May 29, 2015 at 4:10 p.m.
Local author releases 15th mystery novel
Local author releases 15th mystery novel
The Loon Lake Mystery series is based in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, in a fictional town named Loon Lake, and has been dubbed, "'Fargo' meets 'Murder, She Wrote,'" according to a press release announcing the release of "Dead Rapunzel."
In "Dead Rapunzel," a wealthy widow is killed by a logging truck, and a witness claims she was pushed. The witness turns up dead.
"Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris finds herself dealing with malicious family members related to the dead woman, a cache of grisly paintings, and strange disturbances on the land surrounding the widow's contemporary mansion - all of which point to various people who may have wanted her dead," according to the press release.
Houston, born and raised in Rhinelander, moved away for over 30 years before coming back in 1996. At the time she planned on staying for six months, but nearly 20 years later she is still here.
By setting her books in the Northwoods, Houston said the setting has become "as much of a character as the characters."
Houston said she made three mistakes that brought her into fishing mysteries.
The first was basing a character on real people, neighbors with marriage drama.
"Then they took up marriage counseling, and all the juicy stories were gone," she said.
The next thing Houston learned was to show rather than tell a story.
Houston's third mistake was making a protagonist very much like herself, she said. She based a mystery in Kansas City, where she was living at the time, and then the plot took the story to Wisconsin.
A critic told her that the story up until the Wisconsin segment made him think she ought to go back to school, but the Wisconsin scenes, "sparkled."
"My favorite book of my own that I have written is always the one I have just finished," Houston said.
Having worked as a reporter, and being a self-described newspaper fanatic, Houston prides herself on research.
"For example, 'Dead Mama' was about the illegal traffic in body parts," Houston said. An expose in a Madison newspaper piqued her interest, she explained.
"The research is fun because my books are all backgrounded in a crime based on fact," she said.
"I hope readers find the new book to be as scary and interesting as the others," she added.
On June 26, Houston will sign copies of the book at the Rhinelander Book World between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Other dates in the book tour include:
June 3, 4 to 6 p.m., Janke Book Store, Wausau Wis.
June 6, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., BookWorld, Minocqua.
June 13, noon to 2 p.m., Once Upon A Crime, Minneapolis, Minn.
July 3, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., BookWorld, Eagle River.
Aug. 4, 7 p.m., Barnes & Noble Mystery Book Club, Wausau.
Aug. 27, 7 p.m., Boulder Junction Public Library.
Katie Perttunen may be reached at kperttun en@rivernewsonline. com.
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