My early years were spent in England and I lived in a spooky old house that had been built in 1900. I was fascinated by who the people had been who lived there before us. When I explored nooks and crannies in that old house, I would often find evidence of the women who once lived there, such as beads or broken pieces of china. I was intrigued.
In the yard, there was a strange rockery where nothing grew. I liked to pretend it was an archeology site. I’d get out my shovel and dig. And strangely I did find objects in that odd pile of dirt. Some I kept, some my mother threw away. I still have some of the beads I found.
Today I wish I had kept digging. I have always been convinced there could be a body buried there. Yes, macabre thinking for a small child. But blame it on my father.
My father love spy stories and mysteries. He let me read his books. He was head of a pathology lab and was often talking about the deceased. But not in a macabre way. More in the way of explaining what could happen to people. A strange subject for a child to be involved in, but I found it interesting. As I grew up, I read mystery stories avidly and watched crime shows on television with my father. It was natural that I turned to writing mysteries because they so intrigued me. I am also mad about jigsaw puzzles and a mystery book is a kind of jigsaw puzzle.
In my teenage years, I became addicted to French mystery novels, particularly the ones in the Arsène Lupin series by Maurice Leblanc. I even got in trouble for reading them in class when I was supposed to be reading a textbook.
My love of mysteries continues to this day. I enjoy mystery television shows and movies as well. And I found my writing voice writing mystery series – The Lamb’s Bay Mysteries and The Bailey Summers Mysteries, both available on amazon.
Do you like mysteries? What is your favourite series?
