Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp - Chapter 9

cover design by Farah Evers

One of the things about writing a series of books is that certain elements of the protagonist's life and locale will appear over and over. In fact, as a lover of serial mysteries, I expect certain things in (almost) every book. For example, what would a Nero Wolfe novel be without a scene in the orchid room, or would we love Anna Pigeon books as much without the various National Parks as backdrops?

So, I am trying to determine, even at this early point, what are the key parts of an Ana Raven mystery. Based on the feedback I've received so far, people seem to love the descriptions of the rural area, and Ana's interactions with her friends. Chapter 9 has Ana exploring a back route to her house, revealing more of the county.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 9:

    I was a little confused, because I had already crossed the Petite Sauble River, back on Kirtland Road. So, had the road wandered north again, or where was I?
    The map quickly revealed that there was a small river, the Thorpe, coming in from the southwest and flowing into the Petite Sauble. I was only about two miles from my house, and could drive right home if there were still a bridge. I could see a matching dirt road with a guardrail across the water and realized it had to be the seasonal road that continued beyond my place.
    I looked upstream on the Thorpe River. Much to my amazement there was a bridge just a short distance away.

And yes, I am mapping the whole county on graph paper.

You can buy book 1, News from Dead Mule Swamp, for only 99¢ at Smashwords, or Amazon