This week my guest is Jean Henry Mead, author of the Logan & Cafferty mysteries. Her latest book, Mystery of the Black Cross, took me in directions I hadn’t expected. She explains these directions in her post, and I think you’ll find it quite interesting.

Note: Jean has decided to give a copy of her new book, Mystery of the Black Cross, to one of the commenters for her post. Yea!

Thank you for being here this week, Jean!

 

Mystery of the Black Cross

By Jean Henry Mead

Terrorism has headlined the news all too often and is the underlying theme of my latest novel, Mystery of the Black Cross, released this month. Book seven of my Logan & Cafferty mystery/suspense series features two feisty, 61-year old amateur women sleuths who find a black cross painted on their front door, which they discover marks them for arson and murder as well as local terrorism.

I had originally planned to focus on laser surgery mishaps when Sarah’s face is badly burned, but I encountered historical research concerning the Teutonic Knights as well as the Heart Mountain internment camp of World War II, and decided to work both events into the book when Dana researches the origin of the black cross.

The Teutonic Knights, whose insignia was a cross embedded on a white chest shield, had been formed in the year 1190 to establish hospitals and escort pilgrimages to the Baltics and the Holy Land. The organization evolved, however, into anarchist splinter groups, abbreviated ABC, which still support political prisoners worldwide, including legal representation and clothing for those imprisoned in Siberia.

The novel’s police chief and a rogue detective, who considers himself a latter day Don Juan, figure prominently in the plot, which led me to Wyoming's Heart Mountain internment camp for than more than 14,000 Japanese civilian prisoners during World War II.

I traveled to northwestern Wyoming to witness the former internment camp, which I consider a concentration camp. Four of the barracks where the internees lived are still standing along with a guard tower. The living conditions were deplorable, and I read interviews with some of the people who had lived there, which I included in the book.

When the war ended, each former prisoner was offered a train ticket back to the West Coast and $25 to begin a new life. And Congress finally allocated funds in 1988 and 1992 to compensate the survivors for the loss of their homes and livelihoods. The state of Wyoming also erected a monument to commemorate those who enlisted from within the camp to serve in the army during the war.

Working both histories into the novel was easier than I had anticipated. I included humor and a bit of romance to hopefully balance the seriousness and relevancy to the history we're producing today.

Mystery of the Black Cross is available at http://amzn.to/1X63EHE in digital and print editions.

Bio: Jean Henry Mead is the author of 22 books, more than half of them novels, which include mystery/suspense novels, children’s mysteries, Wyoming historicals and nonfiction books. One of them was used as a college textbook. She began her writing career as a news reporter in California, later serving as a staff writer/photographer for the Wyoming statewide newspaper while freelancing for The Denver Post. Jean also served as a magazine, news and small press editor. Her magazine articles have been published domestically as well as abroad.

Her web site: www.JeanHenryMead.com

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