This post was submitted before the civil unrest that has plagued our nation since events in Minneapolis. Chances are these words carry even more meaning now. –Thonie
By Mikey, Retired LAPD
LAPD Police car
We retirees are awed by you, you who are currently walking point. Call it whatever you want, “the front line,” “the jagged edge,” “the thin blue line,” you are keeping it together. Most of us are of the Vietnam era and a lot of us are Vietnam Veterans, mixed with some post WWII and Korean Veterans as well. We had our moments of course: floods, earthquakes, fires, riots, 911 but nothing like this. Today we are hearing the phrase, “the new normal.”
In our day, just like you, street coppers lived “the new normal” every time we hit the streets. It could have been a new MO of a certain crime, a new drug, a new gang, “extra patrol this because of that,” “don’t go there because this”, you name it—our day was always a new normal.
No, you didn’t join up for this yet here it is and here you all are, walking point. People are scared, angry, tired, pretty much running the full course of emotions and you have to deal with them every time you hit the streets. Knowing this, you still do it. We know what brings you back, because it brought us back, everyday, it’s your dedication to one another. Yes, “TO PROTECT AND SERVE” is the LAPD’s motto but the respect, dedication and love for one another has always driven us to go that extra distance to care for your brothers and sisters in blue. We, the gray and bald heads, wrinkled faces, stooped shoulders retirees admire and appreciate what you do everyday. It was our honor, as it is yours. Our time has passed, and we did the best we could. Now it’s up to you. God keep you safe from harm. God keep you vigilant and God, please see these warriors return safely to their homes when their shifts are complete.
The words, address the LAPD copper but apply to all of the first responders, police, fire, medical, transportation, food services, janitorial, to all of those essential to keeping the country going…………you know who you are.
Whenever I start a book, I have a glimpse, in my mind, of what my main character will look like. That image slowly builds in my mind as I think about the story or the series I want to create, and over time the character comes to life.
Many times after I’ve fashioned a character in my mind, I’ll be looking through a magazine or see something on the internet and I think- That’s my character! When I find the person or image that looks like them, I cut it out or print it out and put it in my binder for that character’s series.
Describing them, what they wear, how they act, how they talk, how they look, are easy. Everyone can picture them in their own mind molded to fit what they know and how they think the person would look.
When I started making audiobooks, of my two mystery series, it was hard, really hard, to find a voice that matched what I thought my characters should sound like.
I started with the Shandra Higheagle books. It was the first mystery series I’d written and I wanted her stories to be in audio. I listened to 15-20 female narrators. I narrowed it down to three and then asked them to make a demo for me.
The narrator whose voice felt more like Shandra’s to me was Ann Thompson. She is a Cincinnati radio news anchor. She was new to narrating, but I loved her voice and she was willing to work with me as we both navigated the world of making an audiobook. I’m so glad I went with her. She gave Shandra a deep rich tone that I had imagined and she does a good job of making each secondary character sound unique. She can even give Ryan, the male protagonist in the books, a male sounding tone in his dialog.
The reviewers have mentioned Ann’s portrayal. With each book she gets better and better. She has been willing to take direction if she doesn’t say a sentence the way it sounded in my head when I wrote the book and works hard at learning how to pronounce the Native American words that turn up in these books. We are working on book 10 now, Artful Murder.
Finding a voice for Gabriel Hawke, my Native American State Trooper/ Game Warden was even harder! I went through lots of demos. Thought I’d found the right voice but when he read the first five pages, I didn’t like the way he phrased things. I liked one thing he did and asked another narrator to add that to his demo and I decided he was my character.
Hawke is a man in his fifties. I wanted a mature, soft spoken voice. I found that with Larry Gorman. His first recordings were a bit stilted. I asked him to speed up his reading and not leave as much space between the sentences. Now working on the 4th book in the series, Chattering Blue Jay, I find few things that need to be fixed when he sends me chapters to listen to.
He has the soft voice, I’m looking for, though he doesn’t have as wide a variety of voices as Ann. But I like the way he presents the story. I had one person who listened to the first book say she thought so-and-so, a narrator of another book, would be better, but I picked my narrator and in the middle of book 4 I’m not changing now.
