by: Marty Roppelt
Series: Hanson and Brewer Murder Mysteries
Genre: Supernatural Horror Mystery
Release Date: February 7, 2025
Publisher: Dragon Breath Press
Some cases cut deeper when the dead refuse to stay buried
Last Words: A Supernatural Murder Mystery follows Chicago police Detective Myles Hanson as he navigates a world of crime and unsettling revelations. After a nighttime raid on a drug lab ends in a deadly shootout, Myles is convinced to transfer to another unit. His first case in Violent Crimes is unlike any he’s faced before. Maria Peski, a midwife with a quiet life, is savagely murdered.
But that’s not the only mystery haunting him. Myles begins experiencing chilling visions and inexplicable phenomena. He begins to hear the final words of the dead, fragments of unfinished thoughts from those who have passed. As the voices reveal clues no one else can uncover, Myles teams up with his streetwise and relentless partner, Tank Brewer, to piece together the secrets that the dead have left behind.
When a second murder rocks the city with startling similarities, Myles is increasingly pressured to accept that some clues lie beyond the realm of the living. As the line between the supernatural and the real begins to blur, Myles and Tank must untangle a web of deceit, violence, and spectral warnings before the killer strikes again.
The biggest pieces of the mystery puzzle I tend to address are the characters, especially when writing one of my supernatural murder mysteries. I like to have several suspects, each with a motive, a means of killing someone, and the opportunity to do so. But to spice things up and make them more mysterious, I give each suspect character a moment or two of questionable behavior that might make them look guilty, but that might also make sense in a different context. It’s a means of leading the reader in the wrong direction, giving them a chance to say “A-ha, I know who did it,” only to later find they were wrong.
Take suspects in the case of Jack the Ripper, for example. Some say the suspect would be someone who has medical knowledge, a doctor or surgeon. So, here’s someone whose behavior makes sense in a couple of contexts, in the sanitary surgery but also on the filthy streets of Whitechapel.
The trick as I see it is to do this with several suspects per story. There are writers who identify their offender from the start of their story, which makes it more about chasing that offender rather than unveiling them. Some of these authors are very good and often great. Tom Clancy wrote that way. I am a huge admirer of his. That style is perfectly valid when an author can write a gripping story, as Clancy did.
It’s just not my style. I like several suspects with viable means, motives, and opportunities.
To keep readers a little off-balance, I like to add several chapters written from the unnamed offender’s point of view. I invite the reader into a twisted mind which, again, might be the psychology of a number of suspects. It’s a delicate balancing act. I don’t want to give away too much—just enough to let the reader know what drives the killer and who his next victim may be.
At the end of each chapter, I like to leave a little “hook” to the next chapter, or at least a later one. I may have, for example, a chapter about an offender making a decision on his next victim. But he doesn’t name his prey, letting the reader guess and/or want to read more to find out who it is. Or I might have a cop say, “Ah-ha, I know who it is,” and end the chapter with that. But in a later chapter that suspect is exonerated, and the hunt for the killer continues. There are a number of ways to hook the reader into reading the next chapter. In this way, an author can write a “page-turner.”
I also like to add tension caused by unexpected but believable acts or events. For example, I’ll have a killer following his next intended victim home. That’s a simple framework. So to add tension, I have him driving an ancient car badly in need of servicing. The trek is a fairly lengthy one, partially on an interstate highway… will his car make it? Once they get off the highway, he finds himself making turns in an unfamiliar neighborhood… will he be able to navigate his way back home? His quarry stops on a narrow neighborhood street. Another car comes up behind the killer’s… will he be spotted?
There are many ways to add tension. But I also add moments of respite from the tension, descriptions of the setting for example. I do this partly to give the readers a sense of familiarity with the place—to put the place in the readers’ heads and draw them into the story—and partly to give them a breather. That way, when the tension rises again, the readers will feel it that much more acutely. In that way, I make the setting a kind of character in itself.
Finally, another way I hook readers is through the supernatural elements of the story. My main character endures a spirit haunting him ever since a drug bust he was on ended in tragedy. He experiences several strange, and sometimes horrifying, events. How and when will this character be haunted next? How does he keep from being thought insane? Will others around him ever encounter the same things, validating his experiences?
These techniques, character arcs, and storylines are woven together by perfectly normal interactions between the main characters to produce, hopefully, a page-turner that hooks readers.
Marty Roppelt lives in Wauconda, Illinois, with his wife Becky. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, his family roots stem from Transylvania. Yes, THAT Transylvania, from where his parents emigrated in the mid 1950's. So of course, Marty enjoys writing in the supernatural / horror genre. In addition to his first novel, Mortal Foe, he has written a series of short paranormal Christmas stories to raise money for St. Herman’s House, a homeless shelter in Cleveland. He also has featured stories in anthologies, Tales from the Dragon's Lair and Holiday Hearth. Marty and Becky enjoy quiet time together with their cats Nala and Malik.
