Like Shades
of Persephone, the book I wish to feature in this blog is literary in tone.
The
Palimpsest Murders, due to be
released in the near future with BWL, Inc., is what I subtitle “A European
Travel Mystery.” It fits the cosy murder genre but in no way is it all that cosy
because it necessitates travel, even in the imaginative sense, and a basic
familiarity with characters in Homer’s The
Iliad, especially with the royal murders involved in the aftermath to the Trojan
War.
The
idea for this novel arose when I took a one-week
Boat & Bike excursion through Holland and Belgium. All was agreeable among
the thirty guests onboard. Very enjoyable. But why not, my imagination prompted
me, introduce the clash of different personalities in close quarters and have that
lead to inevitable conflict that would result in two murders?
Thus plot.
In this fictional setting, many obvious questions are
asked, but few answers truly satisfy collective curiosity. Why the first body
in the canal? Is the second death related to the first and is it suicide or
murder? Why two coins for the ferryman? Who among the cyclists is hateful and
motivated enough to kill? Twice. And why? Is the ugly jug, both admired and
hated, merely symbolic? How does the gold death mask of Agamemnon lead to a
resolution?
Research. I try to stay on point. In composing The Palimpsest Murders I had notes to depend on from my European
adventure, on Amsterdam, Bruges, and Paris, to name only the larger centers
involved in the story. A
week on a boat with thirty or so new faces provided me with considerable
material regarding character. Simple observation of people can be very
insightful, verisimilitude being the objective of the exercise no matter the
setting.
Research done in situ is
very gratifying, Greece for Shades Of
Persephone and Montreal in large part for Lighting The Lamp and Séjour
Saint-Louis. Reading other fiction can also be a source of helpful
information.
How
long to write The
Palimpsest Murders? Six months.
Aries motivates me in my efforts to write about the world I inhabit. I
have been involved in serious writing since retiring in 1999.
Genres.
The Palimpsest Murders, as originally
conceived, is strictly a murder mystery, which
is somewhat of a departure from my earlier novels, although having a
protagonist uncover what’s going on behind the scenes is essential to all three
previous works. All my endeavours in writing fiction draw on literary,
artistic, and mythological allusion.
Find me at the following:
reedstirlingwrites.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/bookswelove
Amazon
Author central: https://authorcentral.amazon.comgp/home
Blurbs and Buy Links:
https://bookswelove.net/stirling-reed/
https://books2read.com/Shades-of-Persephone
https://books2read.com/Sejour-Saint-Louis
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