An Interview with Susan Van Kirk by E. B. Davis

 

“But sometimes things are stranger than fiction.

Sometimes our assumptions are totally wrong.”

Susan Van Kirk, Death in a Ghostly Hue, Page 131

The past never leaves us…

Jill Madison and her brothers have never forgiven Quinn Parsons for driving drunk and killing their parents. How could they? When Parsons returns to Apple Grove from his six years in prison, he’s looking for redemption. But his thoughtless actions, so long ago, hurt more residents than the Madisons, and murderous motives abound when it comes to Quinn Parsons. His lifeless body is soon found at the bottom of a staircase. And who threatened him in front of a large cross-section of the town? Jill’s brother, Andy Madison.

When Andy is arrested and charged with murder, Jill and her bestie, Angie Emerson, seek to prove his innocence without forgetting that if Andy is not the killer, someone else is—someone dangerous who may be watching.

Meanwhile, the Old Friends senior group at Jill’s art center is rehearsing a radio-play of Oscar Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost,” a ghostly story of forgiveness. Strange happenings convince Jill there’s a real ghost at the art center. To prove to herself she’s not going crazy, she begins to investigate the center’s dark history.

She discovers the past is never far away.

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 Death in a Ghostly Hue is Susan Van Kirk’s third book in the Art Center Mystery series. She takes the series full circle when main character Jill discovers the truth of her parents’ deaths, which they thought was the result of drunk driving.

 Jill feels a bit crazy due to all the events happening in her life. Ivan Truelove, the nasty board director who is critical of her, starts needing her and acting human, which is weird. Then, items go missing in her office, indicating that the art center may be haunted. And her brother, Andy, is thrown in jail without bail for murder under the supervision of a bully named Jeeter, who now is the detective in charge of the case. During high school, he picked on Andy. Now, Jeeter is totally in charge of Andy.

 

 Susan has some strong themes running through this book. The radio-play, a ghost, and the sibling’s unforgiving attitude represent the old religious concept of reaping what you sow, redemption, and forgiveness. By the end of her investigation, Jill realizes that sometimes random things happen for which blame can’t be placed. And that there are very few villains and heroes. Humans are a fraught mix of good and bad.

 

 Please welcome Susan Van Kirk to the other side of WWK.                      E. B. Davis

 

Now that I’ve read all three of your books about Jill Madison and her family, I know you said you organized them from the beginning as a trilogy. Was that unlike your previous books?

Yes. My Endurance Mysteries continue as a series, but I plot and plan each one. When I signed a three-book contract with Level Best Books for a new series, it allowed me to decide what each book would be about so there was a natural arc to the series. I’ve really liked that. I planned the first book to be about family and community, the second book about second chances, and the third book about forgiveness. Of course, there are some minor themes too, but overall, the three books center around a terrible car accident that killed the parents of the Madison now-adult children. That event looms over all three books, but each time in a different way. Sometimes families go in a different direction when there is a death in the family. I know that happened with my family, and it affected all of us forever.

 

Quinn Parsons served a six-year prison term. Five years for reckless homicide and one year for driving under the influence. That seems like a light sentence for killing two innocent people outright in a head-on collision. Is that really the sentence in Illinois?

Yes. I checked with Illinois law and with a local judge who often gives me legal advice. I felt the same way, but it is the case. This is another reason people might have a grudge against this young man who wreaked so much havoc on the town.

 

 The seniors’ group Old Friends Talk Art (OFTA), put on a radio-play of “The Canterville Ghost” by Oscar Wilde. I was confused. At first, I thought they were putting on a podcast, then I thought it was a play. What distinguishes it as a radio-play? Why do they need costumes?

Our local art center put on a radio-play of “Arsenic and Old Lace.” Because we had an actual audience like the audience in my book, we opted for costumes. But an old-time radio play means you are basing it on the old radio broadcasts without a live audience. The actors sit on the stage and approach one or two microphones as their time to speak arrives. This way, they don’t have to memorize lines. They still have rehearsals, and the sound effects are all done within sight of the audience, although some are recorded. As one of the characters in my book mentions, it’s easier to put on a radio-play because they don’t have to memorize all the lines. That might be difficult for a few of them.

 

Why was OFTA started?

In real life at the local art center, a group of local citizens thought it would be great to have a place for older residents to learn more about art and creativity. They organized their group, which anyone can join, to meet once a month and hear lectures from exhibit jurors, people in the region who do creative projects, and artists who have exhibits. They also take fieldtrips to other art centers and exhibits. It’s a wonderful opportunity, and we have a good-sized population of seniors and retirees.

 

In Jill’s OFTA group, her custodian, Chad McKenna, suggested they start a group because the volunteers at the art center, largely seniors, wanted an opportunity to get together and enjoy creative activities. Jill has been energized by this group, and when they came to her wanting to do a radio-play, she was all in. It grew from there with sound effects, costumes, etc.

 

 As a tie in to the radio-play, Jill decides to display ghost art. Are there artists who specialize in ghosts?

Not that I know of, and I checked with our local art center and got the same answer. It’s a great idea for Jill to add art to the radio-play.

Since it’s a “radio” show, where are they getting all the sound effects? Do they know how they did it in the “old” days?

