Real-life mysteries exist all around us-life experiences, questions without answers. These are just begging to be put into a cozy mystery, and I am happy to oblige.
Take houses, for example. Old houses have a history of their own. My parents moved a few times during my childhood, so I lived in several different houses as I grew up. One house, in particular, stands out in my memory because it was said to be haunted.
It was known as the Hastings House and I wrote a story about it for The Tahlequah Daily Press back in 1985. I remember the old hardware on the doors, the beautiful floors, the fireplaces. I never actually felt as if I belonged in that house. It was not a welcoming house to me, maybe because it had been meant for someone else.
Built during the nineteenth century by W. W. Hastings for his fiance, it had a sad story behind it. The woman Mr. Hastings planned to marry died before the house was completed. It was a lovely place, but I always felt it was not a happy place.
The Ned McNeil moonlight mysteries all have an old house at the center of the plot. Or, an old church. It’s fun to weave real-life mysteries, tweaked a bit here and there, into the fabric of a cozy mystery.
Speak Your Mind