Do you like to listen to audio books? I do when I’m out walking. It’s a way to pass the time and walk farther. 😉
You can find my audiobooks on this page of my website: https://www.patyjager.net/audio-books/ They range in price from $10 – 14.99 and can be found at most audiobook vendors. Though the first three in the Shandra Higheagle series were made through ACX so they are only available at Audible, iTunes and Amazon and will be bit higher in price.
None of us really know, do we? My guess is we are all hoping and praying for the end of this pandemic.
Despite the unknown, I bet most of us are still making plans.
Because my latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery was published recently, I’ve been unable to do the in-person events I’ve usually done to promote a new book. There are still some events on my calendar during the later months of summer and fall that I’m hoping will happen—but who knows?
This brings me around to the future of my Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. End of the Trail is #18 in the series. You might think the title is prophetic, but it refers to something important in the book.
However, it would be a good place to end the series, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that. New ideas and adventures for Tempe keep popping into my head. I’d like to have her visit new places, places with different tribes of Indians and legends.
Another big question, in any new book I might write, how do I deal with the pandemic? I guess I’m probably going to have to wait and see how what’s going on right now turns out. I’d like to hear from other writers how they plan to address the pandemic, or not, in future books.
Now back to End of the Trail, the short blurb is this:
As usual, I had fun writing this book about some quirky characters including some who’ve been in previous books.
You can find the book on Amazon for Kindle or as a trade paperback.
Author Marilyn Meredith
Bio: Marilyn Meredith has published over 40 books, as well as the Tempe Crabtree series, she also writes the Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery series under the name of F. M. Meredith. She lives in a town in the foothills of the Central Sierra with a resemblance to the mountain town of Bear Creek where Tempe is the resident deputy.
Entwined-In Mystery & Murder...x 2 by Thomas E. Cochrane
by Thomas E. Cochrane (The Sea Ranch)
Entwined – In Mystery & Murder…x 2 by Thomas E. Cochrane
Why did I think I could write a novel? After all, I’m a scientist and read mostly scientific articles and nonfiction books. I have had no prior background in writing, other than authoring various scientific reports. My first book was published in 2017, Shaping the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast, Exploring the Coastal Geology of Northern California, and my second book was published a year later, Tornados, Rattlesnakes & Oil – A Wildcatter’s Memories of Hunting for “Black Gold” which recounts my days in the Midwest oil patch of yesteryear. Possibly, some of my oil tales sound like fiction though—a few of my friends have accused me of exaggerations.
But my third book has indeed just been published, Entwined – In Mystery & Murder…x 2 and it’s my own perhaps unorthodox take on the genre. The story definitely moves at a rapid pace, taking our entwined heroines, Karen and Gee, through many adventures and into numerous countries and cultures. (Note: Ah could ‘av done a better job wit de lingo and accents in deese stories.) My characters and those they interact with have accents ranging from Boston (their home), New York, the deep south, Chinese and Japanese, Mexican, and other Latino regions. Capturing these distinctive ways of speaking is not as easily dealt with in writing as on the stage or in movies.
The tales therein are permeated with ‘spoofs’ a plenty, nicknames vs. formal names, idioms, funny sayings, asides of the author and also from some of the main characters. Do these digressions snatch the reader away from the story―or give it colour? The public will be the judge.
The multi-beginnings of this novel are also different from most but speak to a foreshadowing of future events. I wrote the poem Fear of Waking and purposely had it positioned opposite the beginning of the book’s journey to underscore the unsettling feeling we experience when awaking in a strange place, or following a traumatic event.
Overall the experience of entering the realm of fiction was a total hoot―which is what I hope the reader experiences inside the pages of Entwined. Although I must admit it became a bit alarming how frequently “the girls” would awaken me from my slumber night after night, pestering me with this new idea to inject or that “what if” question about something I’d written in the manuscript in process.
As it happens, they pestered me to such a degree that I’ve also recently finished its sequel which is now with the editor. And it’s wilder yet!
