Please Welcome Mystery Author and Anthology Editor Douglas Quinn

by Douglas Quinn

We are delighted to welcome mystery author Douglas Quinn as our guest.

Douglas is both the editor of, and a contributor to, the anthology Four of a Kind (White Heron Press, October 2012 trade paperback).

Today Douglas introduces us to the book and its contributing authors.

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The idea for this book came to me during the spring of 2010. The catalyst was my idea for a short story based on Webb Sawyer and several other characters in my "Webb Sawyer" mystery series. The only problem was, the more I thought about the plot, the longer the story (in my head) became. I knew no one would be interested in publishing a 20,000 word story in their magazine and it was too short for a book without either expanding it or creating more stories to fill at least a novella-sized publication. The logical progression was to invite other authors to contribute stories with a similar theme to produce an anthology. The other three authors in this anthology are well-known to me as I have read and reviewed their work.

Photo provided courtesy of
Douglas Quinn (with Gracie)

J. R. Lindermuth writes both mysteries/suspense and historical/ adventure novels. I have read and enjoyed both. I love his "Sticks Hetrick" novels and put his work right up there with my other favorite authors, John Sandford, Jonathan Kellerman and Kathy Reichs, which made him an easy pick for one of the other three contributors.

A small Pennsylvania town and a snow storm is the setting for "Papa's Girl", J. R. Lindermuth's dark tale of circumstance, delusion, lust, temptation and greed. Poor Danny Penkovic – he really believes he has the best hand in a game he is destined to lose.

Now there were two male authors for the project, myself included. I wanted two female authors to (in my mind, anyway) balance things out.

Carol Culver Rzadkiewicz is not really a mystery writer, but one of her novels I had read and reviewed, a book called Separate But Equal I liked and gave a good review. That said, I liked the premise of the story, which was about race relations in the Old South. Not only was the writing very good, but the story had an air of mystery and suspense about it. Even though I couldn't pronounce her surname, her novel kept popping up in my mind. Long story short, I asked, she accepted, lucky me.

Set in Macon, Georgia, "Jigsaw" by Carol Culver Rzadkiewicz pits the wits of a down-in-the-mouth private eye named Lester T. Hayes against the self-proclaimed psychic, Samantha Chandler, her wealthy family, Gulf Coast mobsters, and high-roller poker players.

I first came across Sara Williams when I noticed a mystery/suspense novel with an interesting title of One Big Itch. It gave me an itch to give it a try — it was difficult to pass it up. I gave it a try and really enjoyed it. I liked the way she developed characters and told a story. The work and the writing stuck in my mind and she was my final invitee.

"Millie McCall's Full Moon Poker Night" by Sara Williams is set in the San Juan Islands of Washington State, where heiress Millie McCall rides her Harley, smokes cigars and, on nights of a full moon, hosts a poker party in a red negligee. Young Jim Halprin's invitation to the game takes him on a thrilling ride, with an ending he'll never expect.

Finally, my offering, "I Lost My Happy Days" revisits Webb Sawyer on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. When his loveable but foolish friend Dave “the Wave” Meekins loses his charter fishing boat to a Miami hit man in a fixed poker game, Webb has to come to the rescue. He has a plan; but as with most on-the-fly schemes, they never play out as one hopes.

While the stories in this anthology have the loose theme involving the game of poker or, in Lindermuth's case, something known as Polish Poker, the games being played go far beyond a deck of cards.

So, here we have it. Four entertaining stories of mystery and suspense that run from light and humorous to dark and noirish. I believe you will find that Four of a Kind will be a winning read and hope you will give it a try and decide for yourself.

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Four of a Kind
edited by Douglas Quinn

Four tales of Mystery and Suspense from J. R. Lindermuth, Carol Culver Rzadkiewicz, Douglas Quinn and Sara Williams.

The four novella-length stories in this anthology have a loose theme involving the game of poker; however, the games being played go far beyond a deck of cards.