Research for FINAL RESPECTS
Final Respects is the first book in the Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery series. It was written long before I left Oxnard to move to Springville where I now live.
When I wrote it I had no idea it would become a series.
My then son-in-law, Mike was an Oxnard Police Officer and he came over nearly every morning when he got off his shift. He came for coffee and told me about what happened while he was working. (My daughter, his wife, didn't like to hear about his work.) I was fascinated.
What I wrote about didn't have much to do with his stories--yet--though I did use some of them in later books.
What prompted this tale was the death of an officer who responded to a domestic dispute. My take on this kind of murder is totally different from what really happened.
When we first moved into our neighborhood we had several police officers for neighbors. I was good friends with all the wives and heard a lot about their fears and discontent about being married to cops. I also saw how much love some of these women had for their husbands and families.
Because a mortuary and the kids who live next door is a big part of the plot, I didn't have to do much research for that. When my daughter was around 10 or so, she had three girlfriends who lived next door to their father's mortuary. My daughter spent several overnights there and I later learned the girls liked to play hide'n seek in the mortuary.
As for the characters, they really aren't based on any real people, but I admit to borrowing some of their characteristics and some came from people my son-in-law told me about.
And from all of that came Final Respects.
If you choose to read it, remember it was written long before the Internet and cell phones.
Comments
I had a friend in grad school whose parent owned a mortuary. I hadn't thought about it but she might be a good character in a future novel.