June 5, 2020: Check out the Sonoma County Gazette featured article with more on all Thomas’ books:
Entwined – In Mystery & Murder…x 2 is in stock at Copperfield’s in Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and Sebastopol plus eight other Sonoma County retailers and, as is invited at the book’s conclusion, I welcome your feedback…and am delighted to have drafted myself into “your club” of mystery writers — thanks, Thonie! For any reason at all (geology question perhaps?), I can be reached via my website: http://www.RiverBeachPress.com. Entwined – In Mystery & Murder…x 2 is available on Amazon in paperback.
Okay, I don’t really SEE it. But in my mind when I travel or go about my day, if I see a potential for a body to be hidden or an unusual death, my writer mind starts going over the what if’s. It must be something genetic because my younger brother is always texting or calling me and saying, “Hey, I found a great place to hide a body.” LOL We’ve always been siblings who helped each other…hmmm… I just thought of an idea for another book! Sibling murderers. I know it’s been done before, but I haven’t written a book like that. I’ll add it to my list of book ideas.
A year ago June, I went on a once in a lifetime trip to Iceland through The Authors Guild. When I received the information about the trip and discovered it was during my birthday week, I asked hubby if I could go on the trip as my birthday present. He said yes. Points scored for hubby!
The trip was 6 days of packed tourist and literary events. There were ten of us on the tour. The perfect size to have gathered for meals and riding around in a small bus. The other authors wrote mostly non-fiction and here was little ole me, looking for a place to hide/murder a body so I could set a book in Iceland.
I’d read several of Yrsa Siguroardóttier’s crime fiction books set in Iceland before I went because we had an afternoon with her. While other author’s in the group had read her books, Yrsa and I actually started talking about the craft of writing a mystery. That was so much fun talking with an international author about the craft we loved to write. However, I felt like I was taking up all of her time and apologized to the others. One author told me she enjoyed watching us talk about the genre we both loved writing. That was the second best thing about that day!
On the day of my birthday, we loaded up into the bus and headed for Lake Kleifarvatn. It had been used in a couple of movies as the surface of the moon. It is an extraordinary landscape void of vegetation and in most places solid rock. My writer brain said, “This would be a challenge for Hawke to track someone. But why would he be here?” Which was a question that had been going around and around in my mind the whole time. How do I get Hawke to Iceland and make it realistic?
I asked our guide if they had a strong Search and Rescue organization in Iceland. He said yes. Very active. We continued down the road from the lake and discovered Kŕysuvik. This is a tourist site where you inhale sulfuric steam from boiling mud pools. As I walked among the pools, staying on the trails and bridges, I knew the body would be found half in and half out of one of these pools. I took lots of photos of the area and wrote my reactions to the landscape in my little research book.
Back home, I looked up Iceland’s Search and Rescue and discovered they hold a worldwide SAR (Search and Rescue) conference every two years. Bingo! I had my realistic way to get Hawke to Iceland. He is teaching a 2-day pre-conference tracking workshop. And that is how I came up with Fox Goes Hunting Book 5 in my Gabriel Hawke novels.
Fox Goes Hunting can be pre-ordered at all ebook venues and releases June 1st.
About Fox Goes Hunting:
While teaching a tracking class at a Search and Rescue conference in Iceland, Oregon State Trooper Gabriel Hawke discovers a body in a boiling mud pool. The body is the young man Hawke’s class is tracking.
Unable to walk away from the gruesome death without helping to find the killer, Hawke follows the clues and discovers the victim had few enemies, and all of them have alibis. The killer is cunning like the fox, but Hawke is determined to solve the homicide before the conference attendees head home in five days.
Jeannette de Beauvoir’s Matinee Murders to debut June 1
A lot of mystery readers will tell you they don’t care about history. For them, reading is all about experiencing a fast-paced modern thriller, a whodunit, a crime drama. Figuring out where the red herrings have been scattered, trying to beat the protagonist to the solution.
But what I’d like to suggest is that mysteries really are, at their core, all about the past.
When you open a mystery, you’re not coming in at the first act. You’re seeing the result of something that happened even before you picked up the book; the beginning of a mystery story always deals with the end of something else. In murder mysteries, that tends to be a human life. So mystery readers and mystery writers are all—in a sense—archaeologists, delving back into the past to see what possibly insignificant detail drove the victim along a certain path to meet their death.
