Today’s guest author is mystery writer HS Burney and we’re chatting about her new thriller, The Lake Templeton Murders, A Fati Rizvi Private Detective Murder Mystery.
During her virtual book tour, HS will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!
The book is on sale for $0.99 during the tour.
Bio:
HS Burney writes fast-moving, action-packed mysteries set against the backdrop of majestic mountains and crystalline ocean in West Coast Canada. She loves creating characters that keep you on your toes. A corporate executive by day and a novelist by night, HS Burney received her bachelor’s in Creative Writing from Lafayette College. A proud Canadian immigrant, she takes her readers into worlds populated by diverse characters with unique cultural backgrounds. When not writing, she is out hiking, waiting for the next story idea to strike, and pull her into a new world.
Welcome, HS. Please tell us about this new release.
The Lake Templeton Murders is a mystery set in a small, fictional town of Vancouver Island. It follows the indomitable and highly independent Private Detective, Fati Rizvi, as she sinks her teeth into what she is sure is a murder, although on the surface, appears to be an accident or suicide. I’ve endeavored to weave a story that is fast-paced and with twists and turns that keep you guessing. Each character is complex and multi-layered and has hidden intentions.
What was the inspiration to write this book?
I’ve always loved reading mysteries. There is a creative aspect to them, but also a technical aspect. It’s fun to peel back the layers of the clues the writer sprinkles and guess who the ultimate killer is. The Lake Templeton Murders is inspired by the breakneck, edge-of-your-seat mysteries that I’ve enjoyed throughout my life, books that kept me up at night, desperate to keep turning pages to find out what happens next.
Excerpt from The Lake Templeton Murders:
On the way, I stop at Culver Beach, where Sharon’s body was found. Culver Beach is shaped like a claw, with the shores of Lake Templeton hugging it from one side and the other opening up to the ocean. In high tides, waves batter it from one direction, bringing debris from the neighbouring houses.
It was these waves that carried Sharon once the water besieged her lungs and she stopped breathing. Maybe her killer was hoping that the body would descend to the depths of the ocean, swallowing its secrets. It must have been a rude shock to see the evidence of their crime splashed across the morning papers.
Sharon’s body was half-reposed face-down on the wet sand, deposited on the shore like plastic waste. Clumps of hair were caught in the jagged rocks that edge the receding land, one bloated arm flung over a large boulder, as if trying to find a grip. Her legs floated behind her like windsocks. Silk shirt ballooned over the surface of the water like a parachute.
The crime scene has been cleared up. Culver Beach sparkles in the vestiges of the sinking sunlight, sand glinting like diamond dust. The only remnants of the morning’s tragic discovery – dried boot prints in the grassy sand, left behind by the police.
The nearest house is walled off by a thicket of trees and is currently empty, owned by a businessman who only spends a few months here in the summers. The beach is quiet, with not even a dog walker in sight. I walk on the sand for a few minutes, shoes in hand, reveling in the quietude. I breathe in the fresh air, slightly briny, and crisp enough to open up my nasal pathways.
No answers will be found here. Not for me. I have limited experience analyzing crime scenes. Even though, as a beat cop, I elbowed my way to many sites above my pay grade, attaching myself to the most brilliant detectives like a barnacle. Thankfully, you don’t need to be an expert at crime scene analysis to catch a killer.
And catching a killer is what I do best.
What exciting story are you working on next?
The next mystery involving Private Detective, Fati Rizvi, of course! It’s set in the wealthy neighborhood of West Vancouver, one of Canada’s priciest postal codes. The Azad-Shah family are pillars of the community, both successful entrepreneurs with a brood of four. They are lauded on magazine covers and their bespoke, custom-built house has been showcased in Canadian Real Estate Magazine.
Fati gets called in because their nineteen-year-old twins are missing. They disappeared on their 19th birthday, the day they ushered in official adulthood. As Fati starts to unravel the knots, she uncovers that the Azad-Shah family isn’t as picture-perfect as they would have you believe. There are secrets, dysfunction, the messy nest of hidden ties and grievances. The happy family dance is just a veneer, like garnish on a peeling painting.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I first started writing in my early teens. At that time, I wrote a fictional series with glamorous characters based on me and my friends that had perfect lives full of boyfriends and travel and fun. The notebooks, written in longhand, were passed around from girl to girl at school. Everyone wanted to read them.
In college, while pursuing my Creative Writing degree, I wrote a collection of short stories. It was an incredibly rewarding experience. My writing was lauded by the English Department faculty at Lafayette College. But I never published my work.
I first started thinking of myself as a writer when I returned to writing in 2018 through blogging on Medium.com. And that’s when I had the maturity to realize that I’ve always been a writer – from the time I first put pen to paper as a thirteen-year-old.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
No. In fact, I have a very demanding day job as a senior bank executive. It’s not a nine-to-five job and it’s all-consuming. And so, the only time I can write during the week is before work at 5:30 a.m. While I was working on The Lake Templeton Murders, I used up vacation days to enact marathon writing sessions to get my book done.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I often have multiple outlines and story ideas and clue trails going at the same time. As I write, I decide which ones to toss into the story. There are always multiple directions you can take any story. It’s a fun game for me to see which path my story ends up on. Usually, it’s a combination of multiple intersecting paths!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer!
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
I’m a mystery writer – but I love to read and watch supernatural horror! I wish I could also write in this genre but it’s a tough one.
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The book is on sale for $0.99 during the tour.
Thank you for sharing your interview and book details, This book is on my TBR and I am looking forward to reading it soon
Thanks for hosting!
This sounds like a really good read!
The book sounds like an intriguing read. Love the eerie cover!