Crime Novels and True Crime Books

Novels

My work spans genres–traditional mystery, suspense, romantic suspense, humor, inspirational, and true crime. An ongoing theme in my work is a simple, yet complex, question: why do people do the things they do?

My work often explores that thin line between love and hate, black and white, and right and wrong. The endings aren’t always happy; they are always honest.

The epigraph from What the Monkey Saw sums it up pretty well.

Some men are born to good. Some men are born to evil.
And some men are destined to live their lives somewhere in between. 

True Crime

I swore I’d never write another True Crime book after my first one was published. The story made its rounds on all the shows and networks–Dateline, 48 Hours, Lifetime, Oxygen and so on. And years later, I was still getting calls and emails from producers wanting to feature the story.

Each time, I watched the victim’s mother tearfully recount in gut-wrenching detail her daughter’s murder with each production. This was years after the actual crime. It was like taking a solid punch straight to the belly. The kind that knocks the wind right out of you. How could this family ever move on if every few years some television show wanted to do a feature on it?

It’s taken me a long, long time to get over the feeling that I contributed in some small way in exploiting the victim’s story and her family. Over the years, I’ve come to terms with it. But will I ever write another True Crime book? Possibly. If the story’s right. But only if I can write it in a way to honor the victim. They’re the heart of the story. And that should never be forgotten.