And maybe that’s important. Maybe we always need to find the path from the past in order to get to the future. Maybe history isn’t all that uninteresting.
I’ve been exploring the past in one way or another for most of my life. When my friends in primary school wanted to be astronauts or rock stars or fashion designers when they grew up, I wanted to be an archaeologist. When I started writing (at age ten) I began with a novel set in the middle ages. And I think that a lot of what I write now, present-day mysteries with causation rooted in the past—is a natural development for someone who believes the past never really goes away.
We all have skeletons in our closets, whether the “we” refers to us as individuals, as communities, as families, or as countries. There are things we’ve all done we’d prefer stayed buried. So even as we identify with the detective in a mystery, there’s also a part of each of us that understands the fear or need that drove the killer to act.
And remember that there’s a reason why genealogy is so popular. Uncle Ernie may have had crooked teeth and Grandma could have been something of a drinker—but they’re part of your past, part of your family, part of who you are.
Part of your history. Every story has a beginning, whether it’s the story of your life or the story in a mystery novel, and that beginning can have its roots well in the past. And as a culture, as readers, as writers, we’re imperfect at understanding why we do what we do. We can’t set up experiments to see how situations will turn out, so looking at the past has to be our most vital evidence as we try and figure out why our complex species does what it does.
Like murder.
Jeannette de Beauvoir didn’t set out to murder anyone—some things are just meant to be! Her mother introduced her to the Golden Age of mystery fiction when she was far too young to be reading it, and she’s kept reading those authors and many like them ever since.
Jeannette de Beauvoir
She wrote historical and literary fiction and poetry for years before someone asked her what she read—and she realized mystery was where her heart was. Now working on the Sydney Riley Provincetown mystery series, she bumps off a resident or visitor to her hometown on a regular basis.
Jeannette is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the Author’s Guild, and the National Writers Union. Find out more (and read her blog or sign up for her newsletter) at her website. You can also find her on Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Patreon, and Goodreads.
The Matinée Murders to Début June 1
Sixth Book in Provincetown Mystery Series Showcases Film Festival
Provincetown, MA, May 21, 2020: HomePort Press is delighted to announce the release of bestselling author Jeannette de Beauvoir’s latest novel, The Matinée Murders. Set against the backdrop of the iconic Provincetown International Film Festival, this cozy mystery captures the energy and vitality of one of the town’s most celebrated events.
Wedding planner and local sleuth Sydney Riley has scored a festival coup: her inn is hosting the wedding of the year between movie star Brett Falcone is to marry screenwriter Justin Braden. But when Sydney opens a forbidden door in the mysterious Whaler’s Wharf, she discovers the body of a producer and a legion of unanswered questions, which she sets out to answer in her usual, tenacious fashion.
The Provincetown mystery series highlights Provincetown’s festivals and theme weeks, and The Matinée Murders was in the pipeline well before the pandemic forced the cancellation of several summer events. “It’s ironic, of course,” says de Beauvoir. “Here I have a murder happening, but at a festival that isn’t happening! It’s a little like the tree falling in the forest question—if you kill someone during a festival that doesn’t take place, are they still dead?”
HomePort Press publisher Arthur Mahoney leaves that problem to the reader, though he’s confident the book will help sustain the spirit of the event. “People come from all over the world for the film festival’s superb programs and celebrity appearances,” he points out. “And we’d planned a launch while they were here. Though that won’t happen, I’m hopeful the Provincetown mystery series may fill some small portion of the void for those who attend any of our theme weeks. Jeannette’s stories always deliver an intriguing mystery from a local perspective. Her readers have frequently expressed how the series conjures fond memories, which is why we decided not to delay this release. After all, reading may well be the next best thing to being here!”
Most of what typically celebrates a book’s release—launch parties, personal appearances, book readings, and signings—is personal and high-touch. “It’s challenging to do lots of things right now, and releasing a new book is no exception,” de Beauvoir explains. “For now, everything is virtual. I’m doing a blog tour, visiting mystery groups and book clubs, filming videos, writing articles, and fielding Q&As. Still, nothing compares to meeting readers in person, which is what I love most about my job. You can be sure we’ll be having an in-person launch for this book as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
The eBook version of The Matinée Murders is available now for pre-order on Amazon.
