Rett sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we, the readers, can get to know her better.

What is your full name?
Harriet Thurmon Swinson

How old are you?
43

What is your profession?
Sort of three-in-one: Retired real-estate developer, frustrated painter, and budding sleuth.

Do you have a significant other?
Yes. Raleigh Homicide Detective Darryl Schmidt. He’s quiet but strong, firm yet kind. Such an improvement over my last husband, who just skated on the surface of life and ended up disloyal in the end.

Do you have any children?
A college-age daughter, Stephanie, while Darryl has a son from a previous marriage, Charlie, who is 10. Stephanie causes me endless worry; even though she’s in college, she seems to be directionless—and now she’s back with Alex, her tumultuous boyfriend from high school.

Do you have any siblings?
Just a younger brother, Billy, who is nearly 40. We’re not close. He works odd jobs in our home town and mooches off our parents. When I do think of him, it’s usually not in a fond light. Sometimes I wonder how we can even be related.

Are your parents nearby?
They still live about an hour from Raleigh near Goldsboro, N.C., where I grew up.

Who is your best friend?
More than ever it’s Lydia Schmidt, my boyfriend’s mother, a crabby Midwesterner who keeps things fun. I live with her and we’re thick as thieves. She’s instrumental in my investigations.

Do you have any pets?
No, but I seem to be surrounded by animals wherever I go: the cats and dogs at Needless Necessities (a sort of recycling center for arts supplies which also features a thrift store and the Bee Yourself coffee shop); the goats and chickens my neighbors Maxine and Sheila keep; and now the menagerie on the estate of tech mogul Scott Novak, whose mysterious strangulation death I was recently hired to investigate.

What town do you live in?
Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh is the biggest small town you’ll ever visit. But as the Silicon Valley of the South, it’s getting more popular every day.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
After Lydia’s stroke, I moved into her two-story, 1960s era home just across the street from mine. Darryl and his son spend most weekends with us. The home is really nothing special; it’s the feeling of family that sure beats my empty house across the street, which I rent out to local college students.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
Lydia’s backyard garden. It’s where I like to paint her flowers and the birds that visit there.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
Pulled pork, turnip greens, pinto beans, and corn bread. I’m talking real barbecue is Eastern North Carolina style with vinegar-style sauce. Banana puddin’ for dessert. That said, I throw something in the slow cooker most days, and I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.

Do you have any hobbies?
About a year ago I picked up my old hobby of painting after a 20 year hiatus. I’d like to become a serious artist, if I can build my confidence. Am I good enough to prepare for a show? It’s thrilling to imagine. Ken Grimes, a local painter who is serving as a kind of mentor to me, says I’m good enough. Or is that just a way for him to hit on me?

What is your favorite vacation spot?
I have always wanted to visit Alaska. I never thought I’d get to visit as part of a case—but recently I did just that.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
Call me lame, but I love board games: Scrabble. Sequence. Clue. Sleuthing is a game, too, but with a twist: You’re solving puzzles in order to help bring justice to the dead and their survivors.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
How Did I Get Into This Mess?: The Calamitous Story of Harriet “Rett” Swinson.

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
I was strictly amateur until recently, when I was officially hired by my friend Margaret Strand’s billionaire boyfriend to work with his private investigator, Paul Maroni. But I still don’t feel like I know what I’m doing. Like the female financial guru I met recently likes to say, “Fake it till you make it, baby!”

What is a typical day in your life like in general and when you are on a case?
Normally you’ll find me pitching in at the Bee Yourself Café. But when I’m on a case, I’m completely obsessed. Honestly, I’m not sure it’s healthy—and sometimes it’s downright dangerous. This latest case almost killed me—and in more ways than one. Am I cut out for this work long term, especially if it strains my relationship with Darryl, too? I ask myself this question every day. But I worry that it won’t be up to me. When a body appears, I find myself getting sucked in. Like I said, not healthy—but oh so fascinating.

Slumbering Beasts, A Rett Swinson #2
Genre: Cozy
Release: June 2022
Purchase Link

When Scott Novak, Raleigh’s youngest technology mogul, is found in his bed strangled with a strip of yellow cloth, it’s unclear whether the cause is suicide, accident, or murder. Novak’s uncompromising business partner, the billionaire Samarth Patel, hires Rett to work alongside his personal private eye to investigate Scott’s alluring ex-girlfriend, the protege who has lived in his shadow, and a neighbor who resents his success.

What possibly diabolical artificial intelligence was Novak working on before he died, and why did he think buying a menagerie of zoo rejects would inspire his next invention? The case will take Rett all the way to the Alaskan wilderness to track down Scott’s enigmatic brother, Adam, to find the answers she requires. Along the way, Rett butts heads with Detective Darryl, who isn’t sure he likes competing with his girlfriend for clues, while Rett wonders if Darryl is liberated enough to accept her blossoming artistic sensibility. Was the “accident” that almost kills Rett caused by a hacker—or by a computer intelligence controlled by the ghost of a 19th century German philosopher? Slumbering Beasts will test Rett’s deepest resolve as it takes her on a journey through realities that are hardly virtual—and all too darkly real.

About the author
Eric Lodin lives and writes from Raleigh, North Carolina, where he cavorts with his human family and a spunky Havanese named Duke. Lodin enjoys long runs and exercising his brain with card games, logic puzzles, jigsaws, and crosswords (okay, Wordle, too). Lodin published Soft Hearts: A Rett Swinson Mystery in 2021 and will soon release the second Rett Swinson mystery, Slumbering Beasts, by summer 2022. He’s also wrapping up a trilogy of short novels about a ragtag gang of Pacific mutts; look for those to appear this summer or fall under a different penname. Details to be announced on Lodin’s website: ericlodin.com.

All comments are welcomed.