I’m going to be perfectly frank here, because I’m not quite sure how to feel or what to do.
My husband, Doug, and I both work for the Rocky Bluff P.D. If you aren’t familiar with the town of Rocky Bluff, it’s a small beach community in Southern California, located between Ventura and Santa Barbara.
I’m a patrol officer and Doug is a detective. We both love our jobs even though the department is understaffed and underfunded.
For the most part our marriage is great. Doug has become a great father to my son, Davey. But something has happened that’s really bothering me.
We need to find a bigger house. At first Doug was looking at homes damaged by a recent earthquake. He enjoys fixing up houses.
The problem is he’s found a house that he wants to buy. Without discussing it with me, he’s already told the realtor 
that he wants it. That bothers me. Before I even had a chance to see it, he acted like it’s already a done deal.
To be honest, it is a perfect house. Much larger than the one we live in now—the house Doug lived in with his first wife. The realtor told Doug we could rent it until escrow went through.
Because Doug’s teenaged daughter is coming to live with us this weekend, he’s already planning the move.
I couldn’t help but wonder why, since the house is in such good shape and the price low, what could be wrong with the house.
When I finally had the opportunity to visit what is likely going to be our future home, the next door neighbor told me what the problem is. The house may be haunted.
What would you do if you found this out about your soon-to-be home?
(As told to F. M. aka Marilyn Meredith)
Blurb for Violent Departures:
College student, Veronica Randall, disappears from her car in her own driveway, everyone in the Rocky Bluff P.D. is looking for her. Detective Milligan and family move into a house that may be haunted. Officer Butler is assigned to train a new hire and faces several major challenges.
Contest:
Because it has been popular on my other blog tours, once again I’m offering the chance for the person who comments on the most blog posts during this tour to have a character named for him or her in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery. Or if that doesn’t appeal, the person may choose one of the earlier books in the series—either a print book or Kindle copy.
Links:
Webpage: fictionforyou.com
Blog: marilynmeredith.blogspot.com
Twitter: @MarilynMeredith
Facebook: facebook.com/marilynmeredith
I’m heading over to www.marjamcgraw.blogspot.com where I reveal what inspired Violent Departures.
About the author
F.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn Meredith, is the author of over thirty published novels. Marilyn is a member of three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Besides having family members in law enforcement, she lived in a town much like Rocky Bluff with many police families as neighbors.
Sounds interesting! I will check this book out…marital conflict, kids, and a ghost. What else could we want? Thanks for sharing!
Oh . . . I can relate to Stacy. My husband went from full-time to part-time at his job without consulting me! We had two small children at the time. It all worked out beautifully and now I tease him about it. Of course, we weren’t dealing with a haunted house.
Hi, Barbara, I had a great time writing this book. Because it’s a series, I feel like I know thise characters and how they would act in most any situation. They seem like friends.
Wow, Lisa, what a shock1 Men don’t behave as we expect–or think they should way too often. Thanks for stopping by.
Before I move too far along, I want to thank Dru so much for hosting me today. This is truly one of my favorite blogs to visit because she has so many faithful friends.
Another good blog. Of course, since I’ve already read the book, I know how this all pans out. But still had fun reading it.
I seem to have lots of trouble logging in to comments lately. Don’t know why. Loved reading this, even though I know how it all pans out, having read the book. I highly recommend it, too.
Some places are much harder to leave comments than others. Happens to me too. I’m glad you enjoyed the book, Jackie.
Good premise, as always.
This was a fun interview to do. Thanks, Loran for commenting.
Marilyn , I love how you feel your characters are your real friends! This is true for me too – they have become some of my closest ever!!! They are so real. I too write a series – and if the time ever came when any of them got really hurt etc i wd feel horrible! All best, Thelma Straw in Manhattan
Hi, Thelma, sure wish you were closer, we’d have a great time chatting about our series and just writing in general. Thank you for commenting.
I was telling my sister about your book a little while ago, and she reminded me that her husband bought their house without her ever seeing it. I had forgotten since it didn’t happen to me…oops. But like Lisa said, no ghosts involved! 🙂
My husband only does that with cars. It is frustraring. Thanks for the comment, Barbara!
I’m going to add this author to my reading list for sure! This book sounds very good. I want to know more about the haunted house!
Mary Jane, I do hope you will try Violent Departures. I really did have a good time writing it.
What a great sounding novel. Hope to get it soon. My list of books to order is a very very very long one!!!!
When books sound very interesting to me, I just HAVE to have them. I guess they call that addicted to books but no, that can’t be so. 🙂
As a writer, I love people like you, Cynthia, who are addicted to books. I do hope you’ll try this one out. And a confession, I’m addicted to books too, I wish for more hours in the day to read and write. Thank you for commenting.