Tuesday, October 8, 2024
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How to Write a Character Who Wants to Give Up Sleuthing—but Gets Pulled Back in Anyway

What’s a mystery author to do when her character says, “I don’t want to do this anymore” and the “this” is finding dead bodies. That’s what my character, Tricia Miles, the protagonist from my Booktown Mystery series, told me not so long ago.

(5 Tips on How to Write a Cunning but Cozy Mystery Novel.)

I’m currently writing book #19 of the series, A Perilous Plot. And (like me) Tricia is tired of tripping over the recently deceased. Well, finding dead bodies and figuring out how they got that way is kind of the reason to be writing murder mysteries. 

Because of her ability to sniff out the “unalive” (no pun intended), she’s earned a reputation in Stoneham, New Hampshire, (also known as Booktown because of all the used bookstores) as the village jinx. She’s not fond of that moniker, either. All she wants is a little peace and quiet while operating her mystery bookshop, Haven’t Got a Clue. 

So, how does someone like Tricia keep getting snagged into being an amateur sleuth—and a pretty good one at that? 

Although her sense of curiosity is off the charts compared to the rest of us, if she doesn’t have a personal stake in a crime, it’s usually someone else who’ll rope her into trying to solve the mystery. It’s not as though she couldn’t trust law enforcement to do the job, but since Booktown has gone from being the safest village in the state to its murder capital, the cops are pretty busy.

For Tricia to get involved, the crime has to affect her in some manner. In the past, not only has Tricia had to clear her own name, but that of her sister, Angelica, her assistant manager, Pixie, and other friends and family. That’s a pretty good motive for investigating. 

In A Questionable Character (Booktown #18, now out in paperback), it was the Chamber of Commerce’s summer intern who cajoled her into looking into the murder of her contractor’s right-hand man—and if she didn’t help him, he was going to do it himself. (Ha! A rookie poking around where he shouldn’t? That could be a deadly situation in itself.)

Also, Tricia has a strong urge to see justice prevail. She’s aware of the statistics. For example, in 2021, only 51% of homicides in the US were solved. That’s just one year. Tricia doesn’t want that to happen in the village where she and the people she cares about live and feels a strong sense of responsibility to look into such cases—even if her input is not wanted or appreciated by local or state officials.

As long as there are bodies in Stoneham to trip over, Tricia will probably get involved trying to find out just why it happened—even if she loses friends and acquaintances because of it. And as long as she does, I’ll keep chronicling her adventures. It’s the least I can do.

Check out Lorna Barrett’s A Controversial Cover here:

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