Blurb for.............. BE AFRAID by Mary Burton
The Fear Is Terrifying
When police rescue five-year-old Jenna Thompson from the dark closet where
she's been held captive for days, they tell her she's a lucky girl. Compared to
the rest of her family, it's true. But even with their killer dead of an
overdose, Jenna is still trying to find peace twenty-five years later.
But The Truth
On leave from her forensic artist job, Jenna returns to Nashville, the city
where she lost so much. Instead of closure, she finds a new horror. Detective
Rick Morgan needs Jenna's expertise in identifying the skeletal remains of a
young child. The case jogs hazy half-buried memories--and a nagging dread that
Jenna's ordeal hasn't ended.
Is Even Worse
Now other women are dying. And as the links between these brutal killings and
Jenna's past becomes clear, she knows this time, a madman will leave no
survivors.
Mary Burton enjoys
hunting serial killers. A New York Times and USA Today bestselling novelist, she’s tracked them down in her
hometown of Richmond, Old Town Alexandria, Austin and Nashville in books that
have brought her acclaim and a loyal ever growing readership.
Mary’s been intrigued by investigative work and the
people who do it since Virginia was stung by a string of serial killings spanning
more than twenty years. So, it’s not surprising
that many of her novels, for which she’s been compared to Steig Larson*, Lisa
Gardner**, and Lisa Jackson***, are propelled by the acts of multiple killers
and the people who pursue them. BE
AFRAID, her latest, follows suit and is the second of
her stories set in Nashville featuring the Morgans, Music City’s preeminent law
enforcement family. The first, Cover Your Eyes, became
a USA Today bestseller in its first week on sale. The third, I’ll
Never Let You Go will be published in November 2015 followed by Vulnerable
in April 2016.
Mary's admiration for real life
police and investigative work and the skills, insights and tools they require, is
evidenced in her books and by her commitment to researching procedures and
forensic details. She is a graduate of the Richmond FBI Citizen's
Academy and the Henrico County Citizens Police Academy. She has attended
Sisters in Crime's Forensic University program and, annually, Writers Police Academy, where the curriculum has included
undercover work, autopsies, and theories of
why people kill.
Despite her emphasis on hard facts in the crimes she portrays,
Mary's approach to each new novel is psychological. To begin her story she
needs answers to three questions about her killers: Why do they kill? What demons drive them? And,
how do they choose their victims? The
answers are as critical to her plot, she says, as they are to detectives
solving a murder.
A Richmond native with family roots as deep as the
nation's, Mary has made her home there for most of her life. She is a graduate of Virginia's Hollins
University and worked in marketing before committing to write full time. Her
first book was published in 2000.
Mary is the author of twenty-six published novels and five
novellas. In addition to her books featuring the Morgan family, Mary’s other
"connected" stories are Senseless, Merciless and Before
She Dies, all set in Alexandria, and The Seventh Victim, No
Escape and You’re Not Safe, featuring investigators from the Texas
Rangers. She is a member of International
Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America and
Sisters in Crime. She travels frequently for signings, book club visits, and speaking
engagements at conferences, book festivals, bookstores and libraries. She is
also known for her highly regarded "Unraveling Romantic Suspense"
workshop and her day-long program "Writing Your Book...The First Step.”
An avid baker and an accomplished cook, Mary's discovered
that the creativity of the kitchen entwines with her professional routine in
unanticipated ways. It’s her ideal
retreat when the writing hits a rough spot. Once there, she's working out
dialogue, untangling plot lines and figuring out how to trap a killer before
the oven has a chance to preheat.
When not committing murder, Mary, who has completed her
Baking & Pastry Arts Certificate at the University of Richmond's Culinary
Arts Program, is now pursuing her Culinary Arts Certificate. She’s also
involved in adoption issues and has made appearances on behalf of
Coordinators2inc, a lifetime adoption resource organization. She and her husband spend time alternately
enjoying and lamenting their newly empty nest and spoiling their miniature
dachshunds Buddy, Bella and Tiki.
Mary has just completed her fourth “Morgan” book, Vulnerable,
and is at work on her next suspense novel while enjoying the May 2015
publication of both BE AFRAID and
her latest work of contemporary women’s fiction At the Corner of King Street,
written as Mary Ellen Taylor.