About Jeannette de Beauvoir: Jeannette de Beauvoir is an award-winning novelist whose work has appeared in 15 countries and has been translated into 12 languages. She’s the author of mystery novels and historical/literary fiction. More at http://www.jeannettedebeauvoir.com
About Homeport Press: Homeport Press is a growing collaborative that promotes and publishes the work of Provincetown authors. More at http://www.homeportpress.com
Press Contact: Arthur Mahoney: publisher@homeportpress.com
Welcome to “Street Stories.” We’ll be adding stories from law enforcement veterans from time to time. Hal Collier’s Ramblings was the first guest I posted on this blog so it’s fitting that the re-launch is another story from him. Regular Mystery Readers Only and Writer’s Note will arrive every Friday along with guests Ed Meckle and Mikey. You can check out their previous post in The Call Box and Roll Call columns under “Street Stories.” If you subscribed to thoniehevron.com in the past year, you might re-add your email address (if you want to continue getting these posts). I’ve changed site servers–Thonie
LAPD Police car
By Hal Collier, Retired LAPD
You probably know about first responder heroes that make breaking news. These heroes sometimes get interviewed on TV or they have a ceremony where they give them a medal. Being a hero is something that usually happens in seconds or maybe minutes. When you think back, the actions were more of a reaction than a well-thought-out plan. I’m about to describe a true first responder hero.
My first responder hero is someone who was there not for minutes but for days, years and even decades. I’m talking about wives, spouses, partners. They are the real first responder heroes. I’m going to write mostly about my wife, but it applies to many. Even their children make sacrifices.
I was married to Terri for two years before I went to the police academy. I sometimes wonder if she knew what she was getting into with me becoming a cop. I guess love outweighs fear!
It started out preparing for the test to enter the profession. It usually involves a written exam and working out for the physical tests that are part of the application. It usually takes up some time on the first responders’ part.
While in the police academy your uniform needs to be dry cleaned and sweats need to be washed almost daily. It takes months of study just to get through the academy. My wife took care of all the laundry as long as I spent my free time studying and sleeping. After graduation from the Academy the real work started.
I’m sure all spouses of first responders can relate to what I’m about to describe.
The first is worry. The worry of a dangerous job—you never know if that kiss at the door will be your last. The worry when they break into your TV show and talk about a cop, fireman or other first responder being hurt or killed. They will sit glued to the TV for news hoping for information or dreading the thought of a knock on the door. Unlike their heroes, these worries aren’t gone in minutes but last for years. For some the worry ends with retirement. Others the worry never ends because they know what some other spouse is going through. Finally, the worry continues because a son or daughter has decided to follow in your footsteps.
The worry is the worst part but not the end. A first responder never has regular hours. He/she will miss family celebrations, children’s plays or games. How about the anniversary dinner where you fell asleep because you worked overtime? The holidays are almost always a workday. Friendships with non-first responders soon disappear, and the spouse will spend the day trying to keep the kids quiet because daddy or mommy is sleeping. Speaking of sleeping, cops who work nights spend a lot of time in court during the day. They often come home late afternoon grab a few hours sleep and go back to work. It’s the first responder’s spouse that has a meal fixed on short notice and wakes you in time to go to work.
My first responder hero kept my truck gassed, my uniforms picked up from the cleaners as I dashed out the door after a few hours of sleep.
After thirty plus years I retired. But the real hero had to deal with my job related injuries and worst of all the never ending dreams which come being a first responder. My hero was often woken up in the middle of the night as I ordered a suspect into a felony prone position. On a few occasions I punched the bedroom wall as I fought with a suspect. These first responders deserve a medal. I was once given a medal for two minutes of stupid panic on my park.
My wife should have been given a medal for fifty years of being a hero to me!
By Force or Fear, Intent to Hold, and With Malice Aforethought
By Force or Fear, Intent to Hold, and With Malice Aforethought
By Thonie Hevron
Thanks for stopping by ThonieHevron.com! There are a few changes coming up that should have a positive effect on your reading experience. My blog on WordPress will soon by my website/home as I say good by to the attractive but less than efficient site I’ve had for the past five years. The new address will be www.thoniehevron.com–the same as before. Information from the old site will transition over so you’ll see “Books By Thonie,” “News and Events,” “About Thonie” and a Contact page.
