What an intricately brilliant way to move along a mystery. Sans cops, and super sleuths, clever gumshoes or sassy wily females with a touch of testosterone--the vehicle used to drive, Blood Vines by Erica Spindler, is good old fashioned emotion. In the span of a Sonoma Wine Country late winter-into-early spring, Alex Clarkson will solve the case of an unearthed mummified baby--not with a magnifying glass, a side arm or a badge--but with a desperate search to find out who she is, and why she is, the way she is. The search for self is what will unravel the yarn as Alex stumbles through uncharted territory in search of her personal roots almost unwittingly peeling away the layers of a decades old murder. "I like to write about broken or hurting people, to make them walk through fire and come out whole," says Erica.
I love the way Spindler starts the book, "Ex-husbands are like bad pennies, they kept coming back". It's the kind of sentence that grabs you and holds on to you so you can find out why. The book starts with Alex Clarkson in the throes of passion and in the arms of her charlatan ex. He's older and sophisticated, seemingly with the loyalties of an alley cat at dinner time when someone's opened a can of Tuna--at first. It's a booty call, make no bones about it. But Alex likes the fit, the make and the model. He's Prada, she's Payless. But it's good sex and that's a good bargain no matter where you're shopping. But just as Alex is reaching new heights of pleasure, the passion is doused with a vision...'A robed figure, face obscured by a hood; flickering candles, smoke curling upward; naked bodies, writhing together. A faceless baby, screaming.'
Is it prophetic, is it psychotic or is it pathetic? Alex needs to know. In fact, it seems often times when she's scratching her sexual itch her efforts are hampered by, yet, another revealing vision. Turns out, Alex has been a little screwy for some time. She's spent a lifetime trying to piece together her sketchy heritage...but mum's the word from mommy, who has a few screws loose herself. When mother-dearest commits suicide taking the secrets of Alex's past with her, it sets in motion a series of events that will lead Alex to Sonoma Valley where the sweet wine quickly turns to vinegar.
"I really like Alex Clarkson," says Spindler, the bestselling author of See Jane Die, Last Known Victim and Breakneck. She continues, "Alex is flawed and has made a whole lot of bad life choices, which she readily acknowledges. She's also courageous and intelligent, though she struggles with self-doubt." A fun character to write and get to know for Spindler who continues, "Early in the novel, Alex discovers that the past she has known is a lie, and she sets out to uncover the truth--both her personal truth and the true events of the past--all the while knowing the search may cost her life. She really earned my respect and affection. I hope she wins the reader's as well."
The inspiration for Blood Vines is equally macabre, "During my fist wine country visit, I was talking to a local winemaker who, when I explained what I did for a living, told me there were 'plenty of ways to kill someone in the winemaking process.' The area already fascinated me: the topography, the people, lifestyle and wine culture. We were there in February and the rolling hills of dormant vines reminded me of cemeteries, the gnarly old vines like bent, twisted crosses. That winemaker's comment pulled the pieces together for me in a sort of Ah ha moment--I knew I had to set my next book in wine country."
Great! Now that she had the inspiration, it was time for the perspiration. Erica immediately went to work. She jotted down every idea that came to her. Some viable ideas others, bone headed, as she puts it. Three tablets of legal sized paper were full before she started fleshing out the actual plot. She did a ride along with a sheriff's deputy, looking for the best places to dump bodies. She spent a short stint training as a wine maker and of course, she spent a great deal of time visiting wineries and swilling, "Needless to say, it didn't feel like work at all". An important puzzle piece in the mystery was literally a gift--from a lawman who was helping Spindler with her research. "The murder is committed with a secateur, a small tool with a curved blade, used by field workers to cut grape clusters from the vine. The interesting thing is, I'd never heard of one until I got a package from the Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner's Office that contained, among other things, a Red Rooster secateur. The Detective Sergeant I had interviewed while researching Blood Vines thought it would make a terrific murder weapon. I agreed and used it in the book."
Don't you just love it when a good murder comes together like that?
The setting of her newest novel is a long way from home for Erica who lives in New Orleans with her husband and two sons. She's in love with the culture and the people, and yes, she was a local when she met the most terrifying thriller around...a protagonist by the name of Katrina. The experience changed Erica as a person and a writer. She's learned how fragile the brick and mortar lives people build around themselves are and you can feel that in her main character, Alex--her feet always seem to be dangling, she always seems to have those tingles in her toes you get when you're in a windowed elevator, speeding to the top of the sixtieth floor and you can see earth swirling below. The Katrina experience is obviously one that fires the soul, and steels the inner voice writer's draw from.
In fact, Katrina will play prominently in her next novel. "Right now I'm focused on a thriller set in New Orleans. The main character is a stained glass restoration expert whose life was blown to bits by Katrina. She's on the verge of having it all--again: the love of a good man, professional success, and finally, after years of pain and turmoil, peace and emotional stability," Spindler says. "But her new life is about to be shattered again. This time, however, it's not a killer storm she faces, but a psychopath who will stop at nothing until he possesses her, body and soul."
Yikers. I wonder if there will be any ex husbands out there for that one. I hear they keep turning up like bad pennies.
In the meantime, if you want to un-wine with a great book, hail a cab and settle in for Blood Vines released by St. Martins Press, March 2, 2010. And like any bestselling mystery thriller writer, Erica Spindler is just dying to hear from you. Drop her a line at comments@ericaspindler.com or look for her on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
Paula L. Tutman is an Emmy Award winning journalist and award winning author of DEADLINE!, currently working as a TV journalist in Detroit. She has some 30 years in the news business, obviously beginning her career when she was six...no, make that three. Using her background as a former police reporter, she weaves real life stories and experiences into compelling mystery thrillers. Her second novel, part two of a series is due November 2009.
