I’ve used poison a couple of times and an overdose once. An
axe came in handy for a decapitation, and of course knives have played an
important part in others. In the book I’m working on now, a fireplace poker did
the horrible deed.
Drowning or what looks like drowning has also been the cause
of death, as has strangulation and suffocation.
A deliberately set house fire took another life, as did a
wildfire. In fact, I put fires in so many books, I once had someone ask if I
was a repressed fire bug. (No, I have no desire to see flames, but living in
the foothills has made me alert to the dangers of fire.)
Most of my killers don’t use guns—not sure why, except
maybe, because I don’t know that much about guns.
I’m always looking for an unusual means of murder and out of
the blue an author friend told me about death by crushing. I did some
researching, and yes, that is the mode of murder in the new Rocky Bluff P.D.
mystery, simply titled, A Crushing Death.
Blurb for A Crushing Death:
A pile of rocks is found on a dead body beneath
the condemned pier, a teacher is accused of molesting a student, the new police
chief is threatened by someone she once arrested for attacking women, and
Officer Milligan’s teenage daughter has a big problem.
Bio:
F. M. Meredith who is also known as Marilyn
Meredith is nearing the number of 40 published books. Besides being an author
she is a wife, mother, grandma, and great-grandmother. Though the Rocky Bluff
she writes about is fictional, she lived for over twenty years in a similar
small beach town. Besides having many law enforcement officers in her family,
she counts many as friends. She teaches writing, loves to give presentations
to writing and other groups, and is a member of Mystery Writers of America,
three chapters of Sisters in Crime and on the board of Public Safety Writers
Association.
Website: http://fictionforyou.com
Twitter: @MarilynMeredith
Contest: Once again, the person who comments on
the most blogs during this tour, can have a character named after them in the
next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery or buy the book here. Tomorrow you can find me here: http://www.celebratewithabook.com
Sounds like you have some great resources there when you need questions answered about law enforcement or police procedure. What a great variety of methods you've come up with for your characters to use.
ReplyDeleteI think of guns in the same way as a coiled rattlesnake, best viewed from far away. I'm always searching for new and novel ways to kill. Smothering a victim face down in mud turned into smothering by wet plaster of Paris.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I want to say thank you for being invited to visit this great blog! And thank you KM and Margaret for stopping by and leaving a comment. I've been fortunate to make a lot of helpful friends along the way.
ReplyDeleteI've read your books and interviewed you a few years ago, Marilyn. Thanks for blogging with us today. Good luck with the new release and on your blog tour. I love your ocean town setting.
ReplyDeleteE. B., Rocky Bluff, has great similarities to the beach town where I lived years ago.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by WWK, Marilyn. You have written about some very creative murder methods in your books. Variety is the spice of life, yes?
ReplyDeleteHi, Marilyn, We've been on author panels together. I didn't know about the various methods your characters use. Clever!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to WWK, Marilyn. You have some creative ways of murdering people. I think my most creative way was with a garden fork and a spade, but then I write a gardening series. Only two have I murdered with a gun, and one of those was during a Civil War Reenactment with a gun from that era. I did online research for that and am fortunate enough to have a woman in my writing group who writes about the Civil War times and with her husband also is part of reenactments. I'm hoping you will be at Malice Domestic, and I'll get to meet you in person. I'm also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
ReplyDeleteHi, Shari, Warren and Gloria. Shari, I've had a great time both thinking up new methods of murder and having people give me ideas. Hi Warren, yep, we've traveled in some of the same circles. Gloria, I love the garden fork (I actually used one as a cover up of a murder in my other series) and the spade. I think I read your book about the Civil War Reenactment. Sadly, I don't fly anymore, so won't be going to Malice. Darn, that's a great conference.
ReplyDeleteYou kill, Meredith, in so many ways: entertainment, enriching characters, "can't put down plots."
ReplyDeleteThanks, D.J. Your kind words lift my spirit!
ReplyDeleteGood to see you on another blog. Your title tells me someone got crushed to death this time. You are always innovative in how your characters are killed. Great post, Marilyn.
ReplyDeleteWOW. Impressive list of death! Love it. Not too long ago I read about a killer who sat on his victim's chests killing the my making it impossible for them to expand the chest. Made me hyperventilate. What an awful death. I'm probably going to have to use it. I love to write the things that scare me to death!
ReplyDeleteHey, Linda--I haven't really done it on purpose, but looking back, guess I've done a good job at finding unusual ways to do folks in.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kait--yep if it scares us it should do the same to the reader. Thanks, both of you for stopping by.
Hey, Linda--I haven't really done it on purpose, but looking back, guess I've done a good job at finding unusual ways to do folks in.
ReplyDeleteHi, Kait--yep if it scares us it should do the same to the reader. Thanks, both of you for stopping by.
Funny, but with as many of your mysteries as I have read, I don't remember all the violence! But when you list it out...eek!
ReplyDeleteJacqueline, it's because I don't dwell on the violence or describe it blood drop by drop.
ReplyDeleteHere's to creativity in killing! There are many ways to kill and guns seem to require the most technical and forensic knowledge. Thank you, Marilyn. I learn so much from you.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I love about your books is you don't go for cliche stories. Each is unique, and you don't write formula mysteries. I look forward to each one.
ReplyDelete