How did a nice girl like you end up writing gritty mysteries?

I first met Laura Griffin at her first book signing and was impressed with what a lovely person she is.   I then read her book and was surprised that this lovey woman could write such tough, gritty novels.   Over and over, Laura has proved that she’s one of the best writers of romantic suspense around.  Her latest novel TWISTED released Tuesday.  Laura, I’m delighted to have you here today.  The blog is yours.

Hi, Jane, and thanks for having me today! I get this question a lot, actually. And I’m not sure how I ended up writing chilling suspense books, but it probably has to do with my newspaper background.  I started my career as a reporter, and I was always drawn to the hard news stories. I liked the excitement of going to a crime scene and interviewing cops and hearing eyewitness accounts.

Newspaper reporting turned out to be a great entrée into fiction. I learned to overcome my shyness about interviewing people, which helps me all the time while I’m writing books. Whenever I have a question about something–maybe a police procedure or something about forensic science, I try to track down an expert who can help me get the answer.    I also love to interview people when I’m starting a new story. No matter what my protagonist’s job is–whether it’s a police detective, or a forensic anthropologist, or a hair stylist–I want to meet someone who does that job and get a first-hand account of what it’s like. I want to hear about the sights, the smells, the challenges of their daily life.

My new book TWISTED features rookie police detective Allison Doyle, who is working her first big murder case when she meets FBI profiler Mark Wolfe. To learn about Allison’s job, I interviewed female cops and did a police ride-along in my community. Touring the FBI Academy at Quantico and talking to veteran agents helped me better understand my FBI hero.

I hope readers will enjoy TWISTED! I had so much fun writing this story. This is the fifth book in the Tracers series, and people often ask me if it’s necessary to read the books in order. It isn’t. Each book focuses on a different romantic couple and has a stand-alone mystery plot. So feel free to plunge right in!

* * *New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin started her career in journalism before venturing into the world of romantic suspense. She is the author of ten novels and has won numerous awards, including a RITA Award for Whisper of Warning. Laura lives in Austin, where she is working on the next book in her popular Tracers series. Find Laura on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LauraGriffinAuthor or visit www.lauragriffin.com.

 

 

 

10 thoughts on “How did a nice girl like you end up writing gritty mysteries?

      1. Hi Jane,
        Delphi is a fictional crime lab where an elite team of forensic scientists, known as Tracers, help police solve their toughest cases. The idea is really a combination of all the cutting-edge technology at the FBI lab (Quantico) and a “body farm” where they research decomp. It sounds pretty grisly, but really the center works as a backdrop for the mysteries that the characters investigate in the stories.

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