As for my blogs, they’ll be a combination of weekly guest blogs from authors writing about their new books (Mystery Readers Only) or their craft (Writer’s Notes). I’ll be posting news about my mystery series, Nick and Meredith Mysteries as it becomes available.
Thonie Hevron 2002 Bishop, Ca.
In the “new” site, you’ll find all the previous years’ posts under Street Stories from LAPD alums Hal Collier (Ramblings), Ed Meckle (The Call Box), Mikey Diaz (Roll Call), and Ron Corbin (When Pigs Fly). There are additional stories from Gerry Goldshine (Petaluma, Ca. PD), John Schick from Calif. Department of Corrections, and several other law enforcement veterans who share their career exploits.
To kick things off, tomorrow’s post is from Ramblings’ Hal Collier, a 30-plus-year veteran of Los Angeles Police Department. Hal talks about First Responders’ Heroes in Street Stories.
To draw the reader into the action as the story evolves, you must make her feels as if she actually becomes the protagonist, or is walking by her side. She must see, feel, and think what the protagonist sees, how she feels about the situation, and reacts with her dialogue or action.
To create this experience, before you start to write your intended scene, Consider the following.
What does your character see?(Describe the setting through character’s POV.)
The following is a much edited scene where Angel, (Black Cat’s sweetheart) first finds the diary that contains the clues to a lost treasure in gold, stolen during WII.
Angel stood at the door and gazed into the storeroom, her gold eyes wide. Boxes, parcels and baskets lined the shelves. She jumped on the worktable and sniffed at the scissors, packing tape, and address labels, and then sniffed an unopened parcel just received in the mail. “Why would someone send a musty package to a bookstore?” (Kimberlee enters the storeroom)
As Kimberlee cut the tape, the brown wrapping paper fell away, and a worn leather journal lay on the table. Sunlight fell across the stained cover. Was it from mud, sweat, or blood? Or all three? She ran her finger over the letters etched into the leather. “Oh. I thought it was a book written by a WWII soldier. This is just a personal diary.” Disappointed, she tossed the diary on the table.
What does your character think or feel?After seeing the situation, how does your character react? What thoughts enter her mind? What does she feel?)
Angel sniffed the parcel again. There’s something… she jerked, jumped off the table and raced to the front of the store. “Black Cat, come quick. You must see the book Kimberlee just received. It’s odd. I sense something important inside. She needs to read it.”
What does your character say or do? (Your character speaks or reacts to what she has seen and thought/felt. This can be a simple statement or pitching a drink into someone’s face…a reaction!)-
(Black Cat follows her back to the storeroom.) “What is it?” Black Cat sniffed the book. “It smells musty. What’s so important about it? ”
“Make her read it,” Angel said. She kneaded the table with her front paws. “I feel it in my bones. There’s something she needs to see. You can do it. You’re so clever and brave.” She rubbed against Black Cat’s face. Black Cat pawed at the book. It plunked onto the floor, open to the title page. He held his breath as Kimberlee knelt, and picked up the diary.
***
By following this brief outline that describes your character seeing, thinking/feeling and reacting in each scene, allows your reader to immerse herself in the situation, to react and be personally involved with your character’s adventure. This creates a sense of ‘oneness’ with your character and a fulfilling journey for your reader.
About Elaine Faber
Elaine Faber and Boots
Elaine Faber lives in Northern California with her husband and feline companions. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, California Cat Writers, and Northern California Publishers and Authors. She volunteers with the American Cancer Society Discovery Shop. She enjoys speaking and sharing highlights of her novels at public venues. Her short stories have appeared in national magazines and multiple anthologies.
List of books:
Black Cat’s Legacy, With the aid of his ancestors’ memories, Thumper helps pursue a cold case murder.
Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer, Thumper accompanies his family to a Texas horse ranch where they confront wild horses, embezzling, false identities and attempted murder.
Black Cat and the Accidental Angel, Black Cat and his companion are left behind following an MVA. Taken in by a family facing personal and financial disaster, Black Cat and Angel face danger and a spiritual encounter.
