Now, it’s time to take a deep breath and start again. I have
three Dying for the Past events
remaining this calendar year and will begin the events for Dying to Tell with this blog. Phew.
And somewhere amid the hotel rooms and podiums and meeting
all the fantastic readers and fans, I’ve managed to pen three-quarters of a new
thriller—Double Solution. I hope I can keep them all straight. Let’s
see, Oliver “Tuck” Tucker’s books are cozy mysteries about a dead detective
solving crimes with a historical subplot and a few laughs along the way. Double Solution is about Jonathan
Hunter, a wayward CIA consultant who is hunting his brother’s killer and
finding his worst Middle East nightmares right at home in small town
Winchester, Virginia. Double Solution is still in the making
and I cannot wait to get back to the keyboard and see what Hunter will do next.
For now, Dying to Tell,
the third Gumshoe Ghost installment, hits the shelves in January 2016. It’s
time to tell Tuck’s latest tale—the story of William Mendelson, a recluse bank
executive, found murdered in his secret vault. Surrounding William’s fate is a
treasure trove of Egyptian antiquities. Now those relics are missing. The
secrets are coming out. The dead are talking.
Tuck is pulled into the case by the spirit of a World War II
Office of Strategic Services operative with his own agenda. OSS Captain Ollie
Tucker I—Tuck’s namesake—knows the past is catching up to the survivors of an
Egyptian spy ring from more than seventy years ago. With the help of his
beautiful and brilliant wife, Angel, and his gruff former partner, Detective
Bear Braddock, Tuck must unravel a tale of spies, murderers, and thieves. But
how to begin? Perhaps, with the botched robbery at Mendelson’s bank and the
disappearance of his Egyptian loot? Or, the Kit Kat West nightclub where the
sultry Lee Hawkins revives 1944 Cairo nightlife with her WWII veteran
grandfather, Keys Hawkins? There are too few clues and too many suspects—like
Marshal Mendelson, the conniving, bitter son; a suave bank executive wooing
Angel; the vivacious bank teller sharing whispers with a lonely but heroic
security guard; and the alluring and dangerous Egyptian antiquities professor
whose arrival in Winchester coincides with Mendelson’s murder.
Who killed William Mendelson and what did his murder have to
do with the 1944 murder of Professor Youssif Iskandr?
Writing Dying to Tell
was different. As the third installment of Tuck’s dead detective adventures, I
wanted to take Tuck’s unusual life—or death as it were—somewhere very personal
to him. In Dying to Know, Tuck
struggled with being dead. First, how to maneuver in the world of the living
but with different rules. How to contact Angel and how to pursue his killer
while still learning to be a dead detective. Hercule, his devoted black
Labrador, helped him with much of this. And so did Doc, his live-in spirit
guide. It was painful, difficult, and at times, heartbreaking for him. Ultimately,
Tuck found his way.
In Dying for the Past,
Tuck is in contact with Angel and is working steadily to reach that same
resonance with Bear, his stubborn and grouchy former partner. But, he also has
to come to terms with a new secret—that his long-lost family might just be made
up of gangsters, spies, and rogues. All of them may have ended up as spirits,
too. Tuck also finds some enjoyment to being a dead detective. He learned to
use his world to his advantage. So what more could a guy want?
Life. At least, the taste of his former life. Love.
Confidence in his commitment to Angel—and in hers to him. Is that too much to
ask?
Dying to Tell
takes on the issue of Tuck being back amongst the living but not truly one of
them—his life with Angel. Angel, as you might know, is a beautiful, brilliant
history professor. She’s on her way to bigger and better things at the
University. She’s attracted the attention of a handsome, mysterious, and suave suitor.
Tuck, being the witty and self-reliant spirit-cop that he is, is smart enough
to see the writing on the wall. How can he keep Angel to himself when their
life together is everything except real? They can share no glass of wine. No
kiss. No touch. No romance after dark. Tuck is everything Angel ever wanted—except
alive. Except physical.
What is she to do? What is Tuck to do?
And as for Operation Salaam, the OSS, and famous World War
II spies, I’ll discuss some of the historical research I did for Dying to Tell next month. This was,
without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable books to research of the three Tuck
mysteries so far. Next month, I’ll talk about the way I wove in the historical facts,
twisted a little history, and came up with Dying
to Tell.
See you then.
Learn about Tj’s
world at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tjoconnor.author
Blog: http://tjoconnorbooks.blogspot.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7148441.T_J_O_Connor
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