Bestselling,
award-winning author Terry Shames writes the bestselling Samuel Craddock series
and was named one of the top five Texas mystery writers of 2015. Today she stops by to tell us about the
Texas town that inspired the setting for her series. Learn more about Terry and her books at her website.
My Texas
I grew up
in Texas in what seems like a very different world from the Texas I see in the
news these days. In my golden memory people laughed more, were more tolerant,
more laid back….
That’s
memory for you. Not always reliable. But that’s the Texas I celebrate in my books.
In particular, I focus on a small town based on where my grandparents lived
when I was a child. I loved visiting them there. To me, who lived in a town on
the Gulf Coast, where rows of houses surrounded a town center and without a
farm in sight, the farming community was exotic. I liked seeing cows and
chickens, goats and pigs; loved the smell of freshly turned earth on farms.
If you’ve
never been in a feed store, entering one is like stepping into another world of
smells and sights that you don’t see in a suburb. If you don’t fish or hunt on
a regular basis, a sporting goods store in the middle of town that sells bait
and wading boots and rifles and ammunition is a curiosity. In this small town there
was no movie theater or big grocery store or department store. But there was an
ice cream shop with wooden floors and a ceiling fan, a dry goods store that
carried goods that seemed from another century, and a dance hall/ bar on the
outskirts of town. There were no motels. You couldn’t get city radio stations,
and TV was limited. The only place to eat out was one seedy café and a Dairy
Queen. Is it any wonder that I remember this as a peaceful time?
The town
has grown up. There are now antique stores, two motels, an art gallery, several
places to eat out, and even a small museum that chronicles when Harvey Girls
worked on the railroad that went through town. The high school now has modern
tennis courts. You can get cell phone coverage, and Internet service, and any
TV or radio station within a hundred miles. There’s a big grocery store and contemporary
houses, and a small block of newly constructed two-story offices.
And yet,
the core that I remember is still there. When I visit and go into one of the
cafes to eat, the farmers still wear overhauls or jeans; hats and boots. The
inhabitants are friendly (although with that hint of suspicion that always
seems to underlie their interactions with outsiders.) There is still a scent in
the air of rich soil and lush vegetation, oh yes, and barbecue. You still see
people barbecuing in brick pits or in cookers made out of huge oil drums. The
water still tastes of the strong iron component in the soil that leeches into
the water. On really hot days you still get the bitter scent of creosote from
discarded railroad ties from the tie plant that has been gone for decades.
Going back
to visit, I get a chance to rejuvenate my sense of place for the Samuel
Craddock series. It’s invigorating to go where he goes, see the people he sees,
the houses he passes, the lake, the Dairy Queen, and everything in between. But
I also have to have Samuel change with the times. He now has a cell phone, and
computer, and he uses modern forensic practices. He’s even learning how to
text! Balancing the two is true in fiction as much as it is in real life.
An Unsettled Crime for Samuel
Craddock: A Samuel Craddock Mystery
When the Jarrett Creek Fire Department is called to
douse a blaze on the outskirts of town, they discover a grisly scene: five
black young people have been murdered. Newly elected Chief of Police Samuel
Craddock, just back from a stint in the Air Force, finds himself an outsider in
the investigation headed by the Texas Highway Patrol. He takes an immediate
dislike to John Sutherland, a racist trooper
Craddock’s fears are realized when Sutherland arrests
Truly Bennett, a young black man whom Craddock knows and respects. Sutherland
cites dubious evidence that points to Bennett, and Craddock uncovers facts
leading in another direction. When Sutherland refuses to relent, Craddock is
faced with a choice that will define him as a lawman—either let the highway patrol
have its way, or take on a separate investigation himself.
Although his choice to investigate puts both Craddock
and his family in danger, he perseveres. In the process, he learns something
about himself and the limits of law enforcement in Jarrett Creek.
Buy Links
