I write three series and all of them involve murder and cops. It happened naturally enough, like osmosis, and wasn’t something I intentionally set out to do. So I sat down one day and asked myself why this was.

One thing came to mind – murder.

Murder is the ultimate crime. There’s nothing more valuable you can steal from a person than their life. The thought of being brutally murdered is terrifying and there’s an immediate demand that the person responsible be caught and punished.

What if they get away with it?

That line crashes around in my head from time to time and the images roll. Some bad guy pulls a gun and squeezes the trigger and I go down in a heap. He rolls me over, grabs my wallet and rifles through it, takes the cash and leaves me on the pavement. I’m dying and he’s getting away. No witnesses, no clues, just a body in a back alley and a thin file on a homicide cop’s desk.

I had a life. I learned to walk, went to school, had my first kiss, graduated and went to the prom. I fell in love and got hurt, got back up and took another hit. I had kids and tried to be the best dad I could. I worked hard, provided for my family and obeyed the law. I had a life, and this guy took it.

I want justice. I want this guy to get caught and pay the price. Maybe that’s why I created these three guys.

AJ Costa – retired (but in his late forties and still damn good looking) from Phoenix Homicide. Written in the first person, you get inside AJ’s chirpy brain. AJ’s debut is coming soon, Size Four, late in 2020 or early 2021.

Curtis Westcott – Chief of Homicide in Boston. Westcott has a degree in law, is brilliant and methodical, and is haunted by his work. Westcott will be on Amazon in January  2020 in A Killing Game.

Bobby Greco – Orlando Homicide until some dirty cops set him up and he got kicked off the force. Bobby notices things no one else does. It’s what sets him apart. Bobby’s already on the shelves in No End of Bad Guys and One is Evil.

And wait until you meet Aislinn Byrne (Westcott) and Annette Carter (Costa). Trust me, you don’t want to mess with either of them.

I’ve been lucky enough to meet a few homicide cops and talk about what they do. It’s fascinating – these guys are relentless in their search for the truth and they have some very cool methods for getting there. The evidence drives the case forward, step by tiny step, until all reasonable doubt falls to the side. This process, where emotion and speculation are superfluous, is part of what makes writing about murder so exciting.

So, why murder? It’s the ultimate crime. That’s why.