FAVORITES, FAILURES & FRUSTRATIONS WITH GUEST AMATEUR SLEUTH LINDSEY McKAY

Multi-award-winning Southern mystery author Maggie Toussaint’s has published eighteen novels as well as several short stories and novellas. Today one of her amateur sleuths stops by to talk about her fears and frustrations. Learn more about Maggie and her books at her website. 

Lindsey’s Fears and Frustrations

A Character Essay by Amateur Sleuth Lindsey McKay

I’d sworn never to go home again unless it was Christmas, and yet on this hot and humid day I was headed to the Georgia coast. Only a full-blooded emergency could’ve pried me out of Atlanta, but the middle of the night call from Aunt Fay changed my mind. My father wrecked his car and landed in jail.

It was in that moment I knew I’d been lying to myself about my so-called independence and not needing anyone in the family. I was bound by my heritage to Danville. The family newspaper was a legacy, and only I could save it.

That’s not to say I didn’t try to weasel out of the obligation. I suggested the new editor my father hired over the winter. He’s gone, Aunt Fay said. I suggested Dad’s assistant, Ellen. Don’t be ridiculous, she said. When I suggested Aunt Fay, Uncle Henry, or Cousin Janey could do it, she told me in no uncertain terms that it was my duty to come home and run the paper.

According to my aunt, newspapering runs in my veins, and here I thought it was O-positive blood. She lectured me for another five minutes about my duty to the family and chastised me for letting everyone down by running off and leaving my father to fend for himself.

She wore me down. Or at least that’s what I told my dog Bailey for the last 291 miles. Soon I’d see the landmarks of a place that held awful memories for me, the place where I learned my brother was lost at sea and never coming home. The place where every night I dreamed of drowning like my brother.

My biggest fear is that I’ll get stuck here and I’ll end up dead just like my brother. Pride drew me home, but courage would have to get me through the coming ordeal.

Lindsey & Ike Mysteries, The Complete 3-Novella Series

In this three-novella series, an amateur sleuth and her dog return home to a town of secrets … and murder.

Really, Truly Dead

Lindsey McKay has no intention of being Sheriff Ike Harper’s girlfriend when she returns home with her dog to bail out the family newspaper, but Ike has his eye on her. The murder of a local judge proves to be a boon for the newspaper, but the bad news hits when her father’s arrested for the crime. Will saving her father’s life cost Lindsey hers?

Turtle Tribbles

The Turtle Girl, a college intern named Selma Crowley, begs newspaper editor Lindsey McKay to write about the theft of turtle eggs from their nests. Lindsey agrees but asks for more proof. Selma disappears and is soon found dead. Lindsey blames herself because she demanded concrete proof, so she noses into Sheriff Ike Harper’s investigation. Can she discover the truth before time runs out?

Dead Men Tell No Tales

Newspaper editor Lindsey McKay’s small town is rocked when a suspicious hunting accident proves to be premeditated murder. Sheriff Ike Harper vows to get his man and keep Lindsey safe. Only, the more Lindsey and Ike dig, the more questions they uncover. People aren’t what they seem. If only a dead man could tell tales.

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