Marilyn's Musings

 Tempe is the resident deputy of the mountain community of Bear Creek.  She's Native American and a part of the Bear Creek Indian tribe. She has the components of three amazing women I met when I first came to Springville. The first was a fascinating Indian woman who grew up on the reservation. I wrote personality pieces for the local newspaper and interviewed our female resident deputy. She revealed a lot about what her job consisted of and how she was treated by the male deputies. The third woman was the only female officer at the time on the Porterville Police Department who I did a ride-along with. She told me all about what it was like for her working and bringing up her son.  The essence and the personalities of these three women became Tempe Crabtree. As for her name, I borrowed it from my great-grandmother because I thought it fit my heroine perfectly. The Kindle copy will be free until midnight on August 24. https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Trail-Tempe-Crabtree-Myst...

When I first moved to Springville and learned we were near an Indian reservation (The Tule River Indian Reservation) of course I was intrigued. I was hired by the local newspaper to write personality pieces, and on of my first articles was about the resident sheriff's deputy who happened to be a woman. She was not treated well by the male deputies. While doing a book appearance I met an Indian woman who happened to grow up on the reservation. We had a great visit. Then I went on a grave-yard shift ride-along with the only woman on the Porterville Police Department. She happened to be a single mom. We had a great time together and she told me a lot.  These three women were the models for Tempe Crabtree.  I borrowed my great-grandmother's name. I thought it fit perfectly.  The Springville Inn was the inspiration for the Bear Creek Inn which I usually called it the Inn. I used the true history of the Inn. The one in the story is not quite like the real one, though similar in...

And for my birthday gift to all of you, this book is free on Kindle starting today and ending at the end of August 24th. My good friend, editor, and publisher, Lorna Collins and I share August 24th as our birthday. Together we decided it would be fun to celebrate this way. Thie is the frist book in the series--though it's listed as # 0, making it difficult for some to realize it should be #1. The publisher who took on the first four books wasn't interested in Deadly Trail--and published the 2nd through fifth in mass-market paperback.  But it confused Amazon when I found another publisher who wanted the whole sereis. To get the free e-book go here: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Trail-Tempe-Crabtree-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B07R7XF4L9/ref=tmm_kin_title_sr?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1689869140&sr=1-1 Blurb: The tranquility of the town of Bear Creek in the Southern Sierra is disrupted by the suspicious death of the owner of the local inn. Investigating a murder case isn't Deputy Te...

 This is the story about delivering and receiving bad news. And a warning--BAD TIDINGS is bloodier than most of my mysteries. The main character and his wife were based on friends of ours--with major changes of course. I love these two fictional characters. The crimes were inspired by true happenings. One scene, where the detective visits his wife long after visiting hours and no one stops him came from one time my husband and I visited a friend of his long after visting hours and we acted like we belonged there. Not a soul questioned us. Like all my books, the ideas come from everywhere. And of course Rocky Bluff lives on in my imagination. Marilyn https://www.amazon.com/Tidings-Rocky-Bluff-P-D-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B08B4ZSZBR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2E95E4N8PUT14&keywords=bad+tidings+by+f.+m.+meredith&qid=1691676484&s=books&sprefix=bad+tidings+byy+f.+m.+meredith%2Cstripbooks%2C647&sr=1-1

The beginnings of this first book came from all the hours my police officer son-in-law, Mike,  visited me when he got off his nightly shift. Frankly, I didn't know a whole lot about writing or publishing back then even though I'd written two historical family sagas. I read a lot of mysteries and I knew the tales Mike related could be turned into a compelling mystery.  During that time period we lived in a beach community--and of course, I wanted to set this book in a similar one, though I moved it up the coast a bit and gave it a different look.  One of the local cops had been killed while investigating a domestic violence call. Mike told me a lot about what happened and different people's reactions. He also told me about one of the officers who was a publicity hound. My youngest daughter had a friend who lived in a house behind her father's mortuary. My daughter loved to go over and spend the night. I learned that she and her friend and two sisters liked to play in the...

I'm trying to be more prompt at writing new blogs.  Decided to write about one of my earlier books in the Tempe Crabtree mystery series.  THE TRASH HAREM is one of my favorite book in the Tempe Crabtree mystery series for several reasons. 1. I had fun writing it. I have two grown daughters who live in 55 plus communities, both quite different, but I combined elements of both into the fictional retirement community in THE TRASH HAREM. 2. I  love the Temecula area where the story unfolds. I used many place I've visited and made up some. 3. Some of the legends and history of the Pechanga Indians fit perfectly into the story. 4. I have a special fondess for Erle Stanley Gardner, been to festivals in his name, visited the wonderful display of his life, and read lots of his books. Years ago, I was privileged to meet three of his secretaries, and having him appear to Tempe in her dreams seemed perfect. 5. Though all the residents of the retirement community are fictional, one is...

After coming home from a wonderful conference like PSWA, there's a kind of a let down. Once everything is put away, clothes laundered, etc. I  couldn't help wondering, what next? I knew I needed to catch up on writing all my blogs, I've gotten woefully behind. I'm supposed to be writing two blogs a month for Make Mine Mystery, but so much has happened recently I never really got around to it. So I've caught up with next month. And I ignored my own blog, but caught up with highlights of the PSWA conference. Before I headed to Las Vegas I talked to my publisher, Lorna Collins, and told her I wanted to do a free-book in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series. We agreed it should be the first on, which is listed on Amazon as #0. We chose to do it during our birthday week. (Yes, we share the same birthday.) Starting August 20th for 5 days, DEADLY TRAIL, will be free on Kindle.  Once you do that you must plan on promoting it.  I like to use Fussy Librarian which only promotes f...