice Book Award Winner
Library Journal “Best Social Science Book of the Year”
Chicago Public Library’s “Best Books of 2020”
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
Christopher Award
World Magazine’s “Understanding the World” Book of the Year
Finalist for the Writer’s League of Texas Nonfiction Book Award
Finalist for the BookTube Prize
Shortlisted for the Chautauqua Prize
Longlisted for the Reading the West Narrative Nonfiction Award