Probation officer Gillian Jones wants to be a wife, mother, and career woman, but life isn't fully cooperating. At the age of 33, she’s the survivor of a car accident that shattered her ankle and her first marriage. Now that she’s remarried and walking again, her life is almost where it should be – if only she could get pregnant. Fortunately, her mother-in-law and one of the Bend Brook, Nebraska county commissioners hatch a plan that would enable Gillian to afford the next step in fertility treatment; all she has to do is find the biological parents of the commissioner’s adopted daughter, Caroline, who was left at a Colorado monastery in 1967. Gillian’s clock starts ticking and she is off to Colorado. Unfortunately, no one at the monastery is aware of a baby left there in 1967, or so they say. When a monk goes missing and a woman, who’s sleeping in the bed reserved for Gillian, is murdered, Gillian has second thoughts

Interview with Lois Lewandowski

Reader Views welcomes Lois Lewandowski, author of the mystery novel, “The Fatal Heir: A Gillian Jones Mystery.” Lois is being interviewed by Juanita Watson, Assistant Editor of Reader Views.

Juanita:  Thanks for talking with Reader Views today Lois.  Please start by telling us the storyline of your new mystery/suspense novel “The Fatal Heir: A Gillian Jones Mystery.”

Lois:  The story centers around Gillian Jones, a probation officer in a small Nebraska town. Gillian is trying to get pregnant and she has to make up for lost time since a car accident a few years earlier ended her first marriage. Gillian and her current husband, Clint, can’t afford to continue with fertility treatment but Gillian’s mother-in-law and one of the county commissioners hatch a plan that will enable Gillian to afford the next step in fertility treatment. The commissioner will pay her to find the biological parents of his adopted daughter, Caroline, who was left at a monastery in Colorado and then delivered to Nebraska by the commissioner’s Purina feed dealer. Gillian’s clock is ticking and she leaves for Aspen thinking someone at the monastery will point her in the direction of Caroline’s biological family. Unfortunately, no one at the monastery remembers a baby left there in 1967. When one of the monks goes missing and a woman who’s sleeping in the bed reserved for Gillian is murdered, Gillian realizes she may have bitten off more than she can chew. Turning back would mean failure and she plunges forward, uncovering the past events that lead to Caroline’s adoption. 

Juanita:   What inspired this particular story?

Lois:  Originally this was going to be a short story about a feed salesman and that storyline was inspired by a book discussion group. The discussion group brought to mind a friendship my father had with a monk at a Colorado monastery and when I asked my mother how my father had started corresponding with someone at a monastery, she thought it was the feed salesman. My mind pictured a dark haired man from the 60’s in an aqua colored Ford, windows down, driving around the countryside. Somewhere along the line, that idea for a short story grew wings and turned into a novel.   

Juanita:  What do you enjoy about writing in the genre of mystery/suspense?

Lois:  I’ve always been a fan of the mystery genre. As a child I read Erle Stanley Gardner and really any other book I could get my hands on. I suppose what I like best in all books is plotting and characters and plotting is the backbone of most mysteries.

I also write short stories and only one of those stories has been a mystery. My short stories are more focused on character.    

Juanita:   Would you give us some deeper insights into your leading lady, Gillian Jones?

Lois:  I never know quite what to say about Gillian since she’s a character I hadn’t actually planned in advance. I had started a short story thinking a feed salesman was going to be my main character and Gillian sort of walked into the picture and started stating her observations. Another writer once said that if your characters start appearing and conversing on their own, you’ve entered a sacred wood. He probably wasn’t referring to pulp fiction, but I think Gillian came out of that sacred wood. 

Juanita:   Lois, much of your writings including “The Fatal Heir” deal with women’s issues.  Why do you choose to write with a female focus?

Lois:  There has been so much change in the last several generations, especially in the lives of women. There is a history that’s within our grasp to examine and I feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to work it into my writing. My own mother was born four years before women had the right to vote in the United States. I was born when she was forty-three years old and, at that time, forty-three was considered late in life to have a child. Now that’s completely changed. Sometimes I think we need to slow down and examine where we’ve been and think about where we want to be in the future.
  
Juanita:   Why is Gillian willing to put herself in danger and become an investigator in this case?  Does she feel she is supported by her family and community?

