An Article from Lauren Carr: Inside Criminal Minds
It’s always a delight to feature a book written by Lauren Carr. Not only is Lauren an outgoing and vivacious author who is always willing to share, she also writes highly amusing mysteries that grab your attention. Throw in characters that grow on you and independent dogs that sometimes take over a scene, and you have a hit series.
Murder by Perfection is book three in the Thorny Rose Mysteries. Featuring the daughter of Mac Faraday (of the series so named) and the son of Josh Thornton (the Lovers In Crime series), fans were excited from the start. Once again Jessica Faraday and Murphy Thornton don’t disappoint. It’s a terrific story with romance, humor, and a complex mystery. You will find my review on Mystery Suspense Reviews.
Since Ms. Carr is on a virtual book tour right now hosted by iRead Book Tours, we are spotlighting her excellent new novel. She has also written an article for Jaquo that you will find below. You’ll appreciate her humor and insight. We always do. You will find a tour schedule at the end that includes links to Lauren’s other tour stops. Do check out some of them. Interviews, guest posts, and more reviews await you.
Enjoy!
Inside Criminal Minds
By Lauren Carr
Being a murder mystery writer is a strange profession.
Think about it. You spend your days thinking about murder. Most would assume you are strategizing how to solve murder mysteries. They don’t realize how much of that encompasses putting yourself in the mind of a criminal.
It’s not as insane as it sounds. Really. Believe me.
The best detectives look at a crime scene, take the evidence into account, and recreate the event. By doing this, they put themselves into the mind of the bad guy. From there, they can deduct who among their suspects “did it.”
Mystery writers must piece together the crime like a real detective—only with fictional victims, witnesses, and suspects, and make-believe crimes. This gives us an advantage over the real detectives. If a time or place doesn’t fit, then we can change it. With my current work in progress, I changed the arrival times of flights from Seattle to Pittsburgh to fit with the time of the murder. Can real homicide detectives do that? Nope. The FAA isn’t so accommodating in real life. That’s why I prefer my fictional world.
When it comes to plotting mysteries, authors have to jump into the mind of the killer to plan the murder or other crimes. It’s all part of putting together the complete puzzle—before scattering the pieces that make up the murder mystery throughout the novel. Of course, this means research—and scouring the Internet about things that normal folks don’t research.
The latest Thorny Rose Mystery, Murder by Perfection takes readers into the world of cosmetic surgery, which leads into organ transplants. Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday attempt to find togetherness by scheduling a weekly date night and end up taking a couple’s gourmet cooking course at the Stepford Kitchen Studio, owned by Chef Natalie Stepford―the embodiment of feminine perfection. Natalie’s brutal murder leads them to a cosmetic surgery clinic and black-market organ transplants.
Due to the Internet, most readers are extremely savvy. It takes only a Google-search for them to discover if the author fudged the facts. As a result, writers are obligated to not only do their research, but clearly think out how the crime had been committed—all in the name of making it ring true for the readers.
This means thinking like a criminal.
For Murder by Perfection, I had to think about what would go into setting up an illegal organ transplant clinic in an upscale Washington DC suburb. Hmmm, I thought, I’d need an operating room, staff, nurses, equipment. Plus, this would all need to happen under the cover of something legal.
From there, I had to ask myself where the organs came from. This meant researching what areas of the world (third world areas) where the black-market operations. Since these areas are so far removed from Washington, I had the task of figuring how to get the harvested organs to the patient in a timely manner, all under the radar. That meant a private airfield. Thus, I had to find airfields where private planes could fly in and out without going through customs. Then, there was the matter of locating patients in need of these illegally acquired organs.
But then, after all this research and planning, there is one more thing that the murder mystery writer needs to figure out. What does the bad guy do to get caught? You’ll need to read Murder by Perfection to find out.
Usually, during my research and plotting phase, I will ask questions and bounce ideas off people—sometimes asking what would come across as a bizarre question for a normal person. Last Sunday at church, I asked a physics professor how much damage a body hurled from a fifth-floor balcony could do to a police cruiser. I didn’t get a clear answer.
