Yesterday I read “The Oracle of the Dog”, a short “locked room” mystery by G.K. Chesterton featuring his clerical sleuth, Father Brown. Today, I sent my second book, “Murder Intelligently Designed” to an editor. The two stories have some features in common: a murder committed in a room with limited access, several characters who are observed in or about said room before or after the crime, and an unusual weapon.
But frankly, I like my story better. Chesterton’s story is so crammed with “clues” that I would sooner solve an algebraic equation than sort out the various motives, means and accesses. The story is told by various witnesses after the fact, and Father Brown never leaves his study.
In my book on the other hand, the clues are part of the action and only discerned as such when the murderer is revealed. To throw Chesterton a bone, his “Oracle of the Dog” is a short story which must put much information in few words while my story is book length.
G. K. and I write in the same genre, clerical crime. Father Brown is a Catholic priest; Grit Griffin and Grace Willis are lay ministers for a progressive but conservative Christian fellowship.
In “Murder Intelligently Designed” Grace’s atheistic biology teacher is found crushed by a bust of Nietzsche. The book will have an introduction by Jonathan Witt, coauthor with William Dempsey, of “Intelligent Design Uncensored.”
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About the intro to Murder Intelligently Designed . . .
ReplyDeleteI read "Intelligent Design: Uncensored," by Jonathan Witt and William Dembski, as part of my research. Before I finished my book, I sent a proposal to Mr. Witt and got Dr. Dembski to read a pertinent chapter. Mr. Witt volunteered to do an intro when it was finished, and Dr. Dembski gave me a thumbs up on my interpretation of ID. (Thus, Dr. Wilhelm Wittski in the book.) When I got the book done and was waiting on a particular publisher, I again solicited Mr. Witt, but he was very busy and recommended that I contact a couple of people at Discovery Institute.They passed, so I forged on without the input. I would still like Mr. Witt to do an endorsement or a review.