Author Joan Merrill has taken her passion for writing and jazz music and merged them to create a series of mystery books which follows the case-solving adventures of Casey McKie.
In one of her recent books "And all that Madness", the story follows detective Casey whose investigation into the death of jazz singer Georgia Valentine's takes her San Francisco to New York City . As Casey uncovers suspects, a surprising killer is revealed!
Earlier this week I had the chance to talk to Joan and one of the things we discussed was the fact that her series of books tend to go beyond fiction lines. Joan said that although the novels are fiction there is “an occasional factual story.” “If I use a real event, I don't change anything about it, but I do use actual people and events, and, in those cases, I change the names.”
For instance, she revealed that the Georgia Valentine character in the book is based on Billie Holiday; the Frederick Oblenger character is based on Harry Anslinger. It is not unusual, she said, for her to tell historically accurate stories.
Born in San Francisco, Joan has always had a desire to be a novelist. After taking three years of writing courses she plunged into writing novels, particularly of the mystery genre – since she was already a big fan of mystery books.
Working in the music world for many years also put Joan at a vantage point to paint a vivid portrait of this side of life.
Joan has written five books in the Casey McKie series so far. They include And All That Murder, And All that Sea, And All That Stalking, And All That Motive and of course And All That Madness. She told me that she dedicates 2-3 hours each day to writing.
What are her writing rituals? I wondered.
“I go to my local Starbucks and write there. Despite the noise, I find I can focus in that environment than at home.”
The Casey character is a woman who was born in suburban Minneapolis and is in her late 30s. Growing up in a home with an alcoholic father who remarried and a depressed mother who passed away from cancer when Casey was just 12, Casey later studied Criminal Justice when she arrived in Oakland California years later in life. Although her dream was to become a police officer upon graduation, she handles cases with the Barton-Lehman law firm.
Casey's character is consistent in each book and every new book brings her a new case.
“I do it because it's a tradition, but I find it has advantages. I do not have to invent so many new characters and environments for each book.”
The feedback of Joan’s novels has been promising so far, however she isn't stopping there. She told me she is already planning a 6th installment of the book series called “And All That Hate,” which is set at a vocal jazz camp in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
“You’d be surprised what lurks in those redwoods!” she teased.
Joan's mystery book series can be purchased on Amazon or you can visit the authors' website http://www.joanmerrill.com/
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