Cheat the Hangman didn’t start out to be a paranormal mystery. The first draft of CTH contained no unearthly activity whatsoever. But, it was difficult coming up with an explanation for a murder that took place almost 70 years ago without the dreaded “telling, not showing” creeping in. Neither Lyris Pembrooke nor myself was happy with the manuscript. It just wasn’t right.
I put the story aside while we considered some options. When a murder takes place during the Second World War, few of the principles are left in present day to remember it, let alone to confess to the crime. Was there a way around this?
Maybe some help from an other-worldly source would work. Initially, it was Great-Aunt Clem with her two spirit guides, Luke and Florence, who helped Lyris uncover some of the truth. But Great-Aunt Clem was strangely reticent about the war years. Both Lyris and I knew there was more to discover. Then Lyris learned she was a latent psychic herself. She fought her destiny tooth and nail but, despite her efforts to keep him away, Leander sauntered through from the other side of the divine realm.
A first-time guide, Leander had a busy social life and weighed his words carefully lest he break a cosmic rule. Lyris and I were even more frustrated. We had a renowned psychic (Great-Aunt Clem) who knew more than she was willing to tell, and a cryptic spirit guide (Leander) who was more interested in playing tennis and attending rock concerts with headliners Jerry Garcia and Jim Morrison than sorting out a cold case from the ‘40’s. We still couldn’t winkle out the culprit. This whole paranormal thing was starting to wear me down.
Then we discovered Lyris has the gift (or curse, according to her) of a type of clairvoyance that allows her to recall scenes from the past. It became clear that some training is in order for Lyris to hone this skill since she can’t seem to control it, but we did manage to learn what happened during that family reunion in 1943. To our satisfaction anyway. Officially, the case is still open.
Since I am oddly attracted to the years of the Second World War, upcoming Lyris and Leander adventures will include a cold case from that era as well as a modern day crime. Hammersleigh House will be featured again since many of my wonderful readers have told me they love that old place with its antiques and timeless architecture. And they want to see more of Conklin, the stuffy butler; Marc, Lyris’ new hunka-hunka husband; Gunner, the wily old WWII vet . . .
Anyway, I seem to have wandered away from the point. I just wanted to tell you how the paranormal factor crept into the Lyris/Leander tales. And Lyris’ skills will continue to grow, whether she likes it or not.
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