SACO — Bruce Robert Coffin, a retired detective sergeant from the Portland Police Department and a best-selling mystery and crime writer from Maine, will be speaking about his work and the writing process at the Mary Weymouth Hyde library at Thornton Academy at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 29 as part of the Lloyd Hunt Lecture Series.

Admission is free, and the public is invited to come and listen to Coffin speaks about his most recent novel, Beneath the Depths. Coffin will be available to sign his work and there will be copies of his novel for sale at the event.

“I am thrilled to be coming back to Thornton Academy,” Coffin said. “The faculty, staff, and students welcomed me last year and I can’t wait to share my new stories with them.”

Coffin’s short fiction appears in several anthologies, including The Best American Mystery Stories 2016, and he is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. He is also a regular blog contributor to the Maine Crime Writers and Murder Books blogs.

Lloyd Hunt, a former teacher and administrator, served as the school’s director of academics and worked for Thornton Academy for more than three decades.

Upon his retirement in 2010, the faculty and staff established a lecture series, funded by friends and colleagues, to honor his legacy and passion for teaching.

As part of the lecture series, authors are invited to come to campus and share information about their work and the creative process they use to produce their fiction or nonfiction. An emphasis is sometimes given to inviting writers from Maine who have a connection to education.  

For more information about the visiting author or the lecture series, contact Katy Nicketakis at 282-3361.

Thornton Academy is at 438 Main St. in Saco.