{"id":647,"date":"2018-08-03T04:03:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-03T04:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/box5379.temp.domains\/~pjmaclay\/mysteryexchange-cathy-perkins-2\/"},"modified":"2019-03-26T02:28:52","modified_gmt":"2019-03-26T02:28:52","slug":"mysteryexchange-cathy-perkins-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=647","title":{"rendered":"#MysteryExchange Cathy Perkins"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

I know it’s August, but the #MysteryExchange isn’t over. This week I’m pleased to present Cathy Perkins and her Holly Price books.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nA
\nDifferent Point of View<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBy
\nCathy Perkins<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWhen
\nI was young, if you\u2019d asked me for the last place I\u2019d expect\u2014or
\nwant\u2014to live, my answer would\u2019ve been, \u201cIn a small town.\u201d
\nSmall towns seemed to be cultural wastelands, populated by gossiping
\nneighbors who were all related to each other. And out west? That
\noption never entered my Southern soul. <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nFast
\nforward a few years and dangle the right job opportunity at the right
\ntime and\u2014you got it in one\u2014we moved to a small town in eastern
\nWashington state. We quickly discovered most of those myths about
\nsmall towns were simply\u2026myths. <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAs
\nwe settled into our new hometown, I debated whether my novels should
\nmake a similar cross-country leap. My South Carolina based mysteries
\nfeatured a law enforcement protagonist. To get appropriate
\noperational procedures, along with cop attitudes and humor, I drew
\nfrom a circle of friends at various levels of local, state and
\nfederal law enforcement. Curious about procedures in our new town, I
\nparticipated in the Citizen\u2019s Police Academy and discovered most of
\nthe same policies and philosophies I\u2019d encountered back east. (I
\nalso learned more than I ever wanted to know about making meth. Nasty
\n<\/span>nasty<\/i><\/span>
\nstuff.)<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nVolunteering
\nfor the Sexual Assault Center as a hospital victim\u2019s advocate
\nprovided an intimate view of law enforcement. Other than one cocky,
\ntestosterone-laden patrol officer and another older guy I wanted to
\nstrangle (except that would be assault and I really had no interest
\nin going to jail), I found the officers professional, well educated
\nand well trained. Nobody\u2019s perfect, but I appreciated what these
\nmen and women did on a daily basis. <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAnd
\nthose inevitable slow days in a small town? Well, let\u2019s just say
\nthe day my in-law\u2019s moving van got stuck at the entrance to the
\nretirement village (blocking traffic on the main road\u2014another
\nrelative term), all four patrol cars PLUS the sergeant showed up.
\nOnce they finished laughing, they helped a retired mechanic (who was
\nin heaven being the expert, by the way) do something to a suspension
\npart and un-stuck it. For some strange reason, the chief of police
\nwas not amused when I relayed this story at a party\u2026 So far, I\u2019ve
\nrefrained from using this tidbit in a book. <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWith
\nonly five patrol officers on duty during a shift (and fewer than this
\nin the even smaller nearby towns) reciprocal agreements were a must.
\nNeighboring cities, counties, even Washington State Patrol was a
\nwelcome addition when suspects took to the highways to escape. I made
\nuse of this mutual support during Holly Price\u2019s carjacking in <\/span>So
\nAbout the Money<\/i><\/span> (Book
\n1 in the series). In addition to the local officers, county deputies
\nand state patrol officers joined the chase to catch the villains in
\nthat scene. On a broader scale, I\u2019ve used the involvement of
\noutside agencies\u2014the DEA, for example, in <\/span>In
\nIt For The Money<\/i><\/span>\u2014to
\nwork with\u2014and against\u2014the local law enforcement agencies.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nI\u2019d
\nbetter back up a second. For this series, along with changing
\nlocations from South Carolina\u2019s cities to a small town in eastern
\nWashington, I switched from a multiple (hero, heroine, villain) point
\nof view approach and a law enforcement main character, to a single,
\ncivilian character. Whew! Talk about stretching and growing as an
\nauthor. Everything that happened in the story had to come through
\nthat one character\u2019s experiences and reactions. (And no cheating
\nwith, \u201cWell, Laurie, as you know, this thing you should already
\nknow about happened, but let me give you the complete backstory.\u201d)
\nAction and body language became as important as dialogue for
\nrevealing character\u2014but that\u2019s a different discussion.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a>Rather
\nthan having my new protagonist act as a private investigator or a
\njournalist working the crime beat, I made my heroine an accountant.
