Characters–the people within the pages of a story. They move the storyline along–the good ones, the bad ones, and those we never see. What? Those we never see? Yes.
Take, for instance, Ben Ventris in The Cemetery Club. Without Ben, there would have been no story, no mystery, no reason for the book. But, we never see Ben. Well, yes, we do, just a brief glimpse, but then we turn away in horror because Ben is no longer among the living. However, the mysteries surrounding Ben, his relationship to Flora, his forebears, and, most of all, the secret he carries which has been handed down to him, cause his death and the deaths of several others. It is all because of Ben.
In fact, when I think about it, at the core of each of my cozy mysteries is a character we never see. Did I plan it that way? Or, did that character, that invisible character, prompt me to tell his story? In Grave Shift, it is Andrea Worth. She disappears two years before the story starts, but it’s because of that disappearance that Flora and Darcy get involved and Darcy nearly loses her life.
Best Left Buried is all about a decision made by Granny Grace, many years before Darcy was born. A long-buried secret and Granny Grace’s turbulent past propel the mystery. But it all takes place before the first sentence of this third Darcy and Flora cozy.
In real life, we are the sum of what has gone before and then, to our history, we add another chapter, our own chapter. That’s the way things happen in Grave Heritage. Darcy finds out more about her family than she guesses. We never see her grandfather, but we certainly hear about him. The decisions he made and the choices of others, propel Darcy and Flora into this fourth book.
One would think I should have gotten all the past characters out of my system before beginning a new series, but, no! Ned McNeil is the victim of a gift her uncle leaves her. Moonlight Can Be Murder and, it is murder for more than one unlucky character. Because of Uncle Javin and Granger’s Mansion, and a long ago crime, Ned becomes involved in the sticky web of a secretive town. The house, its history, and an outlaw who lived in the past century continue to be a danger in By the Fright of the Silvery Moon.
The past continues to be very much in the present in the soon-to-be-released third Ned McNeil cozy, Moonstruck and Murderous. A man whose greed knows no bounds, a house that harbors a dark secret, people who have been hurt and whose lives have been changed all are here. Oh, by the way, that greedy man? He died long before Ned becomes involved.
So, there you have it. Characters! They are the story. Even those characters who are no longer alive. My goodness! That sounds almost morbid, doesn’t it?
To lighten the mood, be sure to check back tomorrow for my Valentine’s gift to you. I think you’ll like it.
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