Black Cat and the Secret in Dewey’s Diary, a dual tale with the cats challenged in Fern Lake and mistress, Kimberlee, following clues to a treasure in gold coins in Austria.
Mrs. Odboddy-Hometown Patriot, Eccentric Mrs. Odboddy believes Nazi spies and conspiracies run amuck through her town during the beginning of WWII.
Mrs. Odboddy-Undercover Courier, Mr. Odboddy assumes Nazi spies will attempt to steal the secret war documents she carries on the train to the president.
Mrs. Odboddy-And Then There was a Tiger, Falsely accused of various crimes, Agnes sets about to restore her reputation and return missing war bond funds.
Synopsis– Black Cat and the Secret in Dewey’s Diary: In this duel tale of mystery, lost treasure, and riddles, while Black Cat narrates the exciting events in Fern Lake, Kimberlee discovers a cryptic clue in a diary. She travels to Austria to search for the stolen gold coins missing since WWII.
Black Cat and the Secret in Dewey’s Diary
When Kimberlee and Dorian arrive in Austria, they attract the attention of a stalker determined to steal the diary in hopes it will lead him to the treasure first. On a collision course, it is inevitable that Kimberlee and the stalker meet in Hopfgarten.
Back in Fern Lake, Black Cat and Angel’s lives are endangered with the arrival of Kimberlee’s estranged grandmother, and the return of a man presumed dead for 25 years. Their arrivals create emotional and financial difficulties for Kimberlee’s family.
Forty-two years ago, a gardener working in a Bakersfield yard spotted blood creeping under his client’s back door. Police discovered the beaten and stabbed body of Tommy Tarver, owner of an exclusive beauty salon.
Investigation revealed Tarver led a sordid secret life, sexually abusing Robert, a thirteen-year-old boy. Law enforcement knew Robert—an alcoholic mother had pushed him into prostitution. He’d been an early suspect, but eventually police arrested a college student.
As reporter for the local paper, I covered the trial. The collegian was found guilty of burglary but acquitted of murder. Robert never testified although he may have attended an all-male party at Tarver’s that night.
Questions gnawed at me. Why wasn’t the thirteen-year-old called to testify? Why hadn’t child services rescued him from exploitation?
The murder began a decades-long scandal. Subsequent cases would reveal sex trafficking, cover-ups, and murders involving vulnerable boys and abusive men dubbed the Lords of Bakersfield. Among the “Lords” were the police commissioner, a top prosecutor, and the newspaper executive who’d hired me.
Soon after the trial, I moved to Sacramento. Two years later, a former colleague called. Robert and a friend had killed a prominent man who coerced the boys for sex.
Robert was tried and convicted. His sentence: thirty to life.
I’d never met Robert, but couldn’t forget him.
Years passed, and a child sex abuse scandal rocked the Catholic Church. Powerful financier Jeffrey Epstein was alleged to have abused thirteen-year-old girls flown to his island retreat.
In these cases as well as the Lords scandal, some people knew about the abuse but kept silent or blamed the victims. In Bakersfield for example, court testimony by Robert’s probation officer revealed that rather than helping him, she scolded him for “using” his abusers.
Guilt nagged at me. I should have followed up. Had I had adopted the “blame the victim” mindset?
Robert’s story turned personal. I began writing a thriller, the fictional story of a woman’s struggle against abuse of power.
Bakersfield Boys Club creates Suzanne, a widow, who discovers the body of her stabbed and beaten neighbor. While at the scene, she conceals evidence her teenage son Danny may have attended the all-male party that night.
Police investigators target Danny until members of The Club shield him to hide their secrets. As more murders occur, he becomes a victim of exploitation by men whose power gives them immunity.
Suzanne and the father of a teen murdered at one of The Club’s parties collaborate to shatter the group’s stranglehold. She puts everything at stake—home, job, and love—to save her son.
In real life, more Bakersfield youths struck back, killing a millionaire businessman and a prominent lawyer, among others. The final case occurred in the early 2000s, when a distraught father stabbed the assistant district attorney, convinced the obsessed prosecutor had fostered his son’s drug addiction.
Here’s a link to an update on the Lords cases–the release of the boy from prison after 38 years.
