The Burden of Hate (An Annie Collins Mystery) by Helen Starbuck

Category: Adult Fiction (18+), 216 pages

Genre: Mystery

Publisher: Routt Street Press

Release date: March 2020

Synopsis

How far would you go for someone you love? How much hate would you need to commit murder? Revenge. Hate. Fear. Not exactly traditional wedding gifts. But when convicted killer Ian Patterson escapes from prison, operating room nurse Annie Collins and fiancé assistant district attorney Angel Cisneros are forced to confront these realities head on. Will Ian Patterson’s quest for revenge toward the two people responsible for sending him to prison—Annie Collins and Angel Cisneros—bring them face to face to settle the score once and for all? Find out why Kirkus Reviews calls The Burden of Hate, “A thriller that offers a master class in suspense.”

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Interview with Helen

Where did you find the inspiration for The Annie Collins Mystery Series?

The idea for The Mad Hatter’s Son, originated when I worked at a major hospital in Denver. I helped care for a patient with puzzling, difficult to diagnose, neurological symptoms. I thought at the time it would make a good plot. The book is based on the clinical presentation of that patient, not the actual patient.

The second book, No Pity In Death, centers around mercy killing in a hospital. Nurses as killers fascinates me because intentionally killing a patient is so antithetical to what it means to be a nurse.

The third book, The Burden of Hate, deals with the consequences of the main characters’ actions coming home to roost. I believe that everything we do—even choosing to do nothing—has consequences, and those consequences are not always clear.

Are any of the main characters based on people you know or yourself?

My main character Annie Collins is an OR nurse and I based her on my professional experiences. Annie is a lot like me in terms of curiosity and sense of humor, but she’s much braver.

The other main character is Angel Cisneros, an assistant DA in Denver. He isn’t based on anyone I know; he’s just the type of man I like and would trust implicitly as Annie does.

Secondary characters continue throughout the series—Homicide Detective Alex Frost, Ian Patterson, and Annie’s friends Chip Elliott and Maddie Doyle. Her friends are an amalgamation of nurses I know. The detective is a bit like my father, a tolerant, amused, and frustrated mentor. I’ve never known anyone like Ian Patterson, but I based him on psychological profiles and how I imagined he would act and think.

What kind of research did you do to bring a sense of realism and accuracy to the storyline?

I conferred with a doctor who had helped care for the patient who inspired the first book to ensure I was remembering the clinical course correctly. I consult with an emergency room doctor, an ER nurse, and a surgeon to ensure the medical scenes are correct.

I consulted with a homicide detective regarding investigations and police procedures. Online research into newspaper accounts of famous nurse mercy killers and the prison system in Colorado was very helpful.

I learned an amazing amount about police work and crime at the Writers’ Police Academy conference. To accurately describe handling a gun, I took a class at a local shooting range.

As an author, what do you enjoy most about the writing process, and what feels like a chore?

I love when the ideas are flowing and characters are ‘talking’ to me and becoming real. Proofing is a chore, and I’m not good at it. I have to rely on beta readers to proof my writing at various stages and a professional to proof the manuscript before I send it for layout.

Do you have any new books in the planning or writing stage?

I have a new book that debuted in December titled, Finding Alex. It’s romantic suspense set in Denver. A woman—assaulted, left for dead, and amnesic—is the only surviving victim of a killer. To solve the crime, the homicide detective in the story must try to identify her, which proves nearly impossible. It’s available on Amazon and other book retailers in paperback and ebook.

About the Author

Helen Starbuck is a Colorado native, former OR nurse, and award-winning author of the standalone romantic suspense novel Legacy of Secrets, and the Annie Collins Mystery Series. She loves mysteries, suspense, romance, and any book that is well written. She’s a huge fan of books with independent, strong, women characters and, as Neil Gaiman says, “…stories where women save themselves.”

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