Interview with mystery author Kevin R. Doyle

Mystery author Kevin R. Doyle is here today and we’re chatting about the second book in his Sam Quinton Detective series, Heel Turn.

During his virtual book tour, Kevin will be raffling off a print copy of his novel (US only) 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 his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
A high-school teacher, former college instructor, and fiction writer, Kevin R. Doyle is the author of numerous short horror stories. He’s also written three crime thrillers, The Group, When You Have to Go There, and And the Devil Walks Away, and one horror novel, The Litter. In the last few years, he’s begun working on the Sam Quinton private eye series, published by Camel Press. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights, was nominated for the 2021 Shamus award for Best First PI Novel. The second book, Heel Turn, was released in March of 2021, while the third in the series, Double Frame, came out in March of 2022.

Welcome, Kevin. Please tell us about your current release.
This is the second book in my Sam Quinton detective series. Quinton is a former professional wrestler, full-time gym owner, and part-time private eye. In Heel Turn, a woman wrongfully imprisoned for a murder she didn’t commit is released after twenty years, and one week later she’s arrested as the main suspect in the murder of the district attorney who prosecuted her two decades before. Quinton goes to work for her attorney and attempts to solve both the current crime along with the original one from so far back.

What inspired you to write this book?
If you don’t mind, I’d rather turn the question around a bit and talk about the inspiration for the series overall. Some years back I had finished writing my second book in the Group series, When You Have to Go There, and was looking for something different to tackle than suspenseful procedurals. I enjoy writing straight suspense, but at the time wanted something a little lighter.

I came up with the idea of trying my hand at a private eye mystery, something I’d read for years but never considered writing myself. About that time, I had a group of senior boys in my class who out of the blue developed an obsession with pro wrestling, In the middle of the school year, they suddenly could talk about nothing else.

One of the best-known PI characters over the last several decades is Robert B. Parker’s Spenser, a former boxer. I started playing with the idea of a PI who was a former professional wrestler, which to me sounded like the most outlandish and unbelievable concept I could think of. After a few weeks of skulling things over, Sam Quinton was born.

Excerpt from Heel Turn:
Besides the media, the largest number of people packed into the courtroom fit a type. Over sixty, more or less equally split between male and female, with a good number of them working on what, from my vantage point, seemed to be crossword puzzle books. These were your traditional court watchers, the stereotypical retired individual with nothing better to do during the day.

Across from me, in the back row on the other side of the room, sat a cluster of five women perched forward in their seats, their eyes locked on the proceedings. They all looked to be in the forty to fifty-year age range, with teased, 1980’s style hairdos and tight-fitting clothes. I wondered if by chance they were friends of Sheila’s from back when, come to either show their support or, more cynically, bask in a moment of catty superiority.

My life may not be great, but at least I didn’t end up like poor Sheila over there.

No matter how hard I looked, I didn’t see anybody wearing a top hat while twirling his mustache, no old geezer wearing a thousand-dollar suit rubbing his hands together while cackling at the success of his plot, or a straightlaced government drone wearing a dark blue suit relieved that the planted evidence had worked.

I did, however, feel someone checking me out, and turned to look straight ahead. About two rows in front, a tall fiftyish woman with long blonde hair had her arm propped on the back of her seat, her body twisted enough to put me right in her line of sight.

Outside, she silently mouthed to me before turning back to watch the proceedings. I tuned into what was happening just as, as expected, the judge denied Sheila bail and ordered her held until trial.

As the deputy guarding her led Sheila away and Bernie walked over to speak to the prosecutor, I glanced over where the woman who’d motioned to me had been sitting. She was already up and half out of the courtroom, pausing only long enough to bat her eyes and nod her head towards the outer doors.

What the hell?

What exciting story are you working on next?
At the moment, I’ve got two books going through the publication process. Sometime later this year should see the release of a new procedural, The Anchor, by Night to Dawn Magazine and Books, and I just returned the line edits for Clean Win, which is the fourth Sam Quinton book. Far as I know, it should be out sometime next spring, but a precise release date hasn’t been set yet.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
On the day when I saw my first short story published in Starsong, a little magazine from South Carolina with out two hundred readers. For context, that was in 1986.

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?
For the last twenty-five years, I’ve been a teacher at both the high school and community college level. I’m currently in the midst of my final year of teaching, with retirement set for this summer. Finding time to write is a toughie, mainly because since I teach English I have a lot of grading to do during my “free time.” However, I try to make the most productive use possible of my downtime during the summer. Of course, after this school year I’m hoping that finding time to write won’t be much of a problem.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I picked up an old trick long ago from reading about Lester Dent, the old-time pulp writer who was the main author of the Doc Savage series. Whenever I’m working on a first draft, just basically getting the ideas down, when I have to stop I always make sure and stop in the middle of a sentence. That way, when I come back to the piece, I’m forced to pick up my thoughts right where I left off.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was very young, a scientist, but I’m not at all good with math. For a short period of time, around seventh grade, I wanted to be a professional magician. By the time I was nineteen or twenty, I didn’t know what the heck I wanted to do.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
One of the most appreciated things is when I pay a random visit to Amazon or Goodreads and find that someone has left a new review, especially if it’s an honest one that points out flaws as well as positives.

Links:
Website | Facebook | Amazon

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