Mystery Author of the Month: Helen Haught Fanick

Helen Haught Fanick

Helen Haught Fanick grew up in West Virginia and now lives in Texas, and both states provide settings for her novels. Her work includes cozy mysteries, suspense novels, a World War II espionage novel, and short stories, all available as e-books. The novels are also available in paperback.

A short story impressed Helen’s fifth grade teacher, and she’s been writing ever since. She’s won several local and state awards and two national awards in the Writer’s Digest Competition. Moon Signs, Book I of the Moon Mystery Series, was a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. Helen is a graduate of UTSA and lives in San Antonio with her husband.

I’m thrilled to have Helen with us today. I've read the first four books in her Moon Mystery series and I'm currently reading her fifth novel, Evil Under the Moon, which was just released. Here are my questions for Helen and her responses.

Patricia: Helen, when did you know that you wanted to be a writer?

Helen: My mother used to peck out her children’s stories on an old Oliver typewriter. I can remember being a toddler and playing on the floor beside her rickety typewriter table. It wasn’t so much a matter of what I wanted to be—I knew from those days on that I’d be a writer.

Patricia: If, for some reason, you couldn’t be a writer, what profession would you choose?

Helen: I’d be a photographer. Some of my book covers feature my photos.

Patricia: Well, you're obviously a talented photographer too. Your covers are fantastic! But, I have one more question. Do you have a bucket list, things you still want to do and/or places you want to visit?

Helen: I’d like to visit many places—the cities of Latin America, repeat visits to London and Paris, and I’d love to see Rome and a lot more of Italy. Actually, there are few places in the world that I wouldn’t want to visit.

The Moon Mystery Series:

Retirement is a time for knitting, gardening, and an occasional quiet lunch with friends, according to Kathleen Williamson.  Her sister Andrea has an altogether different point of view.  When the sisters go to the Canaan Valley to search for paintings mentioned in a document found in an old hotel once owned by their grandparents—paintings that might be Monets—Andrea immediately becomes involved in tracking down a murderer.  Kathleen would much rather be looking for the paintings, but she goes along with Andrea, since the victim was their hotel-keeper, murdered just down the hall from their room. The question is: Does the murder have something to do with the elusive paintings?

There are many clues and many suspects, including hotel staff, valley residents, and the mysterious foreigners who come from the Eastern Seaboard for skiing.  There are also many types of danger—icy roads, sub-zero temperatures, and a killer who doesn’t care how many people die in the attempt to make sure the right ones do.

   Maggie Flynn’s simple country wedding in West Virginia’s enchanting Canaan Valley is everything her aunts hoped for, and Andrea Flynn and Kathleen Williamson are looking forward to a joyful weekend celebration. Murder is the last thing on anyone’s mind, but when one guest has multiple enemies present, it becomes a reality. Poison in a late-night cup of tea proves fatal, and it’s obvious that plenty of family members and their friends have reason to want the victim dead.

   When a second murder occurs, members of the wedding party become even more certain that a killer is stalking the halls of the Alpenhof Hotel where they’re staying. Andrea and Kathleen join forces with Sheriff Ward Sterling to figure out who’s killing the guests in this quiet mountain resort. And there are clues—or are they just red herrings? A book of poetry, a flower garden, and artificial fingernails are among the discoveries the sisters discuss with the sheriff.

   They’re hoping the investigation won’t put their lives in danger, but security at the hotel is lax and door locks are flimsy. If the sisters can dig up enough clues, maybe they can solve the puzzle before the killer takes aim at them. However, at bedtime they’re bracing their door with the back of a chair, just in case.

  

The wealthiest family in the Canaan Valley has several problems, which its members handle using discretion—or maybe secrecy is a better word.  But when one of their members is murdered, their secrets are revealed as sisters Andrea and Kathleen help Sheriff Ward Sterling investigate the murder.

The sisters feel it’s especially important to figure out who the murderer is, since their friend, Deputy Willard Hill, is the prime suspect. They know Willard couldn’t possibly be guilty, but finding out who is turns out to be difficult. Several people will profit from the death, and there are a few more who had reasons to dislike the deceased.

In spite of a serious threat from the murderer, Andrea and Kathleen persist, hunting for hidden diaries, reviewing security camera records, and interviewing members of the family.  Their friend Willard is scheduled to marry one of the daughters of this wealthy family, but the wedding has been postponed until the murder is solved. The sisters want Willard to be cleared so the wedding can proceed as planned. More important, they must solve the case before the killer silences them.

Cora Taylor disappeared 54 years ago, and no trace of her was ever found. Now her sister has enlisted the help of Andrea Flynn and Kathleen Williamson in finding out what happened to Cora. The two are known for their ability to solve cases that are puzzling the police, and Mary Taylor is confident they can uncover Cora’s fate.

