Overview

If you haven't read episode 7, The New Guy In Town, you should. Between 2001 and 2012, your author penned six mysteries using Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as the setting. The Portsmouth police force was very small--a chief, a lieutenant, two detectives, several other officers, and a dispatcher. They worked night and day, weekday and weekends, trying to solve a very compelling crime. The villains included two serial killers, a serial kidnapper, a pair of very wealthy sociopaths, a corrupt mayor, and a ruthless Russian heroin dealer. This was the format of many TV shows: the Law and Order shows, CSI shows, and The Closer for example. All great shows but not realistic. There must have been other crimes being committed and other officers solving them. Therefore, your author turned to another community, the imaginary community of Cypress, California, in imaginary Coast County. Again, a great police force focusing on a series of related murders. When the murders were solved, your author was so enamored with the law enforcement officers, he couldn't bear to forget them. He had Chief Beth Van Dyke in Plymouth hire the deputy chief and an FBI agent and their girl friends and brought them to Portsmouth.