Vanished Twin follows a Tampa detective as he investigates a ritualistic serial killer whose gruesome crimes reveal dark secrets of childhood abuse, family trauma, and twisted sibling loyalty. What inspired you to write the second Detective Alex Archer novel?

When I started writing Vanished Twin, I wanted to challenge Detective Alex Archer with a case that was darker, more personal, and emotionally comlex than anything he had faced before. I was inspired by true crime stories that reveal how deeply childhood experiences can influence adult behavior. The concept of ritualistic murders connected to long-buried family trauma gave me an opportunity to create a mystery that was not only suspenseful but also psychologically layered. At its heart, the novel asks how far someone might go to protect the people they love and what happens when loyalty becomes something dangerous.

What did you want to do differently in this book compared with the first Alex Archer novel?

One of my biggest goals with Vanished Twin was to make the story darker and more emotionally complex than the first Alex Archer novel. While the first book, The Devil ‘s Snow, focused primarily on solving a crime, this novel dives deeper into the psychological motivations behind violence and the lasting impact of childhood trauma. I wanted the mystery to be more than a hunt for a killer. I wanted it to become an exploration of family bonds, buried secrets, and the ways people are shaped by their past. I also wanted to challenge Alex Archer on a more personal level. In Vanished Twin, the investigation forces him to confront difficult moral questions and navigate the emotional fallout experienced by victims, families, and even perpetrators. The result is a story that balances suspense and action with a deper examination of human relationships and the consequences of long-hidden wounds.

Why did you choose Catholic imagery and Satanism as elements of the killer’s ritual?

I chose Catholic imaagery and Satanism because they provided a powerful way to explore the novel’s themes of faith, corruption, and trauma. The killer twists religious symbols to reflect his damaged worldview, turning what should represent hope and redemption into something dark and terrifying. It also gave Alex Archer a deeper mystery to unravel beyond the murders themselves.

What did writing this second installment teach you that you did not know while writing the first?

Writing Vanished Twin taught me that the most compelling mysteries are driven by character as much as plot. While writing the first Alex Archer novel, The Devil’s Snow, I focused on the investigation itself, In the second book, I learned how much more powerful a story becomes when the emotional journeys of the detective, victims, and even the killer are woven into the mystery. That deeper character focus made the suspense more meaningful and the stakes more personal.

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