\nCurious, bright and loyal to friends and family (hmm, she\u2019s much
\nbetter at crime solving than my dog) she made a terrific character to
\n\u201cfollow the money.\u201d Of course, when you poke at villains, they
\nhave a tendency to poke back, harder. It was fun to write the scenes
\nwhere Holly bumped up against law enforcement and filter the scene
\nthrough her impressions\u2014her point of view\u2014rather than another
\ncop\u2019s. <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nMy
\nnew law enforcement friends did insist I get the details right. Even
\nif they produced giant eye-rolls from my heroine. <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nSo
\nAbout the Money<\/i><\/span> romps
\nthrough eastern Washington with its rivers, wineries, Native American
\ncasinos, and assorted farm animals. Add in some wicked fun chemistry
\nbetween the CPA amateur sleuth and a local detective and Holly Price
\nbetter solve the case before the next dead body found beside the
\nriver is hers.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a>In
\nIt For The Money<\/i><\/span>
\ncontinues Holly\u2019s adventures: <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nHolly Price traded
\nprofessional goals for personal plans when she agreed to leave her
\nhigh-flying position with the Seattle Mergers and Acquisition team
\nand take over the family accounting practice. Reunited with JC
\nDimitrak, her former fianc\u00e9, she\u2019s already questioning whether
\nshe\u2019s ready to flip her condo for marriage and a house in the
\n\u2018burbs.\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWhen her cousin Tate
\nneeds investors for his innovative car suspension, Holly works her
\nbusiness matchmaking skills and connects him with a client. The
\nRockcrawler showcasing the new part crashes at its debut event,
\nhowever, and the driver dies. Framed for the sabotage, Tate turns to
\nHolly when the local cops\u2014including JC\u2014are ready to haul him to
\njail. Holly soon finds her cousin and client embroiled in multiple
\ncriminal schemes. She\u2019s drawn into the investigation, a position
\nthat threatens her life, her family and her increasingly shaky
\nrelationship with JC.<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLinks <\/u>\n<\/div>\n
\nAmazon:
\nhttp:\/\/bit.ly\/In_It_ForTheMoney<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nNook
\nhttp:\/\/bit.ly\/Nook_InItForTheMoney<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nKobo <\/span><\/span><\/span>
\nhttp:\/\/bit.ly\/Kobo_InItForTheMoney<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\niBooks
\nhttp:\/\/bit.ly\/iBooks_InItForTheMoney<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nThanks
\nfor letting me visit today, PJ! I invite your readers to head over to
\nmy blog and read your #mysteryexchange post about the story behind
\n<\/span>The Marquesa’s
\nNecklace<\/i><\/span>, The Oak
\nGrove Mysteries, Book 1.
\nhttps:\/\/cperkinswrites.com\/2018\/07\/paranormal-transformation\/<\/a>
\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAuthor
\nBio <\/u><\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAn
\naward-winning author of financial mysteries, Cathy Perkins writes
\ntwisting dark suspense and light amateur sleuth stories.  When
\nnot writing, she battles with the beavers over the pond height or
\nheads out on another travel adventure. She lives in Washington with
\nher husband, children, several dogs and the resident deer herd. Learn
\nmore at her website, http:\/\/cperkinswrites.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know it’s August, but the #MysteryExchange isn’t over. This week I’m pleased to present Cathy Perkins and her Holly Price books. A Different Point of View By Cathy Perkins When I was young, if you\u2019d asked me for the last place I\u2019d expect\u2014or want\u2014to live, my answer would\u2019ve been,… Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paJdTo-ar","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=647"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2087,"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions\/2087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}