Merciless
Page 35
You’ve written before about how the racial and cultural diversity of western South Dakota is very much a part of everyday life, both for you as a resident and for your characters. Still, how intensive was your research into Sioux culture and customs?
Not too much for this book, since it deals more heavily with Mercy’s new job with the FBI. That entailed much more research, since jurisdictional issues on Indian reservations and the local, state, and federal law enforcement problems arising from those restrictions play such a key role in the book. The one advantage I have in writing Mercy is that she doesn’t know how to be Indian any more than I do, so it’s an ongoing learning process for both of us.
Much of this book deals with Mercy’s struggle to find balance, especially between her work obligations and her family. As a full-time writer who is also a wife and mother, do you identify with this struggle?
I think everyone identifies with the need to find balance. My deadlines have been pretty brutal the last few years and my family has been patient with my lack of balance. Luckily my kids are mostly grown and the one who is still at home is very busy and self-sufficient. But I remember when the kids were Lex’s age and how much juggling school and activities and family time were part of our everyday life, as well as trying to find personal adult time, because that’s usually one of the first things to go. Both Mercy and Dawson are aware that Lex living with them can change their personal dynamic and they’re willing to adjust their lives, but not give up part of who they are to each other.
You also write a bestselling erotic romance series under the pseudonym Lorelei James. What are the major differences for you in writing your cowboy romances versus the Mercy Gunderson mystery series? Do you see a lot of overlap between mystery and romance?
Both mystery and romance have to have a plot, conflict, character growth, and a satisfying ending. So in that respect the story lines are similar. At this point in time, I write mystery in the first person, and it’s challenging to write a hundred-thousand-word book from one character’s point of view. I write romance in the third person, usually around a hundred thousand words also, but in multiple points of view, so the story gets told from various angles, which isn’t necessarily easier, just different. In the mysteries the plot is about the character’s relationship to violence. In the romances the plot is about the character’s relationship to sex. I find it fascinating that mystery readers don’t have a problem with explicit violence, but throw in explicit sex … and they run for the hills. I like the challenge of writing both the best aspect of humanity—love, sex and finding happily ever after—and the worst aspect—dealing with violence, hatred, and what makes a person act on those murderous impulses.
We won’t ask you to pick favorites, but if you could bring one of your characters from this series to life to spend a day with, who would it be, and what would you do?
I’d pick Mercy and make her take me out shooting. I need help in learning how to ease back slowly on that trigger, every time, with every type of gun. Plus, I think she’d be fun to drink with afterward.
Where do you see Mercy’s story going next?
Good question. I leave her a little unsettled at the end of Merciless, wondering if she’ll continue with the FBI or if she’ll find another challenge. I can say I’m kicking ideas around, but the truth is Mercy hasn’t told me what she wants to do yet.
ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB
1. As Mercy begins to unravel the secrets of tribal members of the Eagle River Reservation, she uncovers stories from the past that have been concealed to protect reputations and family legacies. Contact family members or friends and compose an oral history of a meaningful, controversial, or confusing event in your past. What surprising explanations are offered by others that shed light on your relationships? Share your findings with your book club.
2. At Mercy and Dawson’s party to welcome Dawson’s young son, Lex, relations and acquaintances from different parts of their professional and personal lives intersect, some uncomfortably. At what venues and events do the people who comprise your daily life—family, colleagues, childhood friends, neighbors, estranged companions—overlap? You may want to compare experiences with book club members of reunions or gatherings that were notable in terms of bringing out the best and worst in your circle of relationships.
3. Mercy and Dawson seem both competitive and admiring about their respective talents and abilities. When they hunt for antelope, for example, each acknowledges the other’s unique strengths. Can you think of a person or people in your life that you admire for his or her special gifts? How do their abilities balance against your own? Explore this dynamic with members of your book group. Whom do they admire and how does this impact the way they interact with one another?
4. Learn about the author, Lori Armstrong, by visiting her online at: http://www.loriarmstrong.com, http://www.facebook.com/pages/LoriArmstrong/420276695091, or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LoriGArmstrong.
© RUSSELLLLOYD JENSEN / SAGE STUDIOS
LORI ARMSTRONG is the two-time winner of the Shamus Award given by the Private Eye Writers of America, and a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romantic fiction written as Lorelei James. She lives in western South Dakota. Visit her website at LoriArmstrong.com, and follow her on Twitter @LoriGArmstrong.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 by Lori Armstrong–LJLA, LLC
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Touchstone trade paperback edition January 2013
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Armstrong, Lori
Merciless: a mystery/Lori Armstrong.—1st Touchstone trade paperback ed.
p. cm.
1. Women private investigators—fiction. I. Title.
PS3601.R576M45 2013
813’.6—dc23
2012014752
ISBN 978-1-4516-2536-3
ISBN 978-1-4516-2541-7 (ebook)
Table of Contents
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Reading Group Guide
About Lori Armstrong