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| Author, Robert Thornhill |
Hello Everyone,
My guest today is local author, Robert Thornhill. I connected with Robert on the professional site LinkedIn. Although, I haven't read his Lady Justice series I was intrigued by his blurb and excerpt.
About the Author
Award-winning author, Robert Thornhill, began writing at the
age of sixty-six and in three short years has penned ten novels in the Lady
Justice mystery/comedy series, the seven volume Rainbow
Road series of chapter books for children, a cookbook
and a mini-autobiography.
Lady Justice and the Sting and Lady Justice and Dr.
Death and Lady Justice and the Vigilante won the Pinnacle Award for
the best new mystery novels of Fall 2011, Winter 2012 and Summer 2012 from the
National Association of Book Entrepreneurs.
Many of Walt’s
adventures in the Lady Justice series are anecdotal and based on Robert’s real
life.
Robert holds a master’s in psychology, but his wit and
insight come from his varied occupations, including thirty-three years as a
real estate broker. He lives with his wife, Peg, in Independence,
Missouri.
The Lady Justice novels are set in Kansas City.
The main character, Walt Williams, is a 69 year old officer with the Kansas City Police Department. He started the City Retiree Action Patrol. You can see what the acronym spells.
The series is mystery/comedy in the same genre as Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. The difference is that her characters are young and sexy and mine are old geezers like me.
Blurb
Members of the Midtown Book Club are found murdered.
It is just the beginning of a series of deaths that lead
Walt and Ox into the twisted world of a serial killer.
In the late 1960's, the Zodiac Killer claimed to have
killed 37 people and was never caught --- the perfect crime.
Oscar Roach, dreamed of being the next serial killer to
commit the perfect crime.
He left a calling card with each of his victims --- a
mystery novel, resting in their blood-soaked hands.
The media dubbed him 'The Librarian'.
Walt and the Kansas City Police are baffled by the cunning
of this vicious killer and fear that he has indeed committed the perfect crime.
Or did he?
Walt and his wacky senior cohorts prove, once again, that
life goes on in spite of the carnage around them.
The perfect blend of murder, mayhem and merriment.
Excerpt:
LADY JUSTICE
AND THE
BOOK CLUB MURDERS
PROLOGUE
Monthly meeting
of the Midtown Book Club at the home of Ed Weems
"Idiot!" Ed Weems mumbled
as he slammed the novel on the coffee table and slid his heavy black glasses
with the coke-bottle lenses up the bridge of his nose.
Larry Dunlop looked up from his own
book and grinned, "They caught him, didn't they?"
"Of course they caught him.
They always do," Ed replied. "One fingerprint --- the guy forgot to
wipe one fingerprint off of the light switch --- that's how they got him."
Larry put down his novel and
stretched, "I hope you weren't expecting the bad guy to get away with it.
People don't want the bad guys to win --- everyone roots for the guy wearing
the white hat. That's why, no matter how clever the perp is, he always gets
caught in the end. That's what sells books."
"Well I want to read a novel
about someone who commits the perfect crime. Any ideas?"
Oscar Roach had been listening to
the conversation with amusement. "Exactly what is your definition of a
perfect crime?"
"Well it seems pretty
obvious," Ed replied. "Someone commits a crime and gets away with
it."
"Too simplistic," Oscar
said with a smirk. "There are actually three definitions of a perfect
crime."
"Please enlighten us,
Master," Ed retorted sarcastically.
"Well, first of all, there are
some who believe that in order for a crime to be perfect, it must be
undetectable --- that it is committed and no one ever knows about it.
"For instance, with my job as
an orderly at the hospital, I could steal one pair of latex gloves from every
box in every exam room for a month and nobody would ever be the wiser --- they
just don't keep track of those things.
"Of course, if no one ever knew
that the crime was ever committed, it wouldn't make for much of a story in a
novel."
Ed was beginning to show interest,
"And the second kind?"
"The second kind is the subject
of most mystery novels --- a crime is committed --- the cops know about it, and
it becomes a cat-and-mouse game to see whether the perpetrator was clever
enough to avoid detection. Obviously your guy wasn't --- he left a
fingerprint."
"Okay, then what's the third
category?"
"The third category is when a
crime is committed, the police know who did it, but they can't prove it."
"An example please?"
"Sure. In 2009, there was a
jewel heist. The thief left behind his DNA, which led to an arrest.
Unfortunately for the police, the DNA was from identical twins. Neither of them
would talk, so it could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt which twin was
the thief."
Ed was impressed. "You seem to
know a lot about this subject."
"I've been looking into
it."
"Any particular reason?"
Oscar paused before he spoke,
"Because I'm going to do it."
Ed was taken by surprise. "Do
what?"
"Commit the perfect
crime."
Ed and Larry exchanged worried
glances.
"What the hell are you talking
about, Oscar?" Larry asked. "You're a middle-aged hospital orderly
for chrissakes!"
"Exactly my point," Oscar
replied with resolve.
"My life is pathetic and so are
yours --- and so is this stupid club."
"What's so bad about our
club?" Ed asked indignantly.
"Do I really have to spell it
out? We started out with ten members and one-by-one they've been dropping away
--- mostly because they've found something better to do with their lives ---
like Liz, who moved back to Columbia to finish her degree at MU. All that's left is us losers."
"Hey, speak for yourself, you
jerk!" Larry retorted.
"Oh please, Larry. You're a
forty-year-old custodian in a middle school who spends his day cleaning up
after snotty-nosed kids, and Ed, you spend your life in a cubicle doing data
entry into a computer for an huge accounting firm that doesn't even know you
exist.
"When was the last time that
you did something REALLY exciting --- something that made you feel like you
were living on the edge?
"When was the last time you got
laid --- or even had a date?
Neither of them responded.
"Have I made my point?"
"Don't you think committing a
crime is a bit extreme?" Ed asked. "Wouldn't it be more logical to
plan a canoe trip or maybe a weekend at Branson?"
Oscar shook his head in disgust.
"Nope, an evening with Andy Williams is not my idea of living on the edge
--- it has to be a crime --- and not just any crime --- murder.
"I'm going to commit the
perfect murder!"
Ed and Larry were speechless.
"I'm going to do it and I want
you two to do it too. Let's turn this pathetic club into something special ---
something that will make our hearts race --- something that will challenge our
intellect and something that will take us away from our dreary lives."
"But --- murder!" Larry
stammered. "I could never kill someone --- not on purpose anyway."
"It's not that big of a
deal," Oscar replied. "I see people die at the hospital every day.
Look at the obituaries in the Kansas City Star. Dozens of people die
every week.
"I'm not talking about killing
the Mayor or somebody like that. The streets are filled with the homeless and
prostitutes. Their lives already suck and we would be doing them and the city a
favor by getting rid of a few.
"Think of the challenge. We
each have read dozens of crime novels and watched countless TV shows. We know
what we have to do to commit the perfect crime. All we have to do is create our
plan and execute it.
"We can do this --- I know we
can!
"Are you in?"
