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Making My Characters Real
Buried Bones follows a 75-year-old retired prosecutor who stumbles into a murder case in a small Utah town, forcing her to face the ghosts of her past. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
As I started putting the story together, I had two strong desires. I wanted a woman investigator, and I wanted to emphasize the importance of due process and the rule of law.
I wanted a woman investigator who could reflected on the reality of working on a very difficult and emotionally draining investigation. She would naturally gravitate toward those nuances and tiny details that women seem to find. I also wanted to write about people who are wrongly accused, because it does happen and due process is incredibly important.
I retired to Utah a couple of years before I started writing in order to be near family. It’s a great place with a wholesome and practical approach to most issues, and great scenery, including pioneer cabins. I invented a small town in the mountains with a very traditional and typical approach that would challenge Maggie’s more eclectic lifestyle and create the conflict that is always found in a criminal investigation.
What character did you enjoy writing for? Was there one that was more challenging to write for?
I enjoyed creating Maggie Anderson the most! She became a lot like many of the strong career women I knew and admired who came of age during the wave of feminism in the 1970s -1990s. I also knew that many of “us” had secret pains and self- doubts, and I wanted her to be as real as possible. It was gratifying to watch her move from her self-doubt to a deep understanding of the motives behind the crime and control over the investigation. I’m planning a series where Maggie’s life will continue to unfold in what may be surprising ways.
Logan Harris, the DA, didn’t know what to do with a case that implicated the most prominent family in a small town and his uncertainty made him challenging. He didn’t want to arrest the wrong person, meaning a member of this very extensive family. He was near retirement and ready to hang up his gloves and call it a cold case, but Maggie kept digging up “the wrong” evidence. Logan stayed on the right side of the law, but barely.
Do you think there’s a single moment in everyone’s life, maybe not as traumatic, that is life-changing?
I’ve lived long enough to be able to count multiple life-changing moments in the same way that Maggie’s life unfolded in unexpected ways. I didn’t know it at the time, of course, but some of these major events, and major decisions, changed the course of my life. Sometimes I’ve wished I could call it a first draft, and do some editing, but life doesn’t work the same as a manuscript. As Maggie’s creator, I think I’ll give her more of these events as the series unfolds.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
Buried Bones is the first in a series I’m planning which will take Maggie Anderson and her friends into many situations. She will run into legal quagmires that overwhelm ordinary people. In the first book, we had someone who was wrongly accused. In the second book, an adolescent boy kills someone who is about to rape a child. Maggie maneuvers through an archaic legal system that has a hard time addressing children who have legitimate and sensitive issues. It’s a challenge which I hope to have ready for a publisher within a year.
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While vacationing in the mountains east of Ogden, Utah, retired prosecutor Maggie Anderson learns about the discovery of Audrey Stillman’s body buried near the home she once shared with her former husband, Ben. Maggie witnesses Ben threatened by a gang of local cowboys and the town quickly blames him.
Haunted by her past failure to save another innocent man, Maggie offers Ben help and begins investigating.
As she delves into the case, Maggie uncovers ties between Audrey’s murder and the influential Stevenson family, who control much of the town’s political and economic life. It’s discovered Audrey was pregnant when she died, and Maggie suspects the father may be the killer. But the deeper Maggie digs, the more secrets she uncovers-secrets that certain powerful people will go to great lengths to protect.
With help from the district attorney and her growing connection to her friend Robert, Maggie secretly collects DNA samples and interviews witnesses. As the investigation leads closer to the truth, Maggie believes the key to the murder lies within the Stevenson family itself.
Was the responsible person much closer to the victim than she realizes? If so, what lengths will be taken to keep the truth buried? Will anyone else die?
Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries and older women, Buried Bones promises a 75-year-old protagonist with compassion, a tender heart, and a thirst for justice, even when she believes she has lost her competence.
Buried Bones
Buried Bones is a slow-burn mystery wrapped in emotional complexity and carried by a deeply human cast of characters. It follows Maggie Anderson, a retired prosecutor who stumbles into the murder case of Audrey Stillman in a small Utah town. When the victim’s ex-husband, Ben, is immediately seen as the likely killer by locals, Maggie is pulled into a vigilante-charged atmosphere that drags her back to her prosecutorial past—and her ghosts. As she digs deeper, with a small, tight-knit investigative team, what unfolds is not just a whodunit but a layered tale of justice, loss, love, and second chances.
What I loved most about this book was Maggie herself. She’s 75, sharp, wounded, and resilient in a way that doesn’t feel performative or glamorized. The writing lets her age show—not in weakness, but in wisdom. When she confronts the vigilante threats against Ben in the opening diner scene, I felt her pulse pounding as mine did. That moment set the tone: this is a mystery where justice is messy and personal, not clean-cut or formulaic. I especially appreciated how Moore doesn’t just give Maggie a case to solve—she gives her something to heal. That backstory about the wrongly accused Trevor broke me. It’s one of the rawest, most emotional moments I’ve read in a mystery novel in a long time.
I also found the writing charmingly old-school in a way that works for this story. The pacing is deliberate—some might call it slow, but for me, it mirrored the dusty, insular Utah setting perfectly. There’s a quiet beauty to how Moore describes Maggie’s time at the cabin with Robert, Gwen, and Peter. The lavender garden behind the cabin where Audrey’s body was found sticks in my mind—it was eerie, yes, but also strangely peaceful. And then there’s the ghostlike vision Maggie has of Audrey in her old home—subtle, quick, and never overplayed. That scene gave me chills. Moore walks a fine line between realism and something just a little more haunting, and she does it well.
In early exposition scenes characters sometimes explain themselves a bit too neatly. And while I enjoyed the romantic undercurrent between Maggie and Robert, it leaned a little Hallmark for me at times. Still, the emotional honesty always pulled it back. When Maggie finally lets herself be vulnerable with Robert after sharing her past failures, I teared up. It felt earned. Real. Not just romance for the sake of it, but something deeper—companionship that comes from surviving life’s worst parts and still choosing connection.
Buried Bones isn’t just a mystery—it’s a story about reclaiming faith in yourself when you’re not sure you deserve it. It’s for readers who want their crime fiction to have heart, for people who don’t need nonstop action but crave characters who feel like real people. If you liked Louise Penny or early Sue Grafton, or if you’ve ever wanted to see what happens when justice is served by someone who’s lost faith in the system, then this book is for you. I’m so glad I read it.
Pages: 428 | ASIN : B0F2SHXVV4
LITERARY TITAN 