Thursday, September 12, 2019

Thursday Murder and Mint Tea Janet Lane Walters - Meet Some of the Characters #MFRWAuthor #BWLAuthor #Characters #Mystery

When one is involved in writing a series, there are some characters who appear in many of the books. When I wrote Murder and Mint Tea, I didn't think of recurring characters. But when I went on to create a series, I found a number who became frequent visitors.

Of course, Katherine is there in every story. Here's a bit of her.

The pale winter sun shone through the kitchen window.  I cleaned up the last of the mess from my adventure.  The caper hadn’t gone as planned.  How many do?  In my many years of life, most of my plans have taken an unexpected turn.
Merup.”  Robespierre my Maine Coon cat announced a visitor on the way.  He’s almost as good as a doorbell.  The firm rap on the door told me this wasn’t one of my female friends.  “Come in.”

A Character who became a regular is the young police officer she has known since he was a boy.

Pete Duggan strode across the room and thrust a bouquet of bright carnations into my hands.  A red hue, almost as vivid as his hair, stained his face.  “Mrs. Miller, got to hand it to you.  I’ve come to eat crow.”

To hide a smile I buried my face in the flowers and inhaled the spicy fragrance.  “How about chocolate chip cookies and mint tea instead?”
“Sounds great.”  He straddled one of the chairs at the table and picked up the local newspaper.  “Local Woman Thwarts Robbers.”  His grin made him look like the ten-year-old who had moved into the corner house on my block.  He cleared his throat.  “The guys at the station ribbed me about this.  Did you forget the plan?”
     How, when the idea to catch the real thieves had been mine?  A series of burglaries had plagued the neighborhood for months and had troubled me.  Especially when the police had decided two teenage neighbor boys were the culprits.  I knew the pair and had disagreed strongly enough to set myself up as a victim.  Then I informed Pete.
     “Did you forget?”  he repeated.  “When I crept up the stairs and saw you grappling with one of the men, I nearly had a heart attack.”

A third character who became a regular is Lars but he's only a name in the first book.

A very important character in these books is Robespierre, a Maine Coon cat who lives with Katherine and often makes his opinions known in a cat-like way.
     Just them the cat door opened.  Robespierre made a grand entrance.  Flakes of snow dotted his brown and black fur.  His gait suggested a mission.  He halted in front of Pete and banged the young policeman’s leg with his head.
     Pete crouched and scratched the cat’s head.  “Not my fault, old man.  She jumped in on her own.”
     Robespierre’s rumbling purr suggested he understood and accepted Pete’s explanation.
     “He’s been out of sorts since the thieves visited.”
     “Me, too.”  Pete hugged me.  “Never again.  Promise.  We need you around.  Think about being a silent partner.  There are times when I need someone to listen.”
     “If listening is all you need, I’ll be here.  No more active involvement in crime for me.”

In other posts on Thursday, I'll introduce you to some of the characters who make up Katherine's life.  There are two neighbors, her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

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