In Killing Buddhas, a local pastor finds himself in the middle of a mystery when the man who inspired his ministry is found dead. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

One part of the inspiration was my own experience with idolizing someone and then learning about their faults. Another was noticing how often in the media we idolize or demonize people without any idea of who they are as a human being.

A good plot device is to have the worst possible misfortune fall on a character, especially the protagonist. Alan Wright is gaining some success and notoriety with his ministry, his second career, and the most important thing in his life. A high point for him is to host his hero, Branden Frank, at his spiritual center and befriend the man he has idolized from afar for many years. Then the worst thing happens to him, his hero dies while a guest in his home. It’s a blow to his confidence and emotions and makes him deeply invested in finding out how the man died, thus kicking off the investigation that is the backbone of any murder mystery story.

This set up perfectly a way to examine a theme that is as old as human beings — the danger in idolizing people and being disappointed when they turn out to be mere mortals. Branden Frank had several unsavory secrets, and learning of them leaves Alan saddened and struggling with his adoration for the man. It’s a common trope in murder mystery stories to make the victim someone who many people disliked, to increase the number of potential suspects. As the skeletons come marching out of Branden Frank’s closet, lots of people condemn him, and three face suspicion. The stakes get extremely high as Alan seeks the truth while struggling to protect the man’s name and his own reputation.

It seemed a perfect trifecta that gave my protagonist powerful motivation while examining the harm we cause by either idolizing or demonizing people. We strip them of their humanity, and in doing so become either useful fools or dangerous zealots.

How did the mystery develop for this story? Did you plan it before writing or did it develop organically?

Like the first Eden Ridge Story, Where You Will Die, most of the story developed organically. I began with a very high-level idea of the plot, a light sketch of the characters and their actions. Then I set out writing and let the story unfold as I progressed. For example, I knew that Branden Frank was to be the victim, and I knew that Alan Wright had admired him as a writer and lecturer for many years. But I didn’t know how it would end, and I didn’t know how the relationship between the two men would develop. I also didn’t have all the details about Mr. Frank’s past, or how it would become known over the course of the story. I didn’t even have all the characters identified when I started writing — a few people introduced themselves along the way and joined the party. In this way, I was able to play the role of an investigator, a sort of uber-detective, finding out the details as I went along.

This made the writing itself exciting and enjoyable. The story was revealed to me over time, and new people and situations and facts kept cropping up, some that were very surprising. This process of discovery continued throughout all the drafts over the five years that passed from the first spark to the published book. There are elements in the book that I only discovered in the final draft. It made the work more difficult in some ways, and it certainly took longer than if I had outlined everything from the beginning. But I came out of it with a better story, and I certainly had a lot more fun along the way.

What was the hardest part about writing a mystery story, where you constantly have to give just enough to keep the mystery alive until the big reveal?

My main challenge writing a mystery is keeping the tension up while balancing the storytelling I want to deliver. I try to raise the stakes with every chapter in such a way that leads to that big reveal, without burning out early or dragging on and losing the reader’s attention. It’s a delicate balance. I call the Eden Ridge Stories “philosophical mysteries” because I always develop a central thread of a theme, weaving it through the action. That can easily become boring and make the reader impatient, which is a death sentence for a mystery. At the same time, if every chapter is a breathtaking cliffhanger, the reader can get overwhelmed, and the ending can be a disappointing anticlimax.

I write the books in very short chapters, usually two thousand words or less, and this helps me to strike that balance. Each chapter follows the actions of one or a few people for a brief period, sometimes just a few minutes. The next chapter then veers off somewhere else with other people, so that we build our understanding of the overall plot in small pieces, like a jigsaw puzzle. It’s not an easy approach, but it results in an interesting, intriguing journey with a satisfying ending.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

I’m just getting started on the third book, working title, Reason Not the Need. I’m shooting for a fall 2026 release. I set up a situation in Killing Buddhas that will come to a head in this book. The town of Eden Ridge and a local Indian tribe will be engaged in a land deal that is opposed by as many people and groups as those who support it. Caught in the middle are some homeless people who will be displaced if the deal goes through. Alan Wright has ministered to these people for some time and steps into the fray to defend them. He demands that the town and the tribe ensure that the homeless are provided for, not just shoved out of the way. This makes him very unpopular with both camps and exposes him to false accusations as to his motives and methods.

When some of the homeless end up dead, people are quick to point fingers at Alan. This raises the stakes as he advocates for the displaced people while searching to find the truth and to redeem his reputation.

The title comes from my favorite of Shakespeare’s tragedies, King Lear.

O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars

Are in the poorest thing superfluous.

Allow not nature more than nature needs,

Man’s life is cheap as beasts.

The theme will examine the nature of charity, in the older sense of that word — the love of our fellow humans beyond immediate kith and kin.

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