by Sandra Gardner
My previous mysteries, Dead Shrinks Don’t Talk and Grave Expectations, featured an accidental detective and her sidekick — her recently deceased mother, the ghost detective.
My late husband, also a writer, was reading an autobiography written by a ghostwriter. I said, “Hmmm, how about a ghost who was a writer, maybe trying to solve her own murder…”
“Oh, no! Not another ghost!” he said.
Okay. So, I can make her a live writer. What kind of writer? How about an investigative reporter? And how does she do it? I’ll have her host a crime-solving blog with the help of a psychic gravedigger and her readers.
That’s how The Murder Blog, my new suspense mystery set in Woodstock, was born.
Write what you know is something I’ve often heard writing instructors say. Well, I’ve lived in Woodstock, NY, for more than 25 years — the famous small town where the festival didn’t happen. The musicians came to Woodstock, but the plan for the festival was too big for the town.
Again, in terms of writing what you know: In The Murder Blog, my main character, Philomena Wolff, is a freelance investigative reporter for magazines, who decides to host a crime-solving blog to hunt down the killer of young women in the area.
I was a contributing writer for The New York Times for many years, writing on social issues and even doing some exposes. For example, an article on lead poisoning in toddlers, which often resulted in learning disabilities, spearheaded a law signed by the state’s governor banning lead-based paint in residences.
There was a residential home for troubled teenagers in a state of chaos due to the mismanagement of the home’s administration. After the article was printed, it led to the wholesale firing of the staff.
And an article I did on missing children ended in a little boy coming back home safely, which made me very happy.
My character, Philomena Wolff, investigates crimes such as fleecing elderly people out of their savings; trafficking in illegal adoptions — taking babies from poor women and selling them to rich couples; finding missing children and adults; and bringing those responsible for sexual assault, which sometimes ends in murder, to justice.
Despite the death threats and even a physical attack, my heroine soldiers on, determined to hunt down the bad guys. I can’t say that I’d be anywhere near that brave, but in my previous writing days, I wrote two nonfiction books on youth gangs, which involved meeting up with gang members and interviewing them in pretty bad neighborhoods at night, since they were more active then.
Luckily, there were no death threats or physical attacks. The teenagers were actually eager to talk to me. Who knows, maybe they thought it would make them famous. For my part, their situations made me sad, and I wished I could do something to help them.
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I loved Sandra Gardner’s book THE MURDER BLOG. Murder is murder, but her book is fun. Escape to that world with Philomena as your guide and feel that nail-biting thrill we all love.