Andrea and Kathleen are doubtful they can find the answer Mary is looking for, but they decide to try. They start researching, and the case becomes more complicated when someone who was close to Cora, a likely suspect in her disappearance, is murdered.

The more the sister sleuths investigate, the more complex the situation becomes. How did expensive jewelry end up in Cora’s possession? Who knew moonflowers were poisonous and stole them from Andrea’s deck? Was the Mafia involved somehow, and what about the accusations against a jealous wife?  And when a second suspect is murdered, are the sisters and Mary in danger, too?

  

Lea Logan was a floozy, according to her mother. Andrea Flynn and Kathleen Williamson are volunteers with the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office who are looking into Lea’s murder, and they must consider her mother’s assessment when trying to solve the case. Was Lea the mistress of a man who’s influential not only at the Martindale Country Club but in the town as well, or was something darker going on?

The murder happened nearly five years ago, and the sisters find they must jog memories and scramble for clues in a case that has gone cold. When they discover the body of another victim who’s connected to Lea, complications multiply.

The second body isn’t the only complication, however. A locked safe that can’t be opened and password-protected computer files muddle Andrea and Kathleen’s efforts, but they must persist in solving these problems. And when they do, it’ll be difficult to survive what follows.

Visit Helen's author page at: http://www.amazon.com/Helen-Haught-Fanick/e/B006CU53CW

Helen is offering a copy of "Moon Signs" to one lucky person who leaves a comment.

When "Bad" Things Happen

There are certain things in life that most of us perceive as bad. Losing a job, the death of a loved one, a divorce. . . . When those things happen, our lives are often thrown off course and we’re not sure how we’ll recover or if we even will. We may become depressed and anxious, wondering what to do next. We had everything planned out and it all fell apart! We may temporarily go into shock and we grieve our loss. And, of course, some losses are more devastating than others. But, what happens next?

Time passes and we begin to recover or, at the very least, we adapt. My brother is fond of saying, “It is what it is,” and he’s right. We have to accept the hand we’ve been dealt. What happened will make us stronger and more compassionate people. But, for writers, it goes a step further. We can, and most likely will, use our experiences in our writing. They've become part of who we are and one way or the other they'll have an impact on our writing.

I read a short story years ago that made a lasting impression on me.

In Later, the main character was the father of a little girl. He was working from home one day and his daughter wanted him to go outside to play with her. He kept putting her off, eager to finish his work. “Later,” he kept telling her. And then he heard the sound of tires screeching. He ran outside and watched helplessly as a car careened down the street, hitting and killing his little girl.

The story brought tears to my eyes back then and the feelings the author evoked in me still give me chills! But, the most interesting part is that the author had never lost a child. He used the feelings he had when he lost a beloved pet. In other words, he used his own experience to write the story.

Have you ever read a story or a novel that made a lasting impression on you?

Back to "normal"

Well, the holidays are behind us and I have to admit that I'm ready to get back to "normal." For the past three months, during Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and my birthday, I've packed, moved and unpacked and, if I never have to go to Home Depot to buy another box, well, that will be just fine with me.

This past summer, after Mistaken Identity was released, I started working on my fifth Malone mystery. I finished my chapter-by-chapter outline and had just started to write Marnie Malone when my mother decided to try to sell her house. In 2013, she'd had it on the market with no success and we both realized that the house was too much for us and it was time to try again. (I had moved in with her in April 2014.) So, the house went up for sale the beginning of October and sold in just a few days. Amazing!

That was a good thing but it also meant that we needed to pack up her house where she'd lived for twenty-three years and, believe me, that was no simple process. We also needed to find an apartment for her and one for me. I hoped we could be in the same building but I knew the chances of that were slim. And then, it happened. We found apartments across the hall from each other in a four-family building! The apartments and the location are beyond my wildest expectations. I couldn't ask for more and I know that God did for us what I never could've done myself. I'm very grateful!

We both moved into our apartments a little over a month ago and I've been working non-stop to get Mom's apartment and mine unpacked and organized. Because she'd broken her left hip twice a few years ago, she's not been able to do much of the physical work involved. I've been "box free" for a couple of weeks but there are still a few boxes of hers to be unpacked and a ton of organizing to do. The good news is that the worst of it is behind us!

But the best news (for me) is that, this week, I will finally get back to writing! I am so excited! I've missed my characters and, although I've jotted down a few notes in the interim, I've missed the act of writing. So, today, I plan to set up my bulletin board in preparation for tomorrow morning. And I couldn't be more thrilled!