An Interview with Author Allison Brook (Marilyn Levinson) By E. B. Davis

 

Carrie Singleton has a wedding to plan, a killer to catch, and a conspiracy to uncover in this charming seventh novel of Agatha Award-nominee Allison Brook’s Haunted Library mysteries.

Carrie Singleton has more than her fair share on her plate: her job at the Clover Ridge Library, preparing for her wedding to Dylan Avery, and hoping that the local art gallery doesn’t steal away one of her part-time employees. Her fiancé Dylan accompanies her to the beautiful home of Victor Zalinka—art collector and successful businessman—to select paintings for an art show at the library. While Carrie muses that Victor's home would be the perfect wedding venue, Dylan spots a forgery among the paintings in Victor's collection.

Then Martha Mallory is found murdered in her art gallery. With the assistance of Evelyn, the library ghost; the resident cat, Smoky Joe; and the office manager of Dylan’s private investigation company, Carrie comes up with a suspect list long enough to rival the size of an encyclopedia. During her investigation, Carrie stumbles across a terrible truth: Martha’s murder was part of something far bigger and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. And it all leads back to the art gallery.

How far will Carrie go to find the killer and uncover the truth? If the killer finds her first—will Carrie finally be taken out of circulation?

Amazon.com

 

Overdue or Die is the seventh book in the Haunted Library mystery series by Allison Brook, or as we know her, WWK’s Marilyn Levinson. This book brings three murder cases to a close, as solved by main character Carrie Singleton, and leads readers up to Carrie and Dylan’s marriage, when Carrie won’t be a singleton anymore!

 

It is a complex mystery that reveals the horrors of a crime family. It’s always hard to believe how deranged psychopaths can be, and yet they are a reality—thankfully few and far between.

 

Thanks for answering my questions, Marilyn!      E. B. Davis

 

It’s a busy time for Carrie. The holidays are coming up, her uncle is being released from the hospital to recover from a heart attack, her cousin’s family wants to throw an engagement party for Dylan and her, which requires making decisions, and they must pick out a wedding venue. Does Carrie really have time to solve three murders?

Of course not, but when someone is murdered in Clover Ridge, it impacts everyone in the community. Besides, Carrie knows the first two victims and feels obliged to find out who murdered them.

 

Why did Carrie, who wants stability in her life, resist Dylan’s marriage proposal?

Carrie comes from a dysfunctional family. Her father was a thief and spent little time at home; her mother isn't maternal; her older brother, who was her source of security, died just about when she graduated from college. Before she moved to Clover Ridge, Carrie didn't feel she belonged in any one place. She didn't think she could handle marriage and raise children.

 

Carrie and Dylan have both had trying childhoods with difficult families. In a world of selfies and unique tats, they are trying to attain conventional lives, family, kids, house, etc. Are they different than today’s norm?

That's difficult to say. I know of so many young people who marry but have decided not to have kids. Carrie and Dylan are deeply vested in Clover Ridge, which is a main reason why they plan to have a family and continue to be active in their community. Also, family is important to them, especially Carrie's father and Carrie's great aunt and uncle, who were always very good to Dylan as he grew up with his emotionally neglectful parents.

 

Carrie has changed so much from the beginning of the series. Why did she used to dress in Goth?

Dressing that way was Carrie's way of telling everyone she wasn't part of the establishment. Part of the problem was Carrie was a qualified librarian but only given odd jobs to do around the library like shelve books. Once she became head of programs and events, she quickly started to dress professionally and live up to her responsibilities.

 

The new addition to the library has an auditorium that will be used for public programs. But it also has an art gallery for exhibitions, which surprised me. Do the librarians have the time and expertise to fill the space or the budget for hiring stagers, a security system, and insurance policies?

Libraries have art shows all the time. Victor Zalinka has expensive art that he occasionally loans out to museums. He brought in his own crew to hang the library show at his own expense. Otherwise, Carrie and other library employees would put up the art work. Regarding a security system, I imagine every library has one. I simply added extra security to the library's new art gallery.

 

Although Carrie worries that her assistant Susan, an emerging artist, will leave the library, isn’t the library’s new art gallery something that Carrie could have Susan help her with—something that might tempt Susan—so she’ll stay?

