THE STRANGE BRAIN OF A MYSTERY WRITER
The
minds of mystery writers work in mysterious ways.
A
few years ago, I came upon a traditional, two-story, red-bricked school building
with this
perfect widow’s walk atop the second floor, complete with white railing around three sides. And, as I stared up at this historical architecture, I pictured a naked, dead body hanging from one cracked post. Weird, huh?
Have you
ever visited a place, been so captivated by everything about the area, you
thought you might’ve just found your perfect place? That was my response to the
Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Here were charming, quaint resort towns
nestled into coves along miles and miles of undulating shoreline, the quiet
blue-green waters of the Bay stretching out in all directions and, when you
take time to watch, breathtaking sunsets over a multi-colored canopy of trees.
Then, I learned of the unusual duality of the history and culture of the area
and was hooked. The Eastern Shore is steeped in the hallmarks of a proud New
England heritage like fishing and shipping, but also with roots still very much
in the south. The area was also home to infamous slave plantations, where the
freedom fighters Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman were both born. It is
little wonder that the area’s loyalties were divided during the Civil War.
I thought it’d be interesting to explore this historical
dichotomy in a work of fiction. I wondered, in this most peaceful and beautiful
setting on the Chesapeake Bay, what if something happened in a small town,
something so horrific and vile—like a student being lynched from the railing at
a high school—it was buried deep in a town’s memory, an ugly secret festering
below the surface? This is the intriguing (though entirely fictional) premise
of my new book, Blood on the Chesapeake,
a ghost story/mystery about a thirty-year-old murder and the newcomer who
uncovers the secret—with a little help from the spirit world.
Early
reviews for the novel have started coming in and here’s a sample:
William
Kent Krueger, Edgar Award winner and best-selling author of Ordinary Grace wrote: “Blood on the Chesapeake is
a tale to be savored in a darkened room, with an eye to all the possibilities
lurking just out of sight.”
Here’s what Hank Phillipi Ryan, best-selling author of Trust Me, thought of Blood on the Chesapeake: "Timely and original, this contemporary ghost story
is genuinely entertaining! A terrific, one-sitting read.”
As I travel, I keep my
eyes and imagination open. When you possess the peculiar mind of a mystery
writer, especially a weird ghost story/mystery writer, you never know where the
next inspiration is going to come from. Perhaps, a painstakingly restored
Victorian mansion?
Dr. Randy Overbeck is a writer, educator,
researcher and speaker in much demand. During his three plus decades of educational
experience, he has performed many of the roles depicted in his writing with
responsibilities ranging from coach and yearbook advisor to principal and
superintendent. His new ghost story/mystery, Blood on the Chesapeake—which features, you guessed it, a naked,
dead body hanging from a widow’s walk atop a high school—will be released on
April 10, 2019 by The Wild Rose Press. As the title suggests, the novel is set
on the famous Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay, home to endless shorelines,
incredible sunsets and some of the best sailing in the world. Blood is first in a new series of
paranormal mysteries, The Haunted Shores Mysteries. Dr. Overbeck’s first novel,
Leave No Child Behind, a thriller
about the terrorist takeover of a Midwest high school and one teacher’s stand
against the intruders, won the 2011 Silver Award for Thrillers from
ReadersFavorite.com. Dr. Overbeck is a member of the Mystery Writers of America
and an active member of the literary community. You can follow him on Twitter
@OverbeckRandy, friend him on Facebook at Author Randy Overbeck or check out
his webpage, www.authorrandyoverbeck.com
