Murder in the Boonies

 


Book #3, Murder in the Boonies, is a bit of a tribute to my younger sister, who always wanted to have a farm where horses could retire in their old age. We lived only fifty miles or so from Mackinac Island as kids, and she was a horse lover from the get-go. To help out a friend who supplied the island with horses (and to please his 3 girls), our dad wintered horses from the island, feeding and caring for them until it was time for them to go back to pulling carts around the Victorian-themed dot off Michigan's eastern shore. My sister never got her wish for a horse retirement home, so I made it part of a book about missing parents and fringe-group plots.

Writing this book required knowing a bit about reindeer, and here's where being a retired schoolteacher is a great advantage. I can always find a former student or coworker who is an expert on any topic, and I knew that two of our school's former bus drivers raised reindeer. They were generous with their time and willing to let me know how it should go with the critters, so I could proceed with certainty in that area. 

It was about this time in the series when my audio book producer, Cerny Actor's Studio, invited me to go to Mackinac Island for their Somewhere in Time Festival. Each year, the Grand Hotel invites the actors from the movie to a weekend of celebrating it. Jobe Cerny was in the movie cast, and he invited me to meet him there, so I got to see the place and all the people in Victorian costume. (I missed seeing Jane Seymour, who only came for a few hours Friday night.) Being a writer isn't all that glamorous, but every once in a while, I get the chance to do things I'd never have done otherwise.

Murder in the Boonies begins when the sisters realize the people who rent their family farm have disappeared. Their investigation leads to danger and more responsibility than they'd like: kids, animals, and a plot to wreak havoc on Mackinac Island. This book is available here for $2.99 

 

 

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