Juliet Blackwell's mysteries are always fun. Her latest one, Murder on the House, is no exception. It's a terrific mystery featuring Mel Turner who prides herself on her team's renovation of historic houses in the San Francisco Bay area. However, Mel has another skill, the ability to communicate with ghosts. She's not so eager to publicize that ability, as we see in the latest interview with Mel Turner, as reported by Juliet Blackwell.*****
Not
long ago, we here at Haunted Home Quarterly heard about the exploits of Mel
Turner, head of Turner Construction, in not one but two historic homes in San
Francisco. Mel isn’t an easy woman to
track down, as she’s just about the hardest working woman in the construction
industry, as far as we can tell. But this
reporter caught up with her—and her dog, who is named, apparently, “Dog”-- at a taco truck outside a mansion she’s
renovating in San Francisco’s famed Castro district. While the spangle-clad general contractor’s mouth
and hands were full, we managed to get a few questions in edgewise.
Haunted Home Quarterly: Mel Turner, it’s a real honor meeting
you! Do you realize you were named
“California’s most promising, up-and-coming ghostbuster” in Haunted Home
Quarterly’s last issue?
Mel Turner: Um…I really wouldn’t
call myself that. I’m a general
contractor, head of Turner Construction, and renovator of historic homes.
That’s all.
HHQ: Isn’t it true that you’ve
communicated with, and then gotten rid of, ghosts on your last two construction
sites?
Mel: I…well…okay.
Maybe. I didn’t exactly “get rid”
of them, though. That makes me sound
like an assassin. I was able to
communicate with them, and figure out why they were there, and encouraged them to
leave. But… I really don’t set out to
bust ghosts. It just sort of happens. Turns out, there’s a lot going on behind
old walls.
HHQ: What about your current
project? A historic place like this,
it’s such a great old mansion! And we
hear you’re transforming it into a Bed and Breakfast? Surely it’s harboring a
spirit or two?
Mel: What have you heard? (HHQ note: she looked a little nervous!)
HHQ: Nothing much, just that this
place used to be a maternity hospital…and the family who built the place back
at the turn of the last century –the entire family—was found one day,
mysteriously dead in their beds. Might
those spirits be hanging around?
Mel: Tell you what: We’re on
schedule to be done in a few months. You
should think about checking in for a night. You would find it…interesting.
And
with that, Mel fed the dog the rest of
her taco, tossed her napkin in the trash, and headed back into the house under
construction. That’s when this reporter
noticed the sign up next to the front door: Coming this spring! The Bernini
Haunted Bed and Breakfast. Spend the night…if you dare.
Author Biography
Juliet Blackwell is the NYT
bestselling author of the Haunted Home Renovation mystery series (If Walls Could Talk, Dead Bolt, Murder on
the House) and the Witchcraft mystery series (Secondhand Spirits, A Cast-off
Coven, Hexes and Hemlines, In a Witch’s Wardrobe, and Tarnished and
Torn coming July 2013). As Hailey Lind, Juliet penned the Art
Lover’s Mystery series, including Agatha-nominated Feint of Art. A former anthropologist and social worker, Juliet has
worked and studied in Mexico, Spain, Cuba, Italy, the
Philippines, and France. She now lives in a happily haunted house in
Oakland, California, where she is a muralist and portrait painter. She was a
two-term president of Northern California Sisters in Crime. Visit Juliet at www.julietblackwell.net; http://www.facebook.com/JulietBlackwellAuthor;
and Twitter @JulietBlackwell
No comments:
Post a Comment