Sunday, March 27, 2016

Tired of Writing a Mystery Series?


Some serial mystery authors have grown tired of writing about the same characters. Arthur Conan Doyle grew bored with Sherlock Holmes and killed him off although he later resurrected the infamous sleuth. Agatha Christie also grew to hate her arrogant little detective Hercule Poirot, and wanted to end his career as well as his life. My own Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series became tiresome after I had finished novel six, Murder at the Mansion. However, after starting a standalone suspense novel, I began dreaming about my senior sleuths, Dana Logan and her best friend Sarah Cafferty. In the dreams both women seemed to plead with me to continue the series.


I have to admit that, after six months of not tuning into their conversations and adventures, I missed them. They had become old friends. In fact, they were patterned after my best friend and I while we were still both young, single and adventurous. My sixtyish amateur sleuths have gotten themselves into some unusual predicaments but have managed somehow to survive.

I eventually decided to write a serious seventh novel but my sleuths refused to fit completely into serious mode. Dana’s sidekick Sarah has an innate sense of humor that can’t be tamped down, and Dana usually goes along with her antics, no matter how much I try to discourage them. However, the novels’ subjects are serious:  drugs, terrorism, adultery, anarchy, romance, theft, gray wolves, RV park intrigue, a tornado, flood, and, of course, murder. But Sarah always seems to make light of or exaggerate the problems which present themselves.

Emotions are the most important elements in novel plots, so I’m grateful to have a quirky character like Sarah to make the novels come alive. No cardboard characters for me.

My current work in Progress, Logan & Cafferty #7, is titled Mystery of the Black Cross and features Sarah’s badly laser-burned face and the murders of two women in the cosmetic surgeon’s office. I researched the novel by suffering through a similar burn myself. I then came across an anarchist’s group dating back to the twelfth century. The research has been fascinating. I tied the two subjects together by having the killer paint a black cross on the house the two women share. A deadly warning or a prank? I’m afraid you’ll have to wait to find out.  : )

Jean Henry Mead began her writing career as a California news reporter, among her beats the Mexican border. She later transferred to her current home in Wyoming, where she served as staff writer-photographer for the statewide newspaper, and editor of In Wyoming Magazine while freelancing for the Denver Post. She also contributed to other magazines, both domestic and abroad, before writing the first of her 21 books, half of them novels.  Along the way she established the Western Writers Hall of Fame located in the large Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming, and has served as National Publicity director of WWA and editor of two small presses.

Visit her website at JeanHenryMead.com and her Amazon author’s page at http://www.amazon.com/Jean-Henry-Mead/e/B002DBE37A/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

15 comments:

  1. Thank you for being my guest this week, Jean. Great post!

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    1. Thanks, Pat, for the invitation. I'm pleased to be featured here.

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  2. Wonderful post, Jean! Your characters fascinate me and I enjoy the series. I'm glad there's another book coming. I also find it interesting that you can call on a personal experience to come up with a story. Thank you so much for sharing some of what's coming.
    Marja McGraw

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    1. Thank you, Marja. Fortunately, I have a lot of experiences to draw from, so I plan to continue using them in future books.

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  3. Very thoughtful and honest post. I've often wondered how some writers continue a series without apparently not getting tired of it, and others are obviously tired of their characters. I've found taking a break helps, so I come back with better ideas and a fresher perspective. Thanks for posting this.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Apparently a break does help, Susan. At least it did me. Thanks for your good comment.

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  4. Ummm...."Erle Stanley Gardner grew bored with Sherlock Holmes and killed him off although he later resurrected the infamous sleuth."

    Gardner wrote Perry Mason, and of course Holmes was written by Doyle.

    Other than that, interesting thoughts!

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  5. Your right, Cyndi. It doesn't pay to write an article at 2 a.m Thanks for the correction.

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  6. Great post, Jean. Sometimes series characters can become boring to the writer, but they're like old friends to the reader.

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  7. Thanks, Evelyn. They can be like old friends to the writer as well, given a break, as Susan pointed out. Thanks for your comment.

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  8. Yes, Jean, I agree with Evelyn--our characters become friends to our readers. Interesting post, enjoyed very much! Personally glad there's another book in the works...

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  9. Good to hear from you, Madeline. I hope readers consider Dana and Sarah friends as much as I do. Thanks for your comment.

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  10. Good post, Jean. I like reading (and writing) series books because you can turn to the characters as old friends.

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  11. I've enjoyed your Wyoming sheriff series, Vickie, and hope you never tire of writing about McQuede. Thanks for the kind comment.

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