New novel published

Yes, it's true. My new novel, Dolly Games is published and will be ready for purchase in about 24 hours. That's Friday, November 18th.

The novel predates the other novels that I have used the characters, Carl Tanner, a Lakota Sioux detective, Julie Shepherd, a former actress who tired of Hollywood and its seamy underbelly and Isaiah Decker, a smart-assed clown who nevertheless has a deep and solemn side. Their original partner, DeeDee Barton, a woman with hidden depths, is included. This story takes place prior to the adoption of the STD Detective Agency for their business name and shows how the group interacted with each other. We also learn how DeeDee Barton came to leave the agency, and why.

I think this story was one of the most satisfying for me to write because it forced me to pay more attention to plotting and storyline. There are plot twists within it that I had to engineer carefully so that they were neither transparent or appeared to have been pulled out of the air. The motivations of the characters had to be strong and true to human emotions. As with all my stories, I tried to exhibit the things in life that motivate people to take the actions that they do. I have tried to make the story both gritty and romantic to show that the softer side of very nearly anyone is always beneath the surface of their apparent personality.

For inspiration, I had to look no further than some of the old film noir movies of my youth. The machinations of powerful people are in the background, but can be felt by the pricipals of the story in every action that sets the circumstances for the plot.

It is my hope that those of you who read this novel will be suitably horrified and appalled by the crimes of Dolly Dagger and follow the actions of Carl Tanner and his partners with relish.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Congruencies, It Happens Every Day and others.