The
book I wish to feature in this blog is literary in tone. The Palimpsest Murders, due to be released in September 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 Phoenix 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 — my three BWL
published novels. 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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