Special Mitch Malone Edition - F.M. Meredith's Gordon Butler

Welcome to a special edition of Mitch Malone Mondays, by yours truly, Mitch Malone. Today is special because one of my favorite authors is here and while a reporter can never have favorites or be bias, I do have a fond spot for Marilyn and was happy to do her a favor. I want to make it clear that my interview for today, Gordon Butler, will not get any special treatment. He will be subjected to the same hardboiled questions as any of my other interviews so let’s gets started. Gordon, thanks for joining me today. You are an officer with the Rocky Bluff Police Department. Tell me how long and how that came to be.

Gordon: I wanted to be a policeman since I was a little kid. I believe in doing everything by the book and I probably know the laws better than anyone in the department—something that the other guys make fun of at times. When I graduated from the L.A. Police Academy, Rocky Bluff P.D. had an opening, and I’ve been with them ever since. I had a horrible training officer, so bad that he actually stole my wife away from me, among other things. But that’s a whole other story.

You’ve had your share of problems over the last few years.  Might I say you tend to put your all into your job. Can you tell me about a couple of the funny incidents now you look back on them.

Gordon: I can assure you they didn’t seem funny at the time. I’ve wrecked a couple of new police cars, not my fault, of course, chased a suspect through poison oak and had a horrible reaction, another time I leapt over a wall when going after a suspect and fell and broke my leg. But the worst happened to me recently. My fellow cops thought it hilarious—me, not so much.

Marilyn Meredith, W.S. Gager and Madeline Gornell at last years Public Safety Writers Conference.

In my next book, I’m dating a woman who isn’t all she appears to be especially when she turns up dead when we are supposed to be on a date. You have fallen for an interesting woman. What is she like?

Gordon: Benay Weiss is a gorgeous redhead. I met her when I pulled her over for a traffic violation. I’d never seen anyone with such beautiful green eyes. Mesmerized me—though I still gave her a ticket.  When her best friend is found murdered, Benay is the prime suspect. No way would she have killed anyone, much less someone she cared about. I’m going to find out the truth and make sure everyone knows Benay is innocent.

She still wanted to date after the ticket? Did you take care of it later? Better not go in that direction judging by the look in your eyes. To change the subject, you have some interesting coworkers at Rocky Bluff Police Department and a little fraternization on the job between Officer Stacey Wilbur and Detective Doug Milligan. Can you give me the dirt on these two?

Gordon: You’re a bit behind times, Officer Stacey Wilbur is now Stacey Milligan. You can read all about the wedding that almost didn’t happen in Angel Lost. Now we have two Milligans on the Rocky Bluff P.D. which is a bit confusing at times. Because I was renting a room in Doug’s house before the wedding and couldn’t find another place to stay, Stacey’s parents offered me her old room at their house. It’s working out okay, but now that I’m seeing Benay, I’m going to be looking for my own place.

Okay, I didn’t mean to make you pull your gun. Can you put that away. Just was looking for some inside information. I am a reporter after all and haven’t had a good scoop in a while. Tell me about your latest case will you.

Gordon: (laughing) Very funny. Once I’ve proved Benay innocent I’ll let you know who is the guilty party. I don’t want to brag, but this latest book about the Rocky Bluff P.D. is really my book. Oh sure, you can read about some of the other folks on the department and what’s going on with their families, but I’m the true star in this one.

Thanks, Gordon, for stopping by today. To find out more about No Bells, check out Marilyn’s website at http://fictionforyou.com. More about No Bells: Officer Gordon Butler has finally found the love he’s been seeking for a long time, but there’s one big problem, she’s the major suspect in a murder case.

F.M. Meredith, also known as Marilyn Meredith, is the author of over thirty published novels—and a few that will never see print. Her latest in the Rocky Bluff P.D. crime series, from Oak Tree Press, is No Bells. Rocky Bluff P.D. is a fictional beach community between Ventura and Santa Barbara and F. M. once lived in a similar beach area. F. M. (Marilyn) is a member of EPIC, Four chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and serves as the program chair for the Public Safety Writers of America’s writing conference. She’s been an instructor at many writing conferences.

Blog: http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Marilyn's Contest: The person who comments on the most blogs on my tour will win three books in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series: No Sanctuary, An Axe to Grind, and Angel Lost. Be sure and leave your email too, so I can contact you.