Character Interview: Bruce Stohl Reflects on RAVEN LAKE.
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Imajin Books: Hey, Bruce! We first met up in Black Water, the second Pat Tierney mystery, where you learned some troubling facts about your family. But you managed to put that behind you, and you seemed to be doing really well at the opening of Raven Lake.
Bruce: I had a few sessions with a psychologist, who helped me to come terms with how I felt about learning—after more than 40 years—that my parents weren’t my biological parents. And, of course, I have my work, which I enjoy.
Imajin: You’re now running a newspaper. How did that come about?
Bruce: My adoptive father’s death left his newspaper, The Highland Times, without a publisher and editor-in-chief, so I stepped into his shoes. I didn’t know what to expect as I don’t have a journalism background, but I like it. I couldn’t have done it, though, without The Times’ great editorial team. With their help, the newspaper has been coming out on schedule.
Imajin: Things were going so well, but then your adoptive mother was murdered in Raven Lake. That must have been a terrible blow.
Bruce: Yes, it was tough. Vi and Ted Stohl weren’t my biological parents, but they’d raised me from infancy. They were the only parents I knew. My mom, Vi, was especially dear to me. She suffered from dementia in recent years, and it was so sad to see her slipping away. At the end, she didn’t know who I was.
Imajin: How was she killed?
Bruce: She was strangled and her body was dumped in a storage locker. Can you believe it? A harmless old lady killed in cold blood.
Imajin: What about suspects?
Bruce: The police seemed to have only had one—me. And when a photographer at The Times was killed, they came calling again. I couldn’t handle much more, so I dropped out of sight for a bit.
Imajin: How awful for you. How did you cope?
Bruce: My friend, Pat Tierney, was worried that my mom’s death and the police zeroing in on me would send me off the rails. She was my lifeline during that time. She made sure I stayed sober and focused on my work at The Times. And she made a pact with me that we’d find Mom’s killer.
Imajin: And did you find your mother’s killer?
Bruce: We did. You’ll have to read Raven Lake to get the details.
Imajin: You’ve been seen with Pat at lot lately. Is there anything romantic between you two?
Bruce: Hmm, I wouldn’t mind if there was because she’s certainly an attractive woman. But Pat sees me as a younger brother, and I’m fine with that. I wouldn’t want do anything that might ruin our friendship.
Imajin: She certainly sounds like a great friend.
Bruce: You’re right. There’s nobody like Pat Tierney.
***
Bio:
Rosemary McCracken has worked on newspapers across Canada as a reporter, arts reviewer, editorial writer and editor. She is now a Toronto-based fiction writer and freelance journalist. Her first Pat Tierney mystery, Safe Harbor, was shortlisted for Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger in 2010 and published by Imajin Books in 2012. It was followed by Black Water in 2013. “The Sweetheart Scamster,” a Pat Tierney mystery in the anthology Thirteen, was a finalist for a Derringer Award in 2014. Rosemary’s third Pat Tierney mystery novel, Raven Lake, has just been released.
Safe Harbor: myBook.to/SafeHarborTierney
Black Water: myBook.to/BlackWaterTierney
Raven Lake: myBook.to/RavenLakeTierney
Thirteen: http://amzn.to/18oY8mF
Raven Lake synopsis:
Murder, jealousy, lies, deceit – welcome to cottage country!
Pat Tierney is more than ready for a summer holiday. But when her teenage daughter announces that she is pregnant, and a friend is pegged by police as their prime suspect in a murder, she realizes the summer is not off to a good start. When victims of a cottage-rental scam start turning up at her door, she knows that her dream summer vacation has turned into a nightmare.