Lois: Gillian is willing to take some chances because she wants to prove to herself and everyone else that she can succeed at something. She is supported by her family but there is also pressure to have a baby, especially from her mother-in-law, Marlene. Eventually Gillian is going to have to stop and ask herself if she wants a baby or if she is just responding to what other people expect of her.

Juanita:   Gillian leaves Bend Brook, Nebraska and heads for Aspen, the source of the only clue she has in the case.  What is it about these two places that make them the perfect settings for your book?

Lois: Nebraska is a given. I’ve lived in Nebraska my entire life and the fictional Bend Brook has many qualities found small towns in the Midwest. For instance, there’s a Pizza Hut in virtually every county seat of Nebraska, there’s also usually at least one local woman who excels at pie or cake baking along with the drive-in that changes its name every year.

As far as choosing Aspen, I had a number of unsigned postcards of the area and the monastery, all in an envelope that was dated September of 1967. The postcards gave me a feeling for the area in the time that Caroline was born but writing about Aspen was not always easy. I’ve been to Aspen once since I started the book and I’ve talked to people who work there seasonally. I also read internet diaries of people who stayed there and read portions of some history books until I felt comfortable writing about the area.        

Juanita:   Without giving too much away, what happens in Aspen that will help Gillian solve the case?

Lois: Gillian finds that the feed salesman died years earlier in a questionable accident. And then the monk who might have put the finger on the identity of Caroline’s father suddenly disappears. But it isn’t until Gillian delves into the past of these characters do we find the answer to who Caroline’s biological parents were and the reason why someone would kill to keep their identity secret.      

Juanita:   What messages does “The Fatal Heir” make towards family and identity?

Lois:  The message is summed up by the judge, a minor character in the book, with this William Faulkner quote: “You can’t know who you are until you know where you’ve come from.” And by the way, in the second book the judge also sums up the theme with a Faulkner quote.   

Juanita:   Lois, what is the underlying message of “The Fatal Heir”?

Lois:  The underlying message examines the changes in women’s lives in the last forty years. The choices that Caroline’s mother had in 1967 are vastly different from the choices women have today. The contrast to that is Gillian has so many more choices in having a baby, but, then there is the question if she is truly making the choice she wants or if she is she just trying to live up to other people’s expectations.

Juanita:   How did your schooling, your subsequent career in Journalism, and your current employment at the Department of Motor Vehicles Fraud Department all influence the storyline of “The Fatal Heir”?

Lois:  Well, the Department of Motor Vehicles gives me contact with courts, attorneys, law enforcement and the general public – everyone Gillian would meet in her day to day routine in a courthouse. I’d like to think that Journalism reminds me to tell a story but to let the reader form their own opinions. Otherwise, just observing the changes in the work place for the last twenty-five years have been a learning experience. 

Juanita:   Who is the target reading audience for “The Fatal Heir”?  Is it a mystery that is geared for the women reader? 

Lois: Women are my primary audience, although I’ve gotten favorable comments from men, too. My previous answers might have made “The Fatal Heir,” sound heavy handed with social issues but my primary goal is to entertain. The book is a cozy mystery which means violence and sex take place off-stage, so to speak. There is humor throughout the book – in the first chapter Marlene and Gillian are in the office of a fertility doctor and a well-meaning Marlene says just about everything you would not want to hear in a fertility doctor’s office. It varies a bit from other mysteries because of the humor and also because the murder doesn’t take place until Chapter Ten. This is a book that sets the dominos up and it’s the murder that gives the push to bring them all down.          

Juanita:   Lois, how can readers find out more about you and your endeavors?

Lois:  My main endeavor right now is to finish the second book in the series. I should be shopping it around this summer.

Besides that, at the end of April I’ll have another short story on the website, “Scenes of a Still Life,” which is about life choices from a male point of view. Work and family keep my nose pretty close to the proverbial grindstone but I’ll have some reading and signing appearances this summer and fall, which will also be on my website, www.loislew.com.

Juanita:   Lois, it has been a pleasure talking with you today.  We encourage readers to look for your novel, “The Fatal Heir: A Gillian Jones Mystery,” at local and online bookstores.  Do you have any last thoughts you’d like to share today?

Lois: Just one last shameless plea to readers, especially mystery lovers, to get a copy of  “The Fatal Heir” and a thank you to Reader Views, and to you, Juanita, for getting the word out.