SUITE: Tell me a little about your books and what genre they are.
NANCY: GRAVEN IMAGES, which was published in October, is the story of Cally Jo McAllister. Cally witnessed the aftermath of her mother’s murder when she was four. Although she saw the face of the killer, her mind locked the image away, trying to protect her from the horror. After several years of counseling, she finally remembered the image of the monster who took her mother from her. She was able to draw a picture of the murderer that was so accurate that he was immediately identified and arrested. After a trial, Albert Boone was sent to prison where he died three days after his arrival. Cally, now in college, and using her unique and almost unearthly skill as a part-time police sketch artist for the Wichita, Kansas Police Department, begins to have a reoccurring nightmare – one she hasn’t had since she was a child. The troubling dream seems to be trying to tell her something – that perhaps the wrong person was convicted of the murder. The question now is this: Will her dream reveal someone else? And does this person know that they are in danger? What will their response be? Is Cally’s life at stake? SINNER’S SONG, which will be released by St Kitts Press after the first of the year, is about a man who has named himself “The Deliverer.” He believes that he is called to follow in the footsteps of his mother – a notorious serial “mercy” killer. However, he has set out to “deliver” the homeless. He always asks the question “Do you know where you’d go if you died tonight?” before each “delivery.”
Memrie Austin, an administrative assistant working for Andrew’s House, a non-profit agency in downtown Wichita, is pulled into the dark world of this insane killer. There are three men in Memrie’s life. Ben is the Financial Director at Andrews, Reese is the Director of Social Services, and then there is Jake Coltrain, a rough and down-to-earth street preacher who runs a soup kitchen. Memrie isn’t sure how she feels about any of these men – or if she is safe with them. A young runaway enters Memrie’s life, further complicating things – and putting both of them directly in the sights of “The Deliverer.”
Both of these novels are mysteries. Although they are suspenseful, I try to depend on the “mystery” aspect of each story, along with character development that will draw readers into the plot. I like the way that Agatha Christie wrote – harsh profanity, sexual content and graphic violence weren’t needed to make her stories intriguing. I think the plot is the main thing. Although you couldn’t quite call my novels “cozies,” there is cozy quality about them.
