Murder Unrehearsed

 The pain of betrayal. The price of truth. The mystery of love.

      When aspiring young actress Heather Shelton jumps in the car with her dog, Bear, and flees to her family’s mountain cabin to escape an untidy romance, all she wants is peace and time to study for auditions. What she gets is murder. The only witness of a savage killing – and squarely in the crosshairs of a ruthless assassin – she is injured and left for dead.

       Heather knows handsome men are bad news, but hottie lawman Matt McCrae’s smile gets her every time, until he leaves her hanging out as bait to trap the killer. McCrae promises to protect her, but fails, and she faces killer alone, with only Bear to help.

 Wild Women Authors is thrilled to feature author Roxanne Dunn and Murder Unrehearsed, a recent mainstream mystery out of the Wild Rose Press. With Roxanne is mystery man Matt McCrae who will go first.

 Good morning, Matt. Tell us a bit about yourself, starting from where you are from. I live in Seattle’s fun, funky, Fremont neighborhood, across Lake Union from downtown, home to a great little repertory theater named Viva! and peppered with eclectic shops, restaurants, and street art. Locals call it the Center of the Universe, and that works for me.

Tell us a bit about Murder Unrehearsed.  Heather Shelton has man problems. An unfaithful lover, a mysterious stranger, and a psychopathic assassin. That pretty much covers it.

What did you think the first time you saw Heather? That I was in trouble.

Hah! Good one. And your second thought? I couldn’t get involved. Even my mother doesn’t know who signs my paychecks, and it’s better that way.

Hmm. Mystery man. So . . . was this love at first sight? More like awe. I’d seen her at the theater, and I’d been too chicken to go backstage meet her, and all of a sudden there she was, right in front of me, and I was talking to her.

What do you like most about Heather? Her spunk. She did something no law man had been able to do. That, plus the fact that when she’s angry, she tells you exactly what’s wrong with you. No question about where you stand.

How would you describe her? Smart, funny, brave, intensely loyal. Beautiful, even with her hair scorched off. A treasure.

Aww. That’s sweet. How would she describe you? I can’t even guess. But I know she likes my homemade chocolate sandwich cookies, and she loved my fresh strawberry ice cream.

What made you choose law enforcement as a career? I was studying chemical energy at MIT when a man in a gray suit tapped me on the shoulder and said Uncle Sam wanted me to work for him.

Good evasive answer, my man. What is your biggest fear? That I will have to kill someone.

Ahh. Wasn’t expecting that one. How do you relax? I bake. Cookies, cakes, breads. And make ice cream in an old-fashioned maker with a wood bucket that you pack with ice.

Another side of you we weren’t expecting. Who is your favorite fictional character? Hercule Flambeau, G. K. Chesterton’s flamboyant thief in the Father Brown stories. He pulls off brilliant heists and has great fun hoodwinking everybody.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received? Left is loose. Right is tight. And there’s no free lunch.

Another zinger. Thanks, Matt. This has been great fun. Now we’d like to chat with Roxanne for a bit.

 What movies or books have had an impact on your career as a writer? Though African Queen and Casablanca are my all-time favorites, I’ve loved Nora Ephron’s movies, especially You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. It’s unfair that Nora died. I always hoped I’d write a book that she would make into a movie. As for books, there are too many to count. Currently, I’m re-reading all of Elly Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway series in order. I’ve read all of Louise Penny’s except the last one, which I’m saving for a moment when I need a boost. Other writers I’ve read and re-read include Philippa Gregory, Candace Robb, Eric Witchey, Lawrence Sanders, Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, and Jacqueline Winspear, to name just a few. 

What event in your private life were you able to bring to the story and how do you feel it impacted the novel? When I was a kid, I loved car trips to the Canadian Rockies, staying in little lake-front cabins or mom-and-pop resorts like the one in my novel. Later, I spent summer vacations with friends at Lake Chelan, Washington State, where we passed the evenings telling scary stories, and I started to wonder what would happen if I were there alone and witnessed a murder. 

What was the germ for Murder Unrehearsed? I like to imagine that Heather Shelton’s quiet, safe vacation community exists in a world parallel to, but separate from, a world populated by thugs, assassins, and thieves. So when murder invades her peaceful part of the planet, it is as if she is thrown into a foreign universe, and she must learn how to survive there—or die.

Tell us one more interesting fact about Roxanne Dunn: I like a challenge. Soon after I got my pilot’s license, I rented a little Cessna and took off all by myself. While I was flying, a strong, gusty wind picked up. As I came in over tall trees to land, the air became so turbulent I could barely control the plane. Sweating, gripping the yoke with all my might, and wishing I had stayed on the ground, I managed to put all three wheels down on the tarmac without breaking anything. The second I knew I was safe, I wanted to do it again.

Now let’s talk about your publisher. How did you hear about them and what influenced your decision to submit to them? I first heard about The Wild Rose Press (TWRP) at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference (PNWA) in Seattle and was intrigued because the wild rose is the provincial flower of Alberta, Canada, where I grew up. Then, at the Killer Nashville conference in August 2019, I met Dianne McCartney, who was signing copies of her first mystery, The Daughter of Death. She had many good things to say about working with TWRP. What stuck right in the front of my brain was that they responded quickly to her query and to all her questions and concerns. So, a few weeks later, when the PNWA conference came around again, I pitched to both of the editors who were there. That was one year ago, and I have discovered that Dianne was right. TWRP is a dream to work with.

What book[s] currently rest on your TBR pile? Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s My Own Words, Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile, Cara Black’s Three Hours in Paris, Philippa Gregory’s The Boleyn Inheritance, Candace Robb’s A Choir of Crows, Dianne McCartney’s The Road to Justice, and Susan Orlean’s The Library Book are stacked up beside my chair, waiting for me to get to them. I have a lot more on my Kindle.

Lastly, what's up next and when can we expect to see it on the shelves? I’m hoping to get my next mainstream mystery, Murder Unsuspected, ready to submit early in 2021. In this book, Viane Thibaudet, darling of a quaint hilltop town in the south of France has been getting away with murder, but in Brittany Ann Thornton, newly minted behavioral psychologist from Seattle, she meets her match.

 Murder Unrehearsed is available in print and for e-books on Amazon, at thewildrosepress.com, or via my website, www.roxannedunn.com. Please stop by for a visit. I plan to post Matt McCrae’s chocolate sandwich cookie recipe as soon as I wrestle it out of him.

 For more information on Roxanne Dunn, go to:

Twitter:  @roxanne_dunn

Website:  www.roxannedunn.com

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/roxanne.dunn.127