*Publishers Weekly, **Library Journal, ***Library
Journal
*************
A Q&A WITH
BE
AFRAID AUTHOR MARY BURTON . . .
Welcome, Mary,
and thanks for joining us!
Your last
book, Cover Your Eyes, was the first of four featuring the three
brothers and sister that make up the Morgan family—all in law enforcement as
was their father—and it became a USA Today bestseller in its first week on
sale. How exciting was that?
Very!
I’m always a little anxious to see if readers like a new book, especially if,
like Cover Your Eyes, it’s the first of several connected stories.
I have to say, though, that even more exciting and rewarding is the response I
received from readers in person and online.
The fact that so many took the time to comment on the siblings and
family as well as the plot means a lot.
I enjoy these characters so much and do want them to resonate with
readers. Can’t wait to hear what they
think of BE AFRAID and Rick and Jenna.
Where
do Rick and Jenna they fit in with the other characters?
Well, Rick’s a Morgan and, like his
brothers and sister, has been drawn into the world of law enforcement in large part
due to his legendary detective father’s life and legacy. Rick is the second oldest of the brothers and
when we leave him at the close of Cover Your Eyes he’s at the
tail end of his recovery from a gunshot wound received in the line of
duty. In BE AFRAID, he’s back on the force but has moved to the Homicide
Unit. Jenna, who once lived in Nashville
but left at an early age, has only a tentative connection to the city. A forensic artist on leave from her job with
the Baltimore Police Department, Jenna’s keeping some secrets, in particular
the reason behind her return.
So what brings them together?
Their connection begins after an
unidentified child’s body is found. A
pink blanket, teeth and records showing a thirty year time line for the body to
have been concealed are all authorities have to go on. Jenna, well known for her skill in facial
reconstruction, is the department’s best hope of identifying the victim. Rick and his partner have caught both cases. As Rick spends time with Jenna he becomes
more and more intrigued with her and with why she’s so silent about her past.
He’s a detective, so you know what he does next. He starts poking his nose into
Jenna’s history, uncovering shocking details as well as unexpected connections,
not only to the two murders, but to Jenna’s childhood.
Tell
us a bit about facial reconstruction, please. Is it computer generated? Done
with clay? I know the Bones fans
among us sometimes see it done on that show by character Angela Montenegro.
Jenna starts with a clean sample, which
means the bone has been stripped of any flesh and is ready to accept the clay
she uses to create muscle and flesh. She works with clay, paints and sculpting
tools. She covers the skull with rubber plugs that indicate skin depth. Imagination plays a role as she begins to
visualize the muscles that band across a human face, giving it shape and depth,
and skin, hair and eyes. Jenna’s craft
is as much art as it is science as she weaves her knowledge of biology with her
artistic skills.
How do the other Morgan’s fit into the
story?
Well, Deke’s now head of Homicide so
he’s keeping tabs on progress in the case and checking in frequently with Rick
and also with Georgia, who’s in Forensics and deeply involved as well. We get to find out more about Georgia
professionally and she’s the one who campaigns with both the department and
Jenna to bring her on board. Alex, who’s an agent with the Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation, is only peripherally involved in the cases, but is the catalyst
when a long-simmering family issue comes to a head and threatens to drive a
permanent wedge between him and Rick. We
spend time with Rachel, too. A woman she’s defending is a victim of rape and
Jenna has offered to create a sketch of the suspect. Oh, and as the story opens, we meet KC, Deke’s former partner, and find out he’s retired
and taken over Rudy’s bar, so we catch up a bit with him and doings there. Turns out, even before Georgia connects with
her, Jenna approaches KC for the okay to set up outside of Rudy’s to draw
portraits of his customers. She knows KC was one of the homicide detectives who
years ago investigated her parents’ and sister’s murder.
You’ve said there’s more to come on the Morgans.
What’s next?
Thanks for asking. First up is Alex, taking center stage in I’ll Never Let You Go, which is
out in November 2015. Then last, but not least, is Georgia’s story in Vulnerable, which is being
published in April 2016.
Where can we find out more about those book and what else
you’re up to?
I post updates and photos and check
in often on Facebook so there's lots of info there. And my site is always open for business. Plus, as my calendar continues to shape up
for the end of 2015 and into 2016, I expect to have a number of opportunities
to visit with readers and other writers.
Event listings can be found at maryburton.com/events.
Thanks for having me!
