Welcome back to Peg Herring, author of the new
Dead for the Money (The Dead Detective Mysteries)
Be sure to check out her contest below! (And the cool book cover!)Schedule: Peg Herring’s Blog Tour for May (and one post in June) consists of a mix of interviews with Seamus, the Dead Detective, and posts on writing. Yesterday’s stop was at the LL-Publications blog, who publish the Dead detective Mysteries. The next stop is on May 15 at Terry O'Dell's blog.. The full schedule is posted here. When the tour is over (June 11), the complete Seamus interview will be posted there as well.
Prizes: People who comment on any blog post on the tour will be entered in drawings for several prizes: Dead Detective T-shirts, copies of THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY and DEAD FOR THE MONEY (paperback or e-books available), and the chance to be a character in the third of the series DEAD FOR THE SHOW. Multiple winners will be drawn.
About the Book::
When Seamus is asked to take a detective-in-training along on his next investigation, he reluctantly agrees. Mildred seems nice enough, but it quickly becomes clear that she has her own way of looking at things.
William Dunbar thinks he was pushed off a cliff overlooking Lake Michigan, and he fears his beloved grandson Bud might be blamed. Delving into the secrets of family and staff, Seamus sees no one who benefits except Bud. He also detects an undercurrent between Bud and Scarlet, the tutor who works with Dunbar’s grand-daughter, Brodie. She’s done wonders with the girl but seems antagonistic toward Bud.
Then Brodie disappears and Seamus must do what he can to help her despite weather, greed, false leads, and the interference of the partner who is supposed to be helping him.
A Dead Guy Talks about You Part 5
By Peg Herring
First, I’d like to thank Chris for inviting me to Candid Canine again.
Interviewer: We’re talking with Seamus, a cross-back detective who returns to earth to investigate murders for the victims. Now, Seamus you invade the mind of a host, a living person, and try to learn his or her secrets. You can’t, however, read their minds, so you have to piece things together. Have I got that right?
Seamus: Right.
Interviewer: What if the mind you enter is abnormal?
Seamus: That makes things even harder. If a person’s fuzzy from alcohol or drugs, obsessed, or extremely angry, the mind is kind of off track. It makes it hard for us to be in there; they can actually eject us. Even if we manage to stay, it’s difficult to get a clear idea of the person’s intentions or memories.
Interviewer: If you believe your host is a threat to others, what do you do?
Seamus: We can try to distract him, which works for a while.
Interviewer: Distract him how?
Seamus: In normal circumstances, I stay still and quiet in a host’s mind in order to let him or her function normally. Hosts feel a little sick from the extra presence, but they’re able to go on. If I want to make trouble, I holler, move around, and generally make a pest of myself. That makes a host feel nervous, sick to his stomach, and very agitated.
Interviewer: Sounds nasty.
Seamus: The problem is that a determined host will adjust fairly quickly. They aren’t incapacitated or anything like that. And sometimes they just get angrier.
Interviewer: So if that doesn’t work, what do you do?
Seamus: My next move in a dangerous situation would be to jump to the victim. I might be able to warn him, get him to run away or defend himself.
Interviewer: You don’t make him sick?
Seamus: He’ll have the slightly ill feeling, but with someone I want to help, I speak quietly and communicate a simple message, like “Turn right,” or “Look!”
Interviewer: You can’t tell them “That man is going to try to kill you”?
Seamus: (Chuckles) How would you react if a voice inside your head said that?
Interviewer: Oh. I see what you mean. I’d think I was going crazy.
Seamus: Right. A whisper the person can accept as his own mind telling him something. Most people say they had a hunch or a premonition.
Interviewer: But it’s really you, looking out for your host.
Seamus: Not every time, of course. But you’d be surprised.
Excerpt:
Seamus moved to where William Dunbar stared into the void as if searching for something. If Dunbar did not know who killed him, life had left him with a bitter question: who? And if he knew who had done it, the question might be even more difficult: why?
“You’re the detective?”
“Yeah.”
The man rubbed the railing with a fingernail. “I’m trying to make up my mind about all this.”
Seamus waited. It was not his way to press, though in his view, it was better to know. At least, for most.
“What did they tell you about me?” Dunbar asked.
“Not much. I guess they figure it’s your story to tell.”
He shrugged helplessly. “I was relaxed, focused on the water. Suddenly I was falling. I felt the resistance of the wooden fence rail against my stomach. My legs left the ground. I grabbed for the rail, but I was too late. I was over the fence before I could even call for help. My shoulder hit the ground on the other side.” His jaw jutted, lips tight, but he continued. “My reflexes were too slow, my body too stiff, my mind too overcome. At forty, even at sixty, I might have saved myself, but—”
Disgust tinged his voice. “It’s like they say. Old age isn’t for sissies.” He turned once more to face Seamus. “One thing I am sure of, though. I did not fall over that fence. I was pushed.”
