Murder Gone Missing: A Southern California Mystery
Cozy Mystery/Soft Boiled Mystery
2nd in Series
Level Best Books (April 10, 2018)
Paperback: 262 pages

Synopsis

Newly minted lawyer Corrie Locke has taken a vow of abstinence. From PI work, that is. Until her best friend Michael finds his bully of a boss stabbed in the back after confronting him earlier that day. Michael panics, accidentally tampering with the crime scene…which could lead the cops to Michael instead of the real culprit. He turns to Corrie to track down the killer. She doesn’t need much coaxing. Her late great PI dad taught her the ropes…and left her his cache of illegal weaponry.

They return to the scene of the crime, but the body’s missing. Racing against time, Corrie dredges a prestigious Los Angeles college in pursuit of clues. All she finds are false leads. Armed with attitude and romantic feelings toward Michael, Corrie dives into a school of suspects to find the slippery fugitive. Will she clear Michael’s name before he’s arrested for murder?

Guest Post

What’s in a Character Name?

Lemony Snicket, Charlie Bucket, Voldemort, Sherlock Holmes, Scarlett O’Hara, Huckleberry Finn…the list goes on and on. A character can leap off the page and onto the reader’s shoulder with the right name. The names themselves burst with personality. How do writers conjure up these names? Sometimes, the name “pops” into one’s head (Corrie Locke jumped right in my head, first thing. I pictured a strong female who believes caving in is not an option and who thrives on risky situations). Other times, names are carefully selected. I’m going to focus on the latter since there’s no accounting for the head-popping.

Names set the tone for the book. What if Scarlett had been Susan? Or Huckleberry had been Harry? It wouldn’t be the same. A sampling of the stories behind my namings:

Michael and James: These are the real life, middle names of my favorite men. I wanted classic, strong names for heroes that represented every man…if every man was smart, brave, handsome, handy in the kitchen, and at the beck and call of the heroines in their lives.

Veera Bankhead: In high school, a student had this colorful surname, which I’d mentally filed away. She’s Corrie’s sidekick and friend. Gwenaveera (Veera, for short) is a derivative of Guinevere and reminds me of a resourceful, driven, loyal, noble, virtuous woman, or so I imagined from the Arthurian tales. Veera is resourceful, loyal, noble and almost virtuous, so it was a near perfect fit.

Alyce Scerbo: At one of my book signings, I ran a contest. Anyone who signed up for my newsletter would be entered into a drawing where the winner’s name would be used in my next book. Alyce Scerbo was the winner’s name. Alyce in MURDER GONE MISSING is a lanky murder suspect. The real Alyce happens to be a friend and New York City Rockette, from way back in the day. And she’s also a former Jersey girl with a lot of spunk and verve. I was happy to use such a unique and memorable name.

Squalley: Is short for Pasquale, yet another murder suspect in Book Two. Long ago, I met a house painter with the name of Pasquale, Squalley for short, and that fit my maintenance man slash inventor slash animal activist perfectly. Especially since I viewed the fictional Squalley as a slightly younger version of Al Pacino, if Al worked on a college campus and drank a lot of beer in between visiting places he shouldn’t be visiting.

Naming can be fun and help shape each character. And the beauty of character names? They can be changed if you find a better, more suitable one.

About the Author

Lida Sideris is an author, lawyer and all around book enthusiast. She was one of two national recipients of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America scholarship for her first novel, Murder and Other Unnatural Disasters. Murder Gone Missing is the second book in the Corrie Locke series. Like her heroine, Lida worked as an entertainment attorney in a movie studio. Unlike her heroine, she keeps her distance from homicides.

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