Roxanne Chin is a teacher and one-time blogger. She is also a lover of all things mystery, and all things history, both American and family. An avid bookworm, she grew up reading Agatha Christie with her Mom and Grandma Moon.
As an adult she realized that family history is a personal mystery for each of us, and having always been told she ‘should write a book’, she wrote this one. It is very loosely based on a story from her own past.
A native Jersey girl, Roxanne and her husband now reside in Florida close to their three adult children and eight grandchildren. She and her husband share their home with their sweet, neurotic dog, Phoebe, and Charlie the cat.
Q: Why a mystery? And more to the point, why a family mystery?
I have always loved mysteries. I love trying to figure out ‘who dunnits’. As for a family mystery, I’ve always been interested in family history. I once had the opportunity to interview my Dad’s oldest half-brother. My uncle was 30 years older than my Dad and was a wealth of information. Some of this story is taken from that interview.
Q: So, some characters are family, and some are not. Who’s real and who isn’t?
I’ve mostly used family names for my characters. Charlotte is my mother’s first name, Isabelle was the name of her aunt, and Foley was the maiden name of her grandmother. Jack was the name of my maternal grandfather and is also the name of our oldest grandson. McClane is a family name as well. Jack was the name of my grandfather, while his actual character is based on my younger brother. Francesco and Teresa are the names of my paternal grandparents. The only character who is completely based on a family member is Roberta Moon. Though Roberta is her given name, we always knew her as Aunt Bonnie. She and my mom are first cousins and very close. She is very special to me, and the character of Roberta Moon in my book is wholly based on my Aunt Bonnie.
Q: Why did you name your main character Elliott Nesse?
Honestly, that name just fell into place for me. As I said, I love history, so the idea of a private investigator named Elliott Nesse, was just fun. And then, to have her class full of senior citizens join her class because they actually remember who Eliot Ness was…Well, it all just came together in a fun way.
Q: The Elliott Nesse Mysteries…a series of books. What’s the idea for your next book?
In my next book, Elliott, still trying to come to grips with the death of her husband, will be part of an online Grief Share group. During one of the meetings, a member of the group, who shares that they have a secret, will be murdered. Though everyone in the group is a witness, nobody knows who did it.
Q: How is Phoebe neurotic?
Phoebe is a very sweet Lab and Treeing Walker Coonhound mix. She was the runt of her litter and only weighs 48 lbs. When she was a young puppy, she would chase lizards up trees and stand with her front paws on the tree like she did her job and was waiting for us to come and shoot it or something. When we go for walks, if she gets a tiny little hitchhiker on her paw, she refuses to walk until I remove it. She hides under the couch blanket almost every morning, rooting under the covers until she gets everything just right. If I say, “I see you Phoebe,” while she’s rooting, she’ll sit very still with the covers over her head until she thinks I’ve walked away. She also has a weird habit of walking around the perimeter of our backyard every night. She gets stuck in the jasmine and gets poked by the pineapple plants, but she does it anyway. She’s quirky, but sweet.