Sydney Lockhart sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we can learn more about her. Let’s get to know Sydney.
What is your full name?
My name is Sydney Jean Lockhart.
How old are you?
I’m on the fast track to thirty.
What is your profession?
After two previous careers—as a teacher and then a reporter—I fell into private investigation because I was accused of murder and had to prove my innocence.
If you have a significant other, what is their name and profession?
I like the term significant other, although I had to think about it for a while. I’d never heard it before. You see, I live in the early 1950s, and back then we called it sweetheart. His name is Ralph Dixon, but everyone calls him Dixon. He was a detective with the Hot Springs Police Department and happened to be the man who suspected me of murder at the Arlington Hotel. I managed to change his mind—and, evidently, his heart.
Do you have any children?
I don’t have children, but I do have Lydia LaBeau. She spends more time with me than she does with her father. We met during a murder investigation in Austin, Texas. Explaining Lydia would require a very long answer, so I’ll just say this: she’s a twelve-year-old playwright who practically runs her father’s theater and is usually the smartest person in the room.
Who is your best friend?
Dixon is my best friend, but please don’t tell my cousin, Ruth Echland. She held that title for years until Dixon came along.
Do you have cats, dogs, or other pets?
I have a poodle named Monroe. She thinks I’m the best thing since Milk-Bones. My cat, Mealworm, has a different opinion. While I’m asleep, she hops onto the bed and kneads my hair into a tangled mess.
What town do you live in?
I live in Austin, Texas.
What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I still live in the apartment I rented while attending the University of Texas. Lately, though, I’ve been spending most of my time at Dixon’s cottage, just a few blocks away. That arrangement is about to change, but you’ll have to read my next adventure, Murder at the Faust, to find out why. It’s available in eBook now. The print copies will be released on September 8.
Do you have any hobbies?
Hobbies? My only hobby is staying out of jail.
If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
If I ever wrote a memoir, it would be titled Innocent Until Proven Guilty.
Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
I accidentally became an amateur sleuth when I was accused of murder at the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Then it happened again at the Luther Hotel in Palacios, Texas, and again at the Galvez Hotel in Galveston. After that, Dixon and I decided to make a business of it and opened the Dixon, Lockhart, and Ludlow Detective Agency. Billy Ludlow is our young partner, and together we investigate crimes while doing our best not to become suspects ourselves.
MURDER AT THE FAUST
Series: A Sydney Lockhart Mystery, Book 7
Genre: Private Investigator Mystery
Release: September 2026
Format: Print, Digital
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A bloody hotel room. A missing friend. A body lying in her apartment. With her fiancé wounded and suspects circling, Sydney Lockhart must outwit a killer before the next curtain falls —and she’s center stage.
Private investigator Sydney Lockhart has faced crooked politicians and cold-blooded killers—but nothing quite prepares her for murder at the historic Faust Hotel.
It’s 1953, and sleuth Sydney Lockhart lands at the historic Faust Hotel to investigate a missing guest—only to be accused of murder when his body surfaces on the Guadalupe River. With Dixon recovering from a gunshot wound and her “helpful” companions more interested in birdwatching and beauty pageants than crime-solving, Sydney’s in deeper trouble than ever.
When another corpse appears in her own apartment, and Lydia LaBeau vanishes, Sydney must untangle a web of duplicity, lookalikes, and small-town secrets. With a mermaid, a zealot, and a baffling tangle of clues, one thing is clear:
Sydney Lockhart may have finally met her match.
About the author
Kathleen Kaska is an award-winning mystery writer and the author of the Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series and the Kate Caraway Animal-Rights Mystery Series. Her Sydney Lockhart series won the PenCraft Award for Best Mystery Series 2025.
Kathleen is also the winner of the Amity Literary Award for her hardboiled detective novel Death Without Dignity, scheduled for release in 2027. Known for blending suspense with morally complex characters, her work often explores the gray areas between justice, desperation, and choice, with a generous helping of humor thrown in.
A Texan at heart, Kathleen now lives in a small coastal town in the Pacific Northwest, where it’s cooler—and there’s no traffic.