Murder on the Med: A Kat Lawson Mystery
Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – On a cruise ship in the Mediterranean
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Level Best Books (June 4, 2024)
Print length ‏ : ‎ 271 pages

Synopsis

A travel feature turns into a deadly investigation for Kat Lawson when she discovers a missing passenger, presumed overboard, may have been used as a mule to smuggle ancient artifacts aboard Athena, a luxury cruise ship designed for retired seniors at sea.

Kat Lawson has got a plumb assignment, or so she thinks. Travel International has rewarded her with a vacation cruise along the Amalfi Coast to report on a new floating senior retirement center. After working undercover as a travel reporter for the FBI and barely escaping her last assignment with her life, Kat’s job is to relax, take notes, shoot pictures, and report back on an extravagant cruise from Napes to Positano. What could go wrong?

But once aboard, Kat quickly learns it’s not all smooth sailing. Kat finds a handbag for Dede Drummerhausen, the woman who owns the suite where Kat is staying, and hidden inside is a gold coin. Rumor abound. Passengers and some of their possessions have gone missing. The residents are restless, and some on board are suspicious of a travel reporter who might uncover their secret mission. When Athena’s captain discovers Kat snooping below deck, she soon realizes, like the antiquities hidden onboard, that she’s been kidnapped and that her job and her life are in danger.

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Guest Post

There is nothing about writing a series that feels familiar. In some respect, it’s easier because the author already knows the protagonist, and a lot of the back story has already been established. But, just like an author can’t get a character to do something on the page the character doesn’t want to do—believe me, that happens—neither can the author predict the tone of their next book. At least, that’s how it worked out for me when I sat down to write Murder on the Med.

I was in the mood for something light, a little escapism, something kooky, with characters that would try my protagonist’s patience and showcase another side of Kat Lawson’s personality. Maybe it’s just me, but I seemed to be attracted to quirky situations and odd personalities. I delight in seeking out the other than ordinary and finding a way to bring it to life on the pages of my books.

When I sat down to write Murder on the Med, book 3 in the Kat Lawson Mysteries, I needed a break from anything too dark. At the time, my ninety-nine-and-a-half-year-old mother (she would have insisted I include the half) was passing, and I had spent a considerable amount of time around her retirement center. We talked a lot about her life and what she liked to do. Reading was one of her favorite activities. She enjoyed entertaining, light reads with unusual characters and happy endings. Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers were two of her favorites. Mom always looked for the lighter side of a dark situation, and I believe she was my muse for Murder on the Med.

So it was not surprising when I started to look around for where I would place my next Kat Lawson Mystery that I would choose a retirement home or a variation of it anyway. I had even begun a journal of personalities: character sketches of people I met in the hallway or who would stop by Mom’s apartment to say hello — or goodbye.

One day, while I was waiting in the canteen for a quick bite to eat, a man swept up to my table on his scooter and slammed on the brakes.

“Well, who do we have here?”

I must have been the youngest thing he had seen all day, and at the time, I was at least seventy-three, and while I wasn’t much in the mood for company, I didn’t feel I could be rude.

I answered politely. “I’m just visiting.”

“Aren’t we all? Got a name? Mine’s Chip, like in Chippendales. You know, like those male strippers.” At this point, he pulled off his baseball cap, revealing a healthy head of grey hair in desperate need of shampoo and a slightly over-confident, if not a toothy smile.

It was an odd experience and bitterly sweet at the same time. Later, I would learn from one of the nursing staff that Chip, not his real name, had once been a Broadway choreographer but suffered from sundowner’s dementia and, while not a threat to anyone, he hadn’t had a visitor in over a year.

I completed my notebook full of characters; twin sisters who spiked their coffee, a daft old man who told wild stories, and more I won’t get into. I didn’t know what I would do with them, but I felt I needed to find a home for a group of harmless, aging, eccentric personalities in my next work, and then it came to me. I was sitting in a retirement home in the middle of the Arizona desert, miles from any source of water. It was hot, dry, and arid. But I knew where Kat’s next adventure would take place. I wanted it to be somewhere cool. Somewhere with a breeze. With water and lots of color. My mother would have liked that. So, I found a home for my new collection of colorful friends and put them together at sea—as a group of rogue seniors who trade their pensions for piracy as they sail into their sunset years.

When I finished Murder on the Med, one reviewer said it reminded her of an Agatha Christie story, and another referred to it as a great beach read. I couldn’t be happier. I had written a book my mother would have loved.

About the Author

Nancy Cole Silverman spent nearly twenty-five years in news and talk radio before retiring to write fiction. Silverman’s award-winning short stories and crime-focused novels, the Carol Childs and Misty Dawn Mysteries (Henry Press), are based in Los Angeles, while her newest series, the Kat Lawson Mysteries (Level Best Books), takes a more international approach. Kat Lawson, a former investigative reporter, has gone undercover for the FBI as a feature writer for a travel publication. Expect lots of international intrigue, vivid descriptions of small European villages, great food, lost archives, and non-stop action. Silverman lives in Los Angeles with her husband and thoroughly pampered standard poodle, Paris.

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