Always, I remind our friends and family that I am a mystery writer. I do all this research for good.
I often joke about if anything happens to my husband, I’m going to be in real trouble when the police look at the browsing history on my laptop. That’s why he feels so safe.
The Tour
Audiobook Details:
Book Title: Murder by Perfection by Lauren Carr
Series: Thorny Rose Mystery Series (Volume 3) Genre: Murder Mystery
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: Aug 28, 2018
Narrator: Mike Alger
Length: 8 hours, 32 minutes, unabridged
Tour dates: Oct 8 to Nov 2, 2018
Content Rating: PG (mild violence and sexual suggestion)
Book Description:
Perfection can be a fatal endeavor. Frustrated with their busy schedules, Murphy Thornton and Jessica Faraday attempt to find togetherness by scheduling a weekly date night. The last thing Jessica Faraday expected for her date night was to take a couple’s gourmet cooking course at the Stepford Kitchen Studio, owned by Chef Natalie Stepford―the model of perfection in looks, home, and business. When Natalie ends up dead and Murphy goes missing, the Thorny Rose detectives must peel back the layers of Natalie Stepford’s life to discover that the pursuit of perfection can be deadly.
To read reviews, please visit Lauren Carr’s page on iRead Book Tours.
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Now, Lauren has added one more hit series to her list with the Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries. Set in the quaint West Virginia town of Harpers Ferry, Ice introduces Chris Matheson, a retired FBI agent, who joins forces with other law enforcement retirees to heat up those cold cases that keep them up at night.
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, crime fiction, police procedurals, romance, and humor. Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
BOOK and AUDIOBOOK TOUR SCHEDULE:
Oct 8 – Working Mommy Journal – review
Oct 8 – Hall Ways Blog – audiobook review
Oct 8 – To Read is a Great Adventure – review / author interview
Oct 8 – TFaulc Book Reviews – book spotlight
Oct 9 – Rockin’ Book Reviews – review / guest post
Oct 9 – Kristin’s Novel Cafe – audiobook review
Oct 10 – Bound 4 Escape – audiobook review
Oct 10 – The Autistic Gamer – book spotlight
Oct 11 – Locks, Hooks and Books – audiobook review / guest post
Oct 11 – Seaside Book Nook – audiobook review
Oct 12 – fundinmental – review
Oct 12 – Read and Review – book spotlight / author interview
Oct 15 – The World As I See It – audiobook review
Oct 15 – Laura’s Interests – audiobook review / guest post
Oct 16 – Svetlana’s Reads and Views – review
Oct 16 – Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews – book spotlight / guest post
Oct 17 – StoreyBook Reviews – book spotlight / author interview
Oct 17 – Dab of Darkness Book Reviews – audiobook review
Oct 18 – Books for Books – review
Oct 18 – Truly Trendy – review
Oct 19 – Stormy Vixen’s Book Reviews – book spotlight / guest post
Oct 19 – Two Points of Interest – review
Oct 22 – T’s Stuff – audiobook review / author interview
Oct 22 – Cheryl’s Book Nook – audiobook review
Oct 23 – Mystery Suspense Reviews – audiobook review
Oct 24 – Jaquo Lifestyle Magazine – book spotlight / guest post
Oct 24 – #redhead.with.book – book spotlight
Oct 25 – Writers and Authors – book spotlight / guest post
Oct 26 – Pause for Tales – review / guest post
Oct 26 – Nighttime Reading Center – review
Oct 29 – Olio by Marilyn – review
Oct 30 – JBronder Book Reviews – audiobook review / guest post
Oct 30 – Library of Clean Reads – review
Oct 31 – My Reading Journeys – review
Nov 1 – books are love – review / author interview
Nov 1 – Writers N Authors – audiobook review / author interview
Nov 2 – Jessica Cassidy – review
Nov 2 – Rocksprings Crafts – review / author interview
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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