Elements of Julie Mulhern’s Country Club Series By E. B. Davis

In a previous blog, I listed my favorite series and decided to reread some of those series to pinpoint the elements that I liked and wanted to include in my own writing. I started this exercise by rereading Julie Mulhern’s Country Club series.

 

The plot is entirely character-driven. Ellison Walford Russell, the main character (presented in first person), solves the cases seamlessly in the course of her everyday life. There is no heart-felt declaration of a need to get involved for the sake of justice and stick her nose where it doesn’t belong. Ellison belongs in her close-knit country club world. She’s one of them as her parents and grandparent were before her. The cases presented in this series are similar to Closed-Circle mysteries, in which a small number of people are isolated when a crime occurs and the killer has to be one of those present. It is not so much the location isolation in this series, but the tightly-drawn social circle. It’s more akin to the small-town mystery even if located in the midst of Kansas City, MO. The police need Ellison to navigate and translate this inner circle. That isn’t to say that she, her family, and friends can’t be on the suspect list, but seriously, not the Walfords, whose integrity is above suspicion.   

 

The series is set in the 1970s when I was in college. Julie presents an accurate portrayal of the times in terms of the generations’ attitudinal differences, changing values, and historically accurate detail. What compels me to buy these books is the humor and complex relationships Ellison has with her family, dog (Max), and Mr. Coffee machine. I also appreciate Ellison’s perspective/insights. As a young woman during this time, I failed to see the changes that were occurring around me (or like most youth, the world revolved around me). Ellison is fifteen years older and provides the maturity I lacked.

 

The humor covers slap-stick, situational, and sarcasm. The slap-stick often involves Max, her dog. The situational when someone is trying to put logic on emotional/chaotic scenes resulting in non sequiturs. And sarcasm is provided by her daughter Grace to her or Ellison to her mother, Frances. Unfortunately, those scenes are too long to present here.

 

Ellison’s Relationships:

 

·      Her contentious relationship with her mother, Frances, usually adversarial, but at times fully harmonic. In pinch times, she emulates her mother to get her own way, knowing how strong, overbearing, and powerful her mother is to fight. And yet, she does not want to be like her mother.

‘“Ellison takes after Frances that way.’ Aunt Sis skewered me with a look she’d borrowed from Mother. ‘The two of you are more alike than you’ll admit.’

Aunt Sis was wrong. So wrong. Mother was a force of nature. I was a gentle breeze. Mother pushed and prodded and got her way. I made polite suggestions. The wind (Aunt Sis accounted for most of the first bottle) was talking.

‘Has Frances ever backed down?’ Aunt Sis demanded. ‘From anything?’

‘No,’ I admitted.

‘Neither have you.’”                            Stayin’ Alive                Loc 53

 

“With too many martinis, there’s no telling what she’d [Frances] say. But I’d wanted her at my back when I faced Anarchy’s family. She might be an iron-willed, take-no-prisoners bully, but she was my bully.”           Lyin’ Eyes Page 121

 

·      Her loving relationship with her daughter, Grace, a teenager, who is dealing with the loss of her father, a changing mother, and her own immaturity and growth.

“Frances Walford made a point of holding her anger close, like a mother with a newborn baby. I frowned. Tomorrow, I’d marry the man of my dreams, and she’d rather nurse a grudge than enjoy the weekend. Watching the haughty tilt of her chin, I vowed to never, ever punish Grace with cold anger.”  Lyin’ Eyes  Page 106

 

·      Her honest, but nonjudgmental relationship with her best friend, Libba, who has different, less conservative values.

Libba to Anarchy on Ellison: “Frances blames you for Ellison’s new independence, but she’s wrong. It’s all Ellison. She finally grew a pair.”    Lyin’ Eyes Page 120

 

·      Her exasperated relationship with her dog, Max, a source of comic frustration and yet also a great protector.

“A deep growl had me levitating from my bed. Grrr. I wiped the sleep from my eyes. ‘What’s wrong, Max?’….I considered my options. Max didn’t growl wolf.”

                                                                             Lyin’ Eyes Page 129

 

·      Her love relationship with her Mr. Coffee machine—her perfect man—fulfilling, steadfast, always on time, and who doesn’t argue.

“’Is that why you talk to Mr. Coffee?’ She [Grace] gave me a cheeky grin.

‘Among other reasons.’ Mr. Coffee was also cheerful, dependable, and generous.

‘You realize he can’t talk back?’

‘Neither can Max, but I talk to him too.’ Mr. Coffee and Max did talk back. That Grace didn’t hear them was not my fault.”                                 Lyin’ Eyes   Page 142

 

“’She tried to grab Beau, and Max lunged for her. I thought he might rip her throat out. Then, she ran away.’ I loved my dog.”     Killing Me Softly   Page 162

 

Ellison is in transition. She has one foot in the past due to her upbringing and unsuccessful marriage, and one foot in the present, taking control of her life with the realization that her future can be something different. This transition is also echoed in the 1970s social changes that are occurring on a national level.

 

·      Having been brought up to be a supportive spouse, her art career, looked upon as a hobby, is making her famous.

“My late husband had done things I didn’t like to think about. True, he’d been an upstanding member of the community. True, he’d been a good provider. True, he’d adored our daughter. But Henry’s faults as a husband outweighed the good.

He’d cheated on me with friends. He’d cheated on me with strangers. He’d cheated on me with women who carried handcuffs and whips. To say our marriage wasn’t in the greatest shape before I did the unforgivable was an understatement.

My unforgivable sin?

I earned more money than he did.”       Telephone Line             Loc 478

 

·       She wants equality in her relationships and for herself, her daughter, and for all women.

“She stared at her hands folded in her lap. ‘Mr. Brown says I make a nice second income.’ Her bare left hand drew my gaze.

‘It’s not a second income, is it?’

‘No, ma’am.’”                                           Lyin’Eyes                     Page 61

 

Anarchy, Ellison’s new significant other, has grown up in a very similar and uncompromising way, except that his folks are the polar opposite of Ellison’s. They are left-coast liberals who look down their noses at the Walford’s wealth, status, and conservative views. Anarchy’s conventional ways are his rebellion. Ellison’s unconventional ways are her rebellion, declaring her independence and embracing her success. She empowers herself. All the parents are aggrieved! Such lovely irony and humor. I can only hope to come close.

 

In the middle of this series, Julie’s publisher decided to quit. She is now self-publishing this series along with her new series, the Fields’ Guide mysteries. I hope she will keep the Country Club mystery series going. I know that many authors get bored by their first successful series and want to write greener books, but this series is a winner. The choreography of plot and backstory creates the best of reads.

 

What elements do you plant in your stories?