Publisher: The Wild Rose Press (April 8, 2024)
Category: Mystery/Suspense, Murder Mystery, Female Amateur Sleuth
Tour Dates April 22-May 30, 2024
ISBN: 978-1509254194
Available in Print and ebook, 312 pages
Description Not Quite Enlightened Sleuth by Verlin Darrow
A Buddhist nun returns to her hometown and solves multiple murders while enduring her dysfunctional family.Review Not Quite Enlightened Sleuth by Verlin Darrow
Since Reading ‘Murder For Liar’, last year, I knew that I was going going to enjoy another Verlin Darrow novel,
and I was correct! 'The Not Quite Enlightened Sleuth,' has everything that a
mystery lover could want in a novel. Intrigue, passion, twists and turns that
you won't see coming, and a satisfying conclusion that makes you say, “Of
course!” right out loud.
But here is a brief synopsis, just to give you a taste
to whet your appetite:
Ivy Lutz returns home from her years living in Sri
Lanka as a Buddhist nun to be by her mother's side as the woman passes away.
Ivy's mother had a stroke, and, sadly, does not wake from her coma to see that
her daughter has come back to her before passing.
As she is dealing with her grief, Ivy's sister, Jan
tells Ivy that she believes that their mother was killed by her husband, their
step-father, Dennis. Ivy is surprised by this, as she has never met the man and
doesn't believe anyone could have had murderous intentions against their
mother.
Without even being sure how she got into this mess,
Ivy agrees to investigate Dennis herself and soon learns that the man has a lot
more skeletons in his closet than anyone knew. However, he ends up dead as
well.
Along with the police, Ivy looks into several murders
surrounding her mother's death that led her to realize that all was not the
same as she left it when she traveling to south Asia.
As I said, I have read Darrow's work before and loved
it, so I had strong feeling that I was going to love this book, too. Ivy is
such a fun, intelligent main character and relatable despite leading a very
unconventional life.
I really enjoyed reading along as she solved the
crimes and found out the ways that she was uniquely qualified to do so.
This is a great read, and one that I cannot recommend
highly enough!
Interview with Verlin Darrow and Suzie
Susie: Thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview, Verlin. Welcome to My Tangled Skeins Book Review!Susie: Please tell us something about the book that is not in the summary. (About the book, character you particularly enjoyed writing etc.)
Verlin: In The Not Quite Enlightened Sleuth, Ivy’s confusion and disorientation upon her return to secular life is drawn from my own experience. In my case, I didn’t have to struggle to live true to my values in an unfamiliar context while I tried to solve murders, of course. But it’s hard to know what to hang onto and what to jettison when external circumstances change drastically. For me, it took a couple of years. Ivy has to figure it out in a couple of weeks. And stay alive.
Suzie: What other inspirations do you draw from?
Verlin: This is kind of a convoluted answer. I am inspired by my previous self—the guy who wrote my first four books. He learned the hard way that to make his life work, he needed to write—to create. Regardless of what happened to any of his manuscripts, the process of writing rendered his days meaningful. If I lose track of this, if I don’t stay tethered to the example he set, I’m simply not happy.
Suzie: What brought Ivy to become a Buddhist Nun in Sri Lanka?
Verlin: As she explains at one point, Ivy was once quite depressed, and scared to truly be in contact with the world around her. Therapy hadn’t worked for her since she wasn’t able to be present enough in the room for what happened there to have sufficient weight to shift her. So, she became a spiritual seeker, seeking a remedy for her problems rather than engaging in an open-ended search for truth. She started in India, making a tour of teachers, and ended up in Sri Lanka in a Buddhist temple, where her teacher helped her abandon her spiritual materialism and just live in the moment as a kind person. Of course, like everyone else, she’s only able to do this imperfectly.
Suzie: What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?
Verlin: There are several scenes with Ivy and a Bulgarian gangster—Dimitri. His poor impulse control, fractured English, and strange opinions delight me. I also like how Ivy decides to respond to what he’s doing, never having encountered anyone like him before. The reader has access to her thought process as she tries to get information from him while he’s trying to get a date with her.
Suzie: What draws you to this genre?
Verlin: Dialogue and plot fall out of me. My brain is just oriented that way. All the rest takes a lot of work. So, when I first sat down to write, I sought genres that highlighted the elements I was good at, and mysteries certainly fit the bill. Unlike a lot of mystery authors, I do almost no planning, relying on whatever flows from one idea and one character. It’s fun to write myself into corners, not know who the good or bad guys are, and rely on my subconscious to help me wrap everything up at the end. Once again, mysteries are ideal for this.
Suzie: What are you currently working on?
Verlin: I’m shopping a breezy thriller with lots of quirky humor—Kinney’s Quarry. Similar to a mystery, but on a grander scale, this one leans even more heavily on dialogue and plot. If you’re trying to stop corrupt politicians from starting a new US state, you don’t care what they’re wearing. I’m also a good ways into the first draft of a crime novel in which two dimwitted crooks are chased by an outside-the-box state cop and a woman he meets on the road. I think I’m attracted to new, related genres because the challenge of mastering these keeps me motivated enough to actually finish manuscripts. (Mostly.)
©VerlinDarrow
About Verlin Darrow
Award-winning novelist, Verlin Darrow is currently a psychotherapist who lives with his psychotherapist wife in the woods near Monterey Bay in northern California. They diagnose each other as necessary.
He is the author of Blood and Wisdom, Coattail Karma, Prodigy Quest, and Murder For Liar. Two of these won major book awards. Verlin is a former professional volleyball player, country-western singer/songwriter, import store owner, and assistant guru in a small, benign cult.
Before bowing to the need for higher education, a much younger Verlin ran a punch press in a sheet-metal factory, drove a taxi, worked as a night janitor, shoveled asphalt on a road crew, and installed wood floors. He barely missed being blown up by Mt. St. Helens, survived the 1985 Mexico City earthquake (8.0), and (so far) he’s successfully weathered his own internal disasters.
Website: https://www.verlindarrow.com/
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