Release Date: February 7, 2025
Publisher: Dragon Breath Press
Some cases cut deeper when the dead refuse to stay buried
Last Words: A Supernatural Murder Mystery follows Chicago police Detective Myles Hanson as he navigates a world of crime and unsettling revelations. After a nighttime raid on a drug lab ends in a deadly shootout, Myles is convinced to transfer to another unit. His first case in Violent Crimes is unlike any he’s faced before. Maria Peski, a midwife with a quiet life, is savagely murdered.
But that’s not the only mystery haunting him. Myles begins experiencing chilling visions and inexplicable phenomena. He begins to hear the final words of the dead, fragments of unfinished thoughts from those who have passed. As the voices reveal clues no one else can uncover, Myles teams up with his streetwise and relentless partner, Tank Brewer, to piece together the secrets that the dead have left behind.
When a second murder rocks the city with startling similarities, Myles is increasingly pressured to accept that some clues lie beyond the realm of the living. As the line between the supernatural and the real begins to blur, Myles and Tank must untangle a web of deceit, violence, and spectral warnings before the killer strikes again.
Writing a mystery that hooks the reader
The biggest pieces of the mystery puzzle I tend to address are the characters, especially when writing one of my supernatural murder mysteries. I like to have several suspects, each with a motive, a means of killing someone, and the opportunity to do so. But to spice things up and make them more mysterious, I give each suspect character a moment or two of questionable behavior that might make them look guilty, but that might also make sense in a different context. It’s a means of leading the reader in the wrong direction, giving them a chance to say “A-ha, I know who did it,” only to later find they were wrong.
Take suspects in the case of Jack the Ripper, for example. Some say the suspect would be someone who has medical knowledge, a doctor or surgeon. So, here’s someone whose behavior makes sense in a couple of contexts, in the sanitary surgery but also on the filthy streets of Whitechapel.
The trick as I see it is to do this with several suspects per story. There are writers who identify their offender from the start of their story, which makes it more about chasing that offender rather than unveiling them. Some of these authors are very good and often great. Tom Clancy wrote that way. I am a huge admirer of his. That style is perfectly valid when an author can write a gripping story, as Clancy did.
It’s just not my style. I like several suspects with viable means, motives, and opportunities.
To keep readers a little off-balance, I like to add several chapters written from the unnamed offender’s point of view. I invite the reader into a twisted mind which, again, might be the psychology of a number of suspects. It’s a delicate balancing act. I don’t want to give away too much—just enough to let the reader know what drives the killer and who his next victim may be.
At the end of each chapter, I like to leave a little “hook” to the next chapter, or at least a later one. I may have, for example, a chapter about an offender making a decision on his next victim. But he doesn’t name his prey, letting the reader guess and/or want to read more to find out who it is. Or I might have a cop say, “Ah-ha, I know who it is,” and end the chapter with that. But in a later chapter that suspect is exonerated, and the hunt for the killer continues. There are a number of ways to hook the reader into reading the next chapter. In this way, an author can write a “page-turner.”
I also like to add tension caused by unexpected but believable acts or events. For example, I’ll have a killer following his next intended victim home. That’s a simple framework. So to add tension, I have him driving an ancient car badly in need of servicing. The trek is a fairly lengthy one, partially on an interstate highway… will his car make it? Once they get off the highway, he finds himself making turns in an unfamiliar neighborhood… will he be able to navigate his way back home? His quarry stops on a narrow neighborhood street. Another car comes up behind the killer’s… will he be spotted?
There are many ways to add tension. But I also add moments of respite from the tension, descriptions of the setting for example. I do this partly to give the readers a sense of familiarity with the place—to put the place in the readers’ heads and draw them into the story—and partly to give them a breather. That way, when the tension rises again, the readers will feel it that much more acutely. In that way, I make the setting a kind of character in itself.
Finally, another way I hook readers is through the supernatural elements of the story. My main character endures a spirit haunting him ever since a drug bust he was on ended in tragedy. He experiences several strange, and sometimes horrifying, events. How and when will this character be haunted next? How does he keep from being thought insane? Will others around him ever encounter the same things, validating his experiences?
These techniques, character arcs, and storylines are woven together by perfectly normal interactions between the main characters to produce, hopefully, a page-turner that hooks readers.
Myles paused at the glass doors to the Area North police station. He checked his watch. Then he turned away from the entrance, paced roughly fifteen feet, added several more steps and lit a Marlboro Light. He pulled his jacket collar up to block an unusually crisp September breeze.
