E.M. Munsch is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, but has spent her adult life in Louisville, Kentucky. She graduated from Nazareth College of Kentucky located outside of Bardstown and attended The Ohio State University for her graduate work. She has been a bookseller for fifty years working in both large and small, chain and independent bookstores. She opened the first Barnes & Noble in Kentucky where she set up a mystery reading group which is still active today. She also taught classes in the mystery genre for the Veritas Society and joined the local chapter of Sisters in Crime.
With Susan Bell, she co-edited MYSTERY WITH A SPLASH OF BOURBON, an anthology of bourbon-related stories.
As E.M. Munsch, she writes the Dash Hammond series set on the shores of Lake Erie. The latest title, A HAUNTING AT MARIANWOOD, is now available on Amazon.
1.
When did you know you
wanted to be an author?
I have always been a
reader and am most comfortable in a library or bookstore. In 1972 I found my
true calling as a bookseller in a small independent in Louisville. I was in
heaven. Not only did I get to see all the new and old books but talk with the
customers about them. And as my career progressed and I worked for B&N, I
also got to meet many authors as they toured. I have the utmost admiration for
them. To be able to stick to a project from start to end amazed me. I love
stories, reading them and creating them in my head. I would scribble
first lines, first paragraphs, even several pages but never finished anything.
I would start something and then look over to see a book I wanted to read. Let
someone else do the heavy lifting. It wasn’t until I was 69 and a member of Sisters in Crime did
I think I could be an author. And by Jove, I did it.
2.
How did you choose the
fiction genre you write in?
As I said, I love good
stories with interesting characters.
When I started bookselling, I picked up a Chip Harrison book by Lawrence Block,
more about him later. This series is a take-off of the Nero Wolfe/Archie
Goodwin series by Rex Stout. It prompted me to begin reading Stout and I fell
in love with Archie and the gang. Customers and I would discuss the fine points
of living in the Brownstone. At that point I decided that mystery would be my
field. I also read a lot of Regency romances since I was intrigued by that era
and did start one or two romances (still unfinished). But time spent with a
good mystery series won out.
3.
What is your current
project and can share a little?
I’m currently working
on the seventh Dash Hammond book tentatively titled A RELIABLE MAN. Maud
Grealis, a cranky little old lady who claims to be a cousin of Dash’s mother,
calls his father, a former sheriff, telling him something feels off. So father
and son drive to Cleveland only to find Maud’s body. Dash discovers he is heir
to all her worldly goods and several secrets.
Although Dash feels like he barely knew Maud, she chose him since, as
she told her attorney, “Dash is a good man, a reliable man. He will do the
right thing. He is a seeker of truth and a finder of lost things”.
You’ll have to read the
book to see if Maud is right.
4.
What inspired you to
create Dash Hammond?
I live in a condo which has a small area for a garden. I
had a knock-out rose that had turned into a monster. One day while pruning it, I lost my balance, falling into and onto the
bush. After I stopped swearing and as I slowly untangled myself from the
thorns, I wondered how a writer would write this scene. Inside I went and sat
at the computer, dabbing away at my multiple thorn pricks. I pictured a younger
woman entangled in a large rose bush. Now, wouldn’t it be more interesting if,
instead of climbing out of it unassisted, she had a neighbor who would help
her. And Dash was born. He’s six-four (Thomas Magnum), has brilliant blue eyes
(like my dear departed husband) and a wise-mouth (Rockford, Archie Goodwin and
Bernie Rhodenbarr). This is his first encounter with his new neighbor as he had
been traveling when she moved in.
I ‘dashed’ off several
pages and took it to the critique group of my local Sisters in Crime. They
loved it and asked the fateful question: What happens next? My answer was a
simple: I have no idea, for all I know Annie’s still stuck in the rose bush.
These kind ladies
pushed and prodded me along. All of a sudden I discovered I loved writing this
story. And I still do love writing about the Hammond family, the town of Clover Pointe,
Ohio, and all the good and bad guys who pass through.
I guess I should add
that he got his name ‘Dashiell’ because his mother (and me) are big fans of
Dashiell Hammett.
5.
So you’re an author.
Which authors do you enjoy reading?
My two favorite
authors, ones whose books I re-read constantly, are Rex Stout and Lawrence
Block. Stout, of the Golden Age of Mysteries, created two very interesting
characters. If Archie Goodwin were a real person, I’d be camped outside his
brownstone, begging for a chance to go dancing with him.
Which brings me to
Bernie Rhodenbarr, the burglar turned bookseller who still dabbles in the
light-fingered trade. The cast of characters who surround Bernie are quirky but
believable and Bernie’s comments on the books he reads and sells are both funny
and educational. When we were in lock-down, the Burglar series was first off my
shelf to help me get through those challenging times.
Block has such a body
of work, from several series to captivating short stories. His non-fiction
books, on writing, living and life, read like he is sitting across from you
sharing a pizza and a beer. Like his characters, Larry, if I may, is a very
remarkable man. I guess I should stop gushing but if you haven’t read Block do
so at your earliest convenience. And if it’s not convenient, drop what you’re
doing anyway and read his books.
I belong to a mystery
reading group, and over the almost thirty years of meeting, we have tried a bit
of this and that. For me the most satisfying are the series books. If I
discover a new one, I’m thrilled. It means a whole new group of friends to
visit on a Sunday afternoon. Teatime with Ann Cleeves.
Thanks for visiting with us!
More on A Haunting at Marianwood:
Life is good for Dash Hammond. He's recently remarried his childhood sweetheart, Dr. Maevis Summers, and together they're raising his four-year-old son, T.J. A retired Army colonel, Dash keeps himself busy fixing everything from a leaky faucet to an unsolved murder.
His cousin Billy calls Dash to Kentucky when his sister, a nun, is in trouble. Sister Miriam Patrice has been hearing things, seeing things, and misplacing things.
Marianwood, the motherhouse of the Sisters of the Blessed Mother of God, is located on an old plantation thought to be haunted by its original inhabitant, who is rumored to prowl the grounds in search of her murdered beau.
In a battle of wits, will the victor be supernatural, or a very corporeal retired Army colonel?
