"Blind Search"

Paula Munier is the author of the bestselling Plot Perfect, The Writer’s Guide to Beginnings, Writing with Quiet Hands, and Fixing Freddie: A True Story of a Boy, a Mom, and a Very, Very Bad Beagle. She was inspired to write A Borrowing of Bones, the first Mercy and Elvis mystery, by the hero working dogs she met through MissionK9Rescue, her own Newfoundland retriever mix rescue Bear, and a lifelong passion for crime fiction.

Munier lives in New England with her family, Bear, and a torbie tabby named Ursula.

She applied the Page 69 Test to her new Mercy and Elvis mystery, Blind Search, and reported the following:

From page 69:

Henry stirred in his father’s arms.

“He could be a material witness,” said Harrington. “And he’s waking up now.” The detective waved his hand, directing the group to fall back. “Jenkins, come with me and bring your boy.”

“He probably won’t tell you anything. He doesn’t talk much unless it’s about math or video games or Batman.”

Henry pulled away from his father and embraced the dogs.

“Come on, Henry.” Ethan rose to his feet, pulling the boy with him. “You need to stay with me. We’ve talked about this before.”

But Henry wriggled away from his father and slid down to the forest floor, tucking himself into a ball, just as he had under the gutting table in the bob-house. The dogs formed a shield around him, Susie Bear a big black shaggy boulder and Elvis an elegant fawn wall of fur.

In Blind Search, I started with a story I'd read in the newspaper about a boy with autism who'd wandered off into the Vermont woods and gotten lost. He was rescued safe and sound, but the writer in me thought: What if a boy with autism got lost in the woods and witnessed a murder? Mercy and Elvis would have to save him…and I was off and running.

Which led me to this scene on page 69. The scene in which Mercy and Elvis have tracked Henry through the woods and returned him to his father, who’s waiting at the crime scene. A young woman has been shot through the heart with an arrow—and everyone is beginning to realize that Henry may know who did it.

But he’s not talking.

Visit Paula Munier's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Paula Munier & Bear.

Writers Read: Paula Munier.

My Book, The Movie: Blind Search.

--Marshal Zeringue