As mentioned before, I am writing Covering a Crime, the ninth book in my Isabel Long Mystery Series. And as I give Isabel another case to solve, I have discovered I need to get a better handle on all of the characters I’ve created, and frankly, there are many.
Number eight, Finding the Source, was published last May. Since then I have been involved with other books and now screenplays. As I pass the one-third point for Covering a Crime, I’ve decided I need to reacquaint myself with the characters from this series and their back stories. Perhaps a character from an earlier book might fit nicely in the one I am writing.
First, there are those characters who have appeared with Isabel Long in all or many of the books in this series. The regulars includes Maria, her 93-year-old mother and partner in crime, that is, solving them; Jack, who owns the Rooster and is a love interest; the Old Farts, those gossipy old me who hang out in the backroom of the general store; Annette Waters, that tough gal who runs a junkyard and hires Isabel in the second book. The list goes on.
Then there are those characters who are one and done, often victims or perps or just minor persons of interest for a particular case although they might get a reference in a subsequent book. Or I could bring them back.
I actually started a character list before writing number eight but didn’t get very far. Some on the list have a good description, others just a name. But a lot are MIA.
Here are typical entries:
LIN PIERCE: Isabel ‘works’ for him starting in no. 2; pays her a buck a day and he gets a cut of what she makes as a P.I.; mostly does personal injury cases; fuddy-duddy; has small farm; sells biz to Bob Montgomery in no. 5; hires her in no. 6 to find his sister who was abducted as a baby in the family’s front yard in Jefferson.
ESTELLE CRANE: victim in no. 4; 59 at the time; gutsy co-owner and editor of The Observer; maiden name Templeton; father Charles Templeton; married Hamilton Crane, kind of a drunk who died in a crash two years before Estelle; when Charles died, Estelle and sister Alice took it over when they couldn’t sell the paper; Estelle had to drop out of grad school.
I include the names of the bands that play at the Rooster. The list so far: Country Bumpkins, Cowlicks, Junkyard Dogs, Hunters and Gatherers, Back Door Men, Country Plowboys, and Wild Fire.
There are pets like Isabel’s cat, Roxanne, and her dog, Maggie. Jack Smith inherited three mutts from his sister who don’t like Isabel: Shirley, Pete and Suzie.
So the other day, I grabbed the stack of Isabel Long paperbacks and started with the first, Chasing the Case.
I skim the paperback, looking for names and jotting down a brief bio in the document on my laptop. Several will need updating as I make my way through the series. Then I will put them in some sort of order so I can reference the list easily.
My goal is one book a day. I will be starting no. 4, Killing the Story, later today, which means I will be adding Isabel’s arch-nemesis Police Chief James Hawthorne to the list. Isabel can’t seem to shake that guy.
HEADS-UP: The Unforgiving Town is a mystery although not part of the Isabel Long Mystery Series. I am making it free for Kindle readers on Friday, Aug. 28 to Sunday, Aug. 30. My goal is to get more readers and reviews. Don’t worry. I will remind you all on Friday.