An Interview With Marilyn Levinson/Allison Brook

by Grace Topping

Marilyn Levinson, who also writes under the name of Allison Brook, is a wonderful example of someone who found a second career as a writer. After retiring from teaching, Marilyn began writing and has been very successful at it. The latest book in her Haunted Library Mystery series, Booked on Murder, will soon be released. It follows on the heels of numerous books Marilyn has written for adults and children. Marilyn joins me today to discuss her long writing career.

Booked on Murder

Librarian Carrie Singleton must catch a killer before she can say, I do, in the 8th delightful installment in Agatha Award-nominee Allison Brook’s Haunted Library Mystery series.

Carrie Singleton is ready to kiss the single life goodbye. Her wedding to Dylan Avery is just a few weeks away, and a happy ending is about to be hers. But when a body is found on the lawn of their wedding venue, happily-ever-after is looking deadlier than ever.

The victim turns out to be Billy Carpenter, a young man recently released from prison after serving time for a bank robbery. The stolen money he’d buried is gone and Carrie and the police suspect Billy’s two alleged co-conspirators, his friends Luke Rizzo and Tino Valdez. But then Luke is murdered and Tino is nowhere to be found.

With no leads and only a week to go before her big day, Carrie is on the hunt for clues. She hopes to wrap up this investigation with a neat bow before she and Dylan tie the knot. Carrie has something old, something new, and something borrowed ready for her walk down the aisle. Now she needs to find the killer without becoming the 'something blue.'

 

 

Welcome, Marilyn/Allison.

 

Booked on Murder (written as Allison Brook) is the eighth and final book in your Haunted Library Mystery series. What made you decide to conclude Carrie Singleton’s story?

With book number eight completed, Carrie's story arc is complete. In Death Overdue, we meet Carrie, a rootless young woman with no close friends, about to leave town. By the end of Booked on Murder, Carrie is a grounded, newly-married woman, with a career and many friendships, who contributes to her community. If I were to continue the series it would turn into something a la Mr. and Mrs. North because in the last few books Dylan is involved in Carrie's adventures and investigations.

 

 

One of the biggest challenges a mystery author faces is justifying why the main character gets involved in a murder investigation. With only weeks before her wedding, why does Carrie Singleton try to solve the murder of a recently released bank robber?

 

It was difficult for them not to get involved since Carrie and Dylan discover the body on Victor Zalinka's lawn, where they are to be married in a few weeks.

 

 

Over the eight books in your Haunted Library Mystery series, Carrie has changed dramatically. What do you think accounted for that the most?

 

The way things go, Carrie is given many opportunities to grow in her personal life, her career, and solving mysteries. Each time she rises to meet the challenge. She also is smart enough to appreciate the relationships offered to her—from Angela Vecchio, who quickly becomes her best friend; from Evelyn, who offers her help in solving crimes as well as personal advice, and by nurturing her relationship with Dylan, even when she has doubts that leading a so-called normal life is possible for her. Carrie also took pains to improve her relationship with each of her parents and to accept their limitations.

 

 

Your short story, Stabbed in the Heart, was recently published in the anthology First Comes Love, Then Comes Murder. Do you write short stories often?

 

These days I'm so busy writing novels, I don't have time to write short stories. I was delighted when Teresa Inge asked me to write a story for this anthology. Which, by the way, I am reading and enjoying. I hope to write more short stories in the future.

 

 

Some of your earlier books, including your Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Series, are being republished. How did that come about?

 

I think this is an example of how writing and publishing books and being a part of the writing community will lead to more of your books being published. A few years ago, when I'd mentioned to our dearly beloved and departed agent, Dawn Dowdle, that I was looking for someone to help me with my website, she told me to contact her friend and client, Kelly Moran. As Kelly redid my website, she got to see the books I'd written and the reviews they had received. When Kelly announced she and a few others were starting Rowan Prose Publishing at the start of 2024, I asked if she would look at the first novel I'd ever written. She said she would, and since she knew I was taking back a slew of books from a publisher that was in the process of changing hands, she asked to republish those as well. This year, Murder a la Christieand Murder the Tey Way have been republished with RPP. Next year, four more of my books will be. 

 

 

This has been a busy year for you with the release of Booked on Murder, the republishing of some of your earlier mysteries and your novels for kids, and a short story publication, among other things. How do you juggle all of your writing activities?

 

With great difficulty, since I'm a bit older now and can work just so many hours a day. This is the first time I have two deadlines in one year--the first book in my new Dickens Island series and the third Rufus book. Writing guest blogs and interviews; sharing news about great reviews and sales; writing my monthly newsletter all take a good deal of my time. 

 

 

Along with the republishing of your novels for kids, And Don’t Bring Jeremy and Getting Back to Normal, I understand you are also going to write three new books for kids. What inspired you to return to writing novels for kids?

 

I envisioned writing two more books after Rufus and Magic Run Amok. Dawn got me a contract for four books, and I had no trouble coming up with an idea for the fourth in the series.

 

 You’ve said that your high school English teacher discouraged your writing. You sure proved her wrong. What would you say to someone who wants to write but has been discouraged by others?

 

(It was a him, and I found out later that other students thought the world of him.) If you have the desire—no, the need—to write, then you will write. That desire has to be strong enough to overcome other people's doubts. Sometimes the urge to write will come years later. The desire and determination will decide whether or not a person becomes a writer.

 

 

Looking back on your writing career, what was the most important or pivotal thing that motivated you to write?

 

I suppose it was the desire to tell a story. Many stories, as it turned out. Now, of course, writing is part of my life. I can't point to one event or insight that started me off on a writing career, though when I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a writer or a ballet dancer. You know which one won out.

 

 

What do you find the most challenging to write—mysteries, romantic suspense, short stories, or novels for kids?

 

I find them all equally challenging. When I'm in the middle of a project, I see myself in the scene I'm writing about. That said, the storylines of my mysteries and suspense novels are more complicated. Still, one can only be in the minute and write line by line.

 

 

I’ve heard you may have a new mystery series in the works. Can you tell us about it? What author name do you intend to use?

 

Once again, I am Allison Brook. I love my new Dickens Island series. You won't find Dickens Island on any map because it's my creation. I set it down in the middle of the Long Island Sound, between Long Island and Connecticut. My sleuth, Delia Dickens, has returned to the island and is living in an old Victorian house with her 15-year-old son Connor. There's a murder, of course, Delia's bickering aunt and uncle, a hidden room, a ghost, and a bearded collie. Lots of fun! I'm two-thirds through writing the first book, Death on Dickens Island.

 

 

What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned since you started writing fiction?

 

I never run out of ideas for plots or how to resolve a difficult writing situation. Possible ideas will present themselves as I write. If they don't, I can ask for help from my small group of writers. We're there to help and support one another. I suppose that's two things: 1) My brain has been trained to provide solutions and 2) it's good to be in a group of writers who offer ideas and suggestions to one another. Sometimes the simple act of writing out a problem in an email will prod my own mind to come up with the perfect answer.

 

 

Thank you, Marilyn/Allison

 

 

You can learn more about Marilyn Levinson/Allison Brook and links to her books at https://www.marilynlevinson.com

 

 

Grace Topping is the author of the Laura Bishop Mystery Series.