One of My Favorite Characters, Ryan Strickland

Ryan Strickland is one of my favorite characters because he has probably changed more than any character in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series.

In the first book, Final Respects, despite being movie star handsome, Ryan has few redeeming qualities. He appears at every accident and crime scene and loves to talk to reporters and have his photo appear in the paper. He’s known for keeping a scrapbook of all the clippings in which his name or likeness appears. Most of his fellow officers have little respect for him.

Worst of all, he has a big secret he never reveals.

Surprising everyone, Ryan is of great assistance to the wife of a fallen police officer.

I don’t want to say anymore so I don’t spoil Final Respects for someone who wants to read the series from the beginning.

What I will tell you is that Ryan matures and develops into a far more decent person from book to book. He also is given the perfect job for him, that of the Public Relations Officer for Rocky Bluff P.D. Because the department is so small, he still has regular duties as an policeman.

At first his fellow officers are suspicious of the changes in Ryan, but as time passes, they begin to realize he really has become quite a different person.

In the latest book, Dangerous Impulses, Ryan is faced with a challenge he’s not sure he’s capable of facing, one that could ruin the new life he’s made for himself and his marriage.

That’s all I can say without spoiling what develops. It was great fun to write.

Of course there is murder and mayhem in Dangerous Impulses that all the usual officers of the Rocky Bluff P.D. must deal with, along with a new hire.

That’s probably enough hints along with the ones I’ve dropped in the other blogs along the way.

April 1 I’ll be here: http://crimewriters.blogspot.com

The last stop on this tour.

Now a bit about Dangerous Impulses:

An attractive new-hire captivates Officer Gordon Butler, Officer Felix Zachary’s wife Wendy is befuddled by her new baby, Ryan and Barbara Strickland receive unsettling news about her pregnancy, while the bloody murder of a mother and her son and an unidentified drug that sickens teenaged partiers jolts the Rocky Bluff P.D.

Contest:

The person who comments on the most blog posts on this tour may have a character named after him or her in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel or choose a book from the previous titles in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series in either paper or for Kindle.

Rocky Bluff P.D. Series:

Though each book in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series is written as a stand-alone, I know there are people who like to read a series in order. From the beginning to the end:

Final Respects

Bad Tidings

Fringe Benefits

Smell of Death

No Sanctuary

An Axe to Grind

Angel Lost

No Bells

Dangerous Impulses

F. M. Meredith’s Bio:

F.M. is also known as Marilyn Meredith, the author of the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. She first became interested in writing about law enforcement when she lived in a neighborhood filled with police officers and their families. The interest was fanned when her daughter married a police officer and the tradition has continued with a grandson and grandson-in-law who are deputies. She’s also serves on the board of the Public Safety Writers Association, and has many friends in different law enforcement fields. For twenty plus years, she and her husband lived in a small beach community located in Southern California much like the fictional Rocky Bluff. She is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Epic, and Mystery Writers of America.

Webpage: http://fictionforyou.com/

Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

And I’m on Facebook and Twitter as MarilynMeredith