An Interview with Kimberlee Larsen Clarke and Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer
How did you first get
involved with Thumper and the Fern Lake Mysteries?
Kimberlee: I’ve had nightmares and migraine headaches all my
life and never knew what might be the cause until last year when I returned to
Fern Lake, and learned that my father was murdered when I was a baby and that I
witnessed the murder. I met an author writing a book about my father’s murder.
We joined forces with a homicide detected and while we pursued the cold case
murder, Brett and I fell in love.
The cat at the lodge was called Black Cat, but my little
girl renamed him Thumper. Looking back over the incidents, he actually helped
up solve some of the mysteries surrounding my father’s death. We suspected a
number of people, but solving the case was less than successful. I stayed in
Fern Lake, restored my family’s old Victorian mansion and bought a book store.
What is the setting
for Black Cat and the Lethal Lawyer?
Kimberlee: Just
recently, my grandmother invited us to a family reunion at her Texas horse
ranch. She said she would name her beneficiary while we’re here. I don’t care
much about the money, but I did want to meet my relatives, as being an orphan,
I never really knew my family.
So here we are on the ranch. It’s beautiful, jagged
mountains in the distance, flowering cactus and shrubs on the plains and beyond
the stone fences, we saw a wild herd of horses led by a beautiful black
stallion the folks call Quantum.
Tell us about your
first day at the ranch.
Meeting Grandmother was a shock. In one
breath she welcomed us to the ranch, and in the next, she insulted my cousin,
Dorian and made her certified Search and Rescue dog, Sam, sleep on the porch.
The first day on the ranch, Sam and I took a walk on the
desert and I came face to face with Quantum’s herd. It was the most magical
moment when he came right up and sniffed my hand. I actually felt a connection
between me and him and the desert. Not so much, when I ran into a rattlesnake.
If Sam hadn’t been with me, I don’t what would have happened.
Thumper is quite ‘taken’ with Grandmother’s cat, Noe-Noe,
obviously love at first sight. Who knows what he’s going to do when it’s time
to go home and leave her behind.
Who are the villains
in your story?
Kimberlee: Grandmother’s attorney, Wilbur Breckinridge, is a
sleazy guy who harps about the Children’s Charity he started, much funded by
Grandmother’s generosity. You can tell that he is furious over her decision to
change her will, giving the ranch to either me or Dorian instead of his
charity. He scares me, when he talks about how much the children will suffer
when she changes the will. I wonder if he’s capable of doing something drastic
to prevent... But I mustn’t think that
way.
The stable master, Harold, is another concern. I swear he
reminds me of Ted Herman, the man we suspected last year of killing my father.
But that’s not possible, since Ted died in the Cayman Islands….or did he? You don’t suppose Ted could have faked his
death and living here on Grandmother’s ranch, do you?
What obstacles does
Kimberlee face in Texas?
Kimberlee: Grandmother fell and we found out more
troublesome things about the Children’s Charity. We think the attorney is
embezzling Grandmother’s money. We’re looking into Harold background and not
much liking what we find. After a run-in with Grandmother, I’d give anything to
leave, but we’re stuck here until we resolve some of these issues. How much
worse can things get? Embezzling, false identities, a bitchy injured grandmother?
Good grief. I’d give anything if we’d never come.
Is there going to be
another story with Thumper, the cat with the memories?
Kimberlee: The third Black Cat Mystery, Black Cat and the
Accidental Angel, coming out next spring, is extensively written through Thumper’s
point of view. Thumper loses his memory. He and his soul-mate deal with a
completely different set of trials and tribulations on a vineyard and emu farm
in Nevada City. As problems increase, the cats must face increasing danger
protecting the people they have come to love and Thumper learns there are more
important things than knowing your real name.
BIO:
Elaine Faber
writes a series called, Black Cat Mysteries. Her short stories have
appeared in national magazines and in multiple anthologies.
She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Cat Writers Association
and Inspire Christian Writers, where she serves as an librarian and an editor
on their annual anthology.
www.mindcandymysteries.com
(website and blog site) Available on Amazon in paperback and e-book
Comments
Marja McGraw