For Booksellers · Museum Stores · Libraries
Stock In Our Secret Life
Every location that stocks the novel gets a free, print-ready Retail Display Kit: posters and shelf cards designed to put the book in front of your customers and keep it selling.
About the book
A Marriage Built on a Secret
Jerry Adler and Rita Doran look like the couple next door: a music teacher and his wife, a long, quiet marriage. Underneath it lies a hidden life of art theft across decades and continents, and a stolen painting kept behind their bedroom door for thirty-two years. Told backward from 2017, it is a love story, a study of secrecy, and a seductive literary thriller.
The novel is built on one of the most famous art crimes in American history: the 1985 theft of de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre from the University of Arizona Museum of Art and its strange recovery in 2017. It is the kind of title visitors pick up because it speaks to why they came in the door.
Why Stocking This Novel Makes Sense
A story readers already know
The real theft of de Kooning’s Woman-Ochre has been covered by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Smithsonian, CNN, the Daily Mail and Artnet. Customers recognize it the moment they see the cover.
Made for museum stores
A stolen masterpiece, a museum heist and a secret kept for decades. It sits naturally beside art books, exhibition catalogs and museum-themed gifts.
Strong pull in the Southwest
The painting was stolen in Tucson, found in Silver City, New Mexico, and the author is from El Paso. Regional readers feel a personal connection to the story.
Built for book clubs
Includes a reading group guide. A 57-year marriage, memory and moral gray areas give groups plenty to talk about, which means multiple-copy sales.
Documentary audiences
The case has been the subject of documentary films. Viewers who watched them want the story behind the story, and this novel delivers it.
Free Retail Display Kit
Every stocking location can download and print a full-color poster, shelf display cards and a counter poster at no cost.
Author support for your store
A. Tony Mendoza is available for signings, readings, library talks and museum events, in person in the Southwest and by video nationwide.
Easy ordering, standard terms
Distributed by Ingram at standard trade terms. Order the jacketed hardcover, ISBN 979-8-9969706-1-2, the same way you order any other title.
A gift-ready hardcover
A jacketed 6 × 9 hardcover with a striking cover that sells well as a gift for art lovers, mystery readers and true-crime fans.
Active publicity behind it
Ongoing author-led media outreach, an original song and music video, and a free first chapter online keep readers coming to your shelf.
Anniversary campaign
November 29, 2026
November 29, 2026 marks the 41st anniversary of the Woman-Ochre theft, on Thanksgiving weekend at the start of the holiday season. A national promotion is planned around the date. It is ideal for a front table or window feature pairing the novel with the real story.
Point-of-sale materials are free for stocking locations (see the Retail Display Kit below), and the author is available for signings, virtual events and Q&As.
Free for stocking locations
Retail Display Kit
Download, print on any color printer and display. Each file is print-ready on standard letter-size paper or cardstock.
Full-Color Poster
Letter size · 8.5 × 11 in
A full-color poster with the cover, tagline and on-sale date. Perfect for windows, endcaps and bulletin boards.
Bookshelf Display Cards
Shelf talkers · fold & place
Eye-catching cards that stand on the shelf beside the book and tell customers why it’s worth picking up.
Counter Poster
Countertop easel card
A compact display for your register or front table, where impulse purchases happen.
Need cover images, author photos or the fact sheet? Visit the Press & Media page.
Trade Details & How to Order
| On-sale date | October 27, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Hardcover | ISBN 979-8-9969706-1-2 · $34.99 · 6 × 9 in · 390 pages · jacketed |
| Distribution | Ingram (via IngramSpark). Order through your standard Ingram account. No new vendor setup required. |
| Wholesale discount | 55% (standard trade) |
| Returnable | Yes |
| Carton quantity | 16 |
| Retail Display Kit | Free for stocking locations: full-color poster, bookshelf display cards and counter poster. Download the kit |
| Other editions | Kindle edition on Amazon October 27, 2026 · paperback on Amazon June 1, 2027 |
| Categories (BISAC) | FICTION / Crime · FICTION / Literary · FICTION / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce |
| Publisher | Sly Dog Press, El Paso, Texas |
| Library of Congress | LCCN 2026925627 |
| Marketing | National media outreach underway · established author social audience · advance reading copies for buyers and staff · co-promotion welcome |
| Contact | A. Tony Mendoza · info@inoursecretlife.com |
For bookstores, museum stores and libraries: order the IngramSpark hardcover, ISBN 979-8-9969706-1-2, through Ingram iPage or your usual wholesaler at standard trade terms. Libraries can also order it through their library vendor. The paperback and Kindle editions are sold through Amazon.
Bring the author to your store
Events, Signings & Reading Copies
Planning a signing, a library talk or a museum store event? Want a reading copy before you order? Send a note and you’ll hear back within 24 hours.