 They researched online for how sound effects worked in radio shows. Chad, their custodian who plays Sir Simon de Canterville, oversees sound effects. He recruits two of his old army buddies to help. They use real chains to rattle for the ghost, bacon frying for rain, a can of various nails and other objects that they shake for thunder, etc. It’s fun to watch them do these things as the play rehearsals go on. I also wanted to combat ageism a bit with this group that has so many skills.

 

Although none of the siblings have forgiven Quinn Parsons for killing their parents, Tom and Jill seem less angry, blunting their raw feelings. In seven years, why hasn’t Andy?

This is an excellent question, Elaine. Everyone deals with grief differently, including my characters. I believe it lies in their personalities and life experiences. Tom is a police detective who’s seen what anger can do to people. It can corrode their souls. It can destroy them. Also, he’s well grounded with a wife he loves and two children he cherishes. Jill left Apple Grove and worked in the art scene in Chicago. She was away from the constant reminders, although it was hard for her, at first, to return to her hometown and the house she grew up in with her parents. But as time has passed through two books, she has found her place in the family and come to terms with the loss of her parents. This leaves Andy, the middle child. He’s in touch with his feelings and writes and plays his own music with his rock band. His job at the gift shop, owned with his partner Lance, is to be the welcoming face of the business. He knows everyone in town and listens to their stories. He commiserates with their losses. But he hasn’t confronted his own anger over that car accident. He’s stuffed it away where he doesn’t have to think about it…until Quinn Parsons returns.

 

After a series of things get lost in Jill’s office, she wonders if she has an actual ghost in the art center building. When she mentions the possibility to her boyfriend, Sam, the doctor, he treats her like a hysterical woman. On top of his crazy schedule that doesn’t allow them much time together and not taking her seriously, will Jill give Sam the deep six soon?

Sam does have a few rough edges that might be a deal-breaker. Jill and Sam are still in the early stage of their relationship, and if they decide to move in together, I think it will give her some time to consider if she can live with a man who doesn’t always share her opinions. But remember, she is a forgiving kind of person. Could be a bit stormy ahead, but relationships depend on communication and compromise.

 

There were irregularities about the accident. In the car that struck the parents, two of the three boys were in the back seat. Parsons, the driver, also claims he had no brakes. Wouldn’t the investigators have checked out these things at the time of the accident?

We never hear all the results of the earlier investigation. However, we are told that the front of the car was so smashed it wasn’t possible to check those front brake lines. On top of that, memories are vague on the part of the car’s occupants. They’d been drinking quite heavily. The two who survived have little recollection. It’s not until Quinn Parsons is hypnotized in prison that he remembers the brake failure. But he’s lied before…

 

Angie thinks because she works in a bar that her language skills are lacking. She is beefing up her vocabulary, but unfortunately, her speaking to suspects becomes entangled with words like “countenance,” and “perchance.” Will Jill ask her to stop, or will Angie get tired of it eventually?

While Angie is the best friend ever and would ride into hell for Jill, she is very unlike Jill in many ways. She has more common sense, less book-learning. That’s Jill’s territory. I think this is a phase Angie’s going through that will slide into the past.

 

Jill learns of Ivan’s tragic past in this book, which makes Jill try to cut him some slack. Will Ivan and Jill form a friendship? 

Highly doubtful. Ivan has driven her nuts, made her doubt herself, and been an all-around jerk. But their relationship needed some sort of resolution, so in the spirit of the overall book, I decided forgiveness might be the best choice for Jill. But it’s “forgive, but not forget.”

 

Jill characterizes her father when she says, “Patience was his middle name.” And yet, she is very impatient. Does she take after her mother?

Yes. Her father was the backbone of the family when it came to common sense, patience, kindness, and humor. Her mother, the sculptor, was more the organizer of the family. She was home more and had quite an influence on Jill, having her in her art studio from a very young age. But she didn’t have the patience and laid-back personality of her father.

Weirdly, Jill knows the origin of her next-door neighbor’s name, Tigger. What she doesn’t know is who he really is and what his job is. Will we find out more about Tigger?

I’m afraid he will go down in the history of the series as the mysterious next-door neighbor. If there were a fourth book, I think Jill would be beside herself with curiosity about him and his job. But right now, she’s a bit busy trying to figure out what to do to help Andy. Tigger has been a great ally in that situation, but his lips are sealed.

 

When a character from the nineteenth century speaks, you use language that was common during that time. Was it hard to find authentic language to use (i.e., anon and betimes)?

That came largely from my imagination, and a lot of reading of 19^th century literature. One thing you’ll never see is Daniel Lowry, the ghost, using contractions. The spoken language of educated people back then was much more formal. I simply tried to put myself in his position, but I also wanted him to be charming and funny. The language he spoke helped make that happen.

 

Like Jill, do you think the bad outweighs the good of social media?

Sadly, I think social media let the genie out of the bottle. We’ll never live without it again. But it’s only as good or evil as the motives and intelligence of the people who use it. In my mind, that might be the bigger question.

 

What’s next for Jill?

 Since this is the last book of the trilogy, I believe we must assume she and Angie will continue to get into minor trouble until she and Sam decide to make their relationship official. Then, my guess is they’ll grow up a bit, and like many of us, lose their sense of adventure as Jill and Sam start a family. Sad, but true, it will never be Neverland for Jill. So, I will wish her luck with Sam and a happy future. Angie will always be around as her BFF.