Susan is an amazing artist, something Carrie learned in Death Overdue, when Susan came up with terrific ideas for the library's Halloween Party. The Gallery on the Green has been featuring Susan's work and it's been selling very well. Carrie knows it's only a matter of time before she loses Susan, and while she doesn't want to hold her back, she's going to miss the wonderful artwork Susan does to celebrate special days and holidays in the library in so many ways. The library's art gallery can't offer Susan what the Gallery on the Green can.

 

During the addition’s commemorative ceremony, an older woman disrupts the speakers and claims that she, not the town, actually owns the building. Although it turns out that she is suffering from dementia, she isn’t totally wrong about being swindled. How so?

While Emily Pierce Fielding is wrong about owning the building the library had just added on as its new wing, she was swindled by the lawyer she and her family had employed for many years. When she moved to Florida, the lawyer simply "acquired" a home belonging to Emily as his own and unlawfully sold it taking to proceeds for himself.

 

Why did Carrie assume the new auditorium was exclusively hers to use?

Carrie invested a good deal of time and effort to make sure the library got a stadium-seated auditorium for the many future shows and events she's planning to present. Even when the architect miscalculated the costs, Carrie--with ghost Evelyn Havers' help--came up with an alternate plan to keep the auditorium stadium-seated. And so she has a sense that this is "her" auditorium, to be used for adult programs as has always been the case. But now Marion, the children's librarian, would like to offer some children's programs in the auditorium. Carrie soon sees the reasoning behind this. She realizes she's been a bit too possessive and quickly works out a solution that suits both her and Marion.

 

The first murder victim, Martha Mallory, was having an affair. But it turns out that the husband was also having an affair or at least was too interested in Carrie’s assistant, Susan. Will Carrie try to warn Susan that her basis in the relationship is all wrong?

After Martha is murdered, Carrie discovers that Susan and Ron have a budding romance going. Carrie is dying to tell Susan that Ron isn't great boyfriend material. The man is more than thirty years older than her. Evelyn reminds Carrie that Susan's romance isn't her business. Once again, Evelyn tells Carrie that not all romantic couples resemble her and Dylan.

 

Martha, as it turns out, was a blackmailer. Not so much in money; her method was coercion. Why, when Susan was ashamed, did she finally admit to Carrie that Martha forced her to make a copy of a famous artist’s painting?

Susan is horrified by what Martha has pulled, and she's afraid she'll be arrested if Martha tells the authorities, as she said she would, that Susan tried to sell her a copy of another artist's work. Though Martha has told Susan not to tell anyone about this‑—not Ron, not Carrie—Susan finally tells Carrie because she trusts Carrie. Besides, Martha is now dead and can't bully her any longer.

 

When Dylan has to go out of town a second time about his painting and for the Feds about forged art[CB1] , why does Carrie over-react?

When Dylan opened his office in New Haven, Carrie was relieved that he would no longer be going all over the country and abroad to track down stolen paintings and gems. But here he is again, flying out of town to help the Feds in a forged art case that is connected to the painting he's recently inherited. Also, Dylan was assaulted and ended up in the hospital when the thieves stole his painting. Carrie is afraid he'll be hurt again.

 

Are there really such things as deeds to houses anymore? We never got one when we paid off our house.

I'm sure those of us who are homeowners all have legal papers indicating that we own a particular property. Hence, a deed.  

 

Why does Carrie want to keep her own bank account after she is married?

It's part of her independence. She wants to have money to spend on whatever she likes without feeling obliged to discuss it with Dylan. I think it's something all married women should have.

 

Carrie eats lots of beet salad in this book. Do you have a favorite beet salad recipe to share? Is it a holiday thing because most beets are red ?

I don't, but I just finished making a beet dish—peeling and cutting up beets, coating the pieces with olive oil, garlic, salt and onion powder, then roasting them in the oven. When the beets are soft, coat them with a mixture of Balsamic vinegar and honey and roast 10 minutes more.

 

What is next in your writing future, Marilyn?

I've finished writing the eighth and final book in the Haunted Library series, and I've just completed a short story for an anthology. Soon I will be starting my new series.

 

Elaine,

Thank you for interviewing me.

Marilyn