A long strip of grass punctuated by an occasional shrub next to the building attempted to soften the structure's strictly functional design. In the courtyard, a few trees stood guard along with a twisting metal sculpture. But the shades in all the windows were drawn, keeping the occupants' minds focused on their tasks. The parking lot spread far in every direction. Several squad cars waited there for their officers to climb in and begin their patrols.
Taking in his surroundings, Myles shook his head. The Nineteenth District Patrol station held more appeal to tourists to Chicago than did this location. A block west of the Nineteenth on West Addison Street sat a busy elevated, or "L," train station, over a century old and still flaunting its original grid of iron spans and frames in the open. Another block further west, Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, buzzed with activity during home stands. Across from the Nineteenth on Addison, a row of shotgun style houses butted up against each other like a knot of sentinels standing shoulder to shoulder. Some bore brownstone façades, some red brick. A thin sheen of grime, car exhaust mostly, the grit of a busy city, covered them. All the dwellings needed power washing or sand blasting.
He knew that locale well, and it charmed even him.
But no tourists visited this spot, the Area North station's locale. A massive tan and brown brick building, Area North dwarfed the Nineteenth. Built in a commercial and industrial zone, the station resembled a Big Box store in spite of the unnaturally planted greenery. If not for the fleet of squad cars in the sprawling lot, visitors might enter the north side's police nexus expecting to buy a hot air fryer or bed linens.
Myles nodded to himself. Area North was all business.
From the corner of his eye, in the window nearest him, Myles spotted the reflection of two women, one short and slight, the other tall and slender. They approached from the parking lot arm-in-arm. The window distorted their shapes, giving them a hot August day shimmer. Their pale complexions suggested a summer spent together indoors. They both dressed for summer, each wearing tie-dyed blouses but no jackets, immune to the cool day. The shorter one put Marla Hines in mind. He recalled how she used to chide him whenever he sneaked out of the Organized Crimes building for a quick smoke. As the pair neared him, they opened their mouths, Myles assumed, to berate him.
"Sorry, ladies," the smoker said. "I'll just put this out." He turned in the women's direction.
They were gone.
Frowning, he swung his head around, scanning the area. Nothing. The parking lot lay empty of everything but vehicles. Two uniformed cops exited the building. But no one passed them heading in.
"Come on, Hanson," he muttered.
He stubbed the cigarette out on the heel of his shoe, deposited it into a nearby trash can and entered the station.
A long strip of grass punctuated by an occasional shrub next to the building attempted to soften the structure's strictly functional design. In the courtyard, a few trees stood guard along with a twisting metal sculpture. But the shades in all the windows were drawn, keeping the occupants' minds focused on their tasks. The parking lot spread far in every direction. Several squad cars waited there for their officers to climb in and begin their patrols.
Taking in his surroundings, Myles shook his head. The Nineteenth District Patrol station held more appeal to tourists to Chicago than did this location. A block west of the Nineteenth on West Addison Street sat a busy elevated, or "L," train station, over a century old and still flaunting its original grid of iron spans and frames in the open. Another block further west, Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, buzzed with activity during home stands. Across from the Nineteenth on Addison, a row of shotgun style houses butted up against each other like a knot of sentinels standing shoulder to shoulder. Some bore brownstone façades, some red brick. A thin sheen of grime, car exhaust mostly, the grit of a busy city, covered them. All the dwellings needed power washing or sand blasting.
He knew that locale well, and it charmed even him.
But no tourists visited this spot, the Area North station's locale. A massive tan and brown brick building, Area North dwarfed the Nineteenth. Built in a commercial and industrial zone, the station resembled a Big Box store in spite of the unnaturally planted greenery. If not for the fleet of squad cars in the sprawling lot, visitors might enter the north side's police nexus expecting to buy a hot air fryer or bed linens.
Myles nodded to himself. Area North was all business.
From the corner of his eye, in the window nearest him, Myles spotted the reflection of two women, one short and slight, the other tall and slender. They approached from the parking lot arm-in-arm. The window distorted their shapes, giving them a hot August day shimmer. Their pale complexions suggested a summer spent together indoors. They both dressed for summer, each wearing tie-dyed blouses but no jackets, immune to the cool day. The shorter one put Marla Hines in mind. He recalled how she used to chide him whenever he sneaked out of the Organized Crimes building for a quick smoke. As the pair neared him, they opened their mouths, Myles assumed, to berate him.
"Sorry, ladies," the smoker said. "I'll just put this out." He turned in the women's direction.
They were gone.
Frowning, he swung his head around, scanning the area. Nothing. The parking lot lay empty of everything but vehicles. Two uniformed cops exited the building. But no one passed them heading in.
"Come on, Hanson," he muttered.
He stubbed the cigarette out on the heel of his shoe, deposited it into a nearby trash can and entered the station.
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