My books in the Silicon Valley Mystery series are humorous murder mysteries. Silicon Valley is not your typical, cozy mystery locale and Marty Golden, the hero, doesn’t fit the normal profile of a mystery protagonist. Despite finding himself thrust into challenging situations, Marty isn’t exactly hero material. He brings a combination of wit, irreverent humor and sarcasm mixed in with nerdy insecurities, absent-mindedness, and fumbling but effective amateur sleuthing skills. With an active inner voice and not a lot of advanced planning, he throws himself into solving problems.
To get a better understanding of Marty’s world, here’s a recent interview I did with Mrs. Quarles, school secretary for Marty’s nieces’ school.
Marc (author): Thank you for your time today, Mrs. Quarles—
Mrs. Quarles: I only have five minutes for you today so let’s get to it.
Marc (author): Oh, sorry. Do you mind if I call you Irene?
Mrs. Quarles: Yes. You can call me Mrs. Quarles. Only four and half minutes left now so hurry it up young man!
Marc (author): To start off with the obvious question, how have you been holding up during this pandemic with all the sheltering-in-place time?
Mrs. Quarles: I’ve been busier than ever keeping things going at the school.
Marc (author): But, aren’t schools all closed? All the kids are at home and everything, right?
Mrs. Quarles: Well, of course the kids are at home. That’s the only safe place for them. And the teachers have been busy doing all their remote teaching thing. But I’ve got to keep the office running smoothly.
Marc (author): Doing what, if you don’t mind my asking? It’s not exactly busy around here.
Mrs. Quarles: Well, that does sound like you’re being rude. Are you trying to be difficult?
Marc (author): No, ma’am.
Mrs. Quarles: [gives me a hard look before continuing] Well, okay then. You should know we teach our children to be polite to everyone. That’s in our RULES for the school. Everyone has to follow them. Even visitors. But, anyway, I should explain that I’m quite busy organizing all the food distribution for our students and their families who need it. It starts in thirty minutes.
Marc (author): Wow. I guess I had no idea. Of course I’ve read about how schools are distributing food to students and families in need, but I didn’t think about who was doing it.
Mrs. Quarles: Yes, well, it doesn’t all happen by magic now does it? Hey! [yelling at a woman across the school’s driveway], masks need to cover both nose and mouth! [Turning back to me] Sigh, some people just don’t understand the RULES.
Marc (author): Let me switch gears and ask you how you feel about all the attention from my latest novel?
Mrs. Quarles: What novel? I really don’t have time to read these days. Keeping this school running in tiptop shape takes all of my attention. I prefer nonfiction anyway. One of my favorites was Best Practices in School Administration. I’m not a big fan of fiction. Too much made-up flim-flam. Your book isn’t full of flim-flam, is it?
Marc (author): Nope. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever used that word before. But Hit and Mist, my latest novel, is a fun, humorous murder mystery.
Mrs. Quarles: Murder is not funny, young man.
Marc (author): Yes, ma’am. Well thank you for your time—
Mrs. Quarles: Your time’s up now. Please move along. We have our parents coming soon to pick up their food for today. Make sure to move your car out of the way. This isn’t a parking lot you know.
Marc (author): Hit and Mist, book 4 in the Silicon Valley Mystery series, can also be read standalone. All the books in the series are free for Kindle Unlimited readers. The first three books have also been released as audiobooks by Tantor Audio everywhere audiobooks are sold. Buy the books on Amazon at: amazon.com/gp/product/B07PHNT7XM. For more about me, or free chapters from all the books, please visit www.marcjedel.com.