BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR MARILYN MEREDITH/F.M. MEREDITH

It's Book Club Friday.  Today’s guest mystery author at Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers is Marilyn Meredith. Marilyn is the author of nearly thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series and writing as F.M. Meredith, the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series.  Dispel the Mist is the latest book in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, and An Axe to Grind is the latest book in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series.  Marilyn is a member of EPIC, Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com.

Marilyn will be giving away a copy of No Sanctuary from her Rocky Bluff P.D. series to one lucky reader who posts a comment to Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers this week. -- AP

People often ask me why I feel qualified to write mysteries about people in law enforcement. My answer is, I’m probably not qualified. I’ve never been in law enforcement, but I’ve know a lot of people who are. Years ago, we had several police officers and their families as neighbors. We partied with them, our kids played together and I had coffee with the wives. The one thing I observed was how the job affected the families and what was going on in the family affected the job.

A few years later, my son-in-law became a police officer. Since my daughter didn’t like to hear his stories about what he did on his graveyard shift, he came to my house for coffee and told me instead. He even took me on a ride-along after making me promise I wouldn’t tell anyone I was his mother-in-law. That’s when I started writing my Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series set in a small beach community, much like the one I was living in at the time.

When I moved from the beach city into the foothills of the Sierra, I went on several ride-along with the local police department. One was with a female officer, the only woman on the department, and from 2:30 a.m. until 6 a.m., she didn’t get a single call. During that time, she poured out her heart to me about how hard it was working in a male dominated police force, and the difficulties raising a child as a single mother. Later, I interviewed the female resident deputy in the little town where I live, and I met a wonderful Native American woman who grew up on the nearby Indian reservation. These three women influenced the creation of  Native American Deputy Tempe Crabtree, the resident deputy of the mountain community of Bear Creek—which has a striking resemblance to the place I’m living now.

I belong to the Public Safety Writers Association that has many members who are or were in law enforcement. Though I sometimes ask them questions about how something might be done, I’m quick to add that the Rocky Bluff P.D. is my department and I can do it anyway I want.

My latest book in the Rocky Bluff series, An Axe to Grind, is about the murder of a stalker, though because it has an ensemble cast of characters, you’ll learn a lot about several officers on the Rocky Bluff P.D. as the murder is investigated.

My books are available in all the usual places—the Rocky Bluff P.D. series, as well as some of the earlier books in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series, can be purchased from my website, too.  All the books are also available as e-books from Kindle and other e-book sites.

One other thing I probably should add about my books is my characters usually don’t use bad language and I always close the bedroom door.


Don't forget to post a comment to be entered in the drawing to win a copy of No Sanctuary.  Check back tomorrow to find out who won. -- AP