Trisha Sugarek | An Idea...A Gift...A New Story! "The Art of Murder"

Let's see....I think it was 2005 and we were in rehearsals for "Cheatin'" at a local community theatre, in Port Aransas, Texas.  I was the director and we had pulled together a terrific cast.  The title pretty much tells you the story line but the fun part and what made it so funny was it was set in....where else?...... Texas and was filled with good ole' boys and girls.  It was the highest grossing play for that theatre in many a year and won Best Production. I was very proud of the cast and crew! 

But here's the story I wanted to tell you.....one night after rehearsal we all went out for a couple of beers, as actors are wont to do, and to blow off a little steam.  It was a fairly large cast so we pulled some tables together and ordered pitchers.  As the evening wore on one of my crew....sorry his name escapes me; it must have been Billy Bob or Bubba or Junior...leaned over the table and said, "Trish, I've had this great idea for a play script for years but I know I'll never write it....hell, I wouldn't know where to begin....and you're a writer so I want to give you my idea."   

I nodded politely and listened.  It wasn't the first time I had been told by someone that they 'wanted to write someday' or that they had a great idea and I should start writing it down.  His idea for a story was this:  a reclusive artist watches a woman from his windows and paints her on canvas after canvas....over and over. Then one day the woman ends up dead.  

I told him it was a great story line but that I didn't write murder mysteries and he should try writing it himself.  Then someone down the table shouted to me and that was that! One day recently, a drawer way in the back of my brain popped open and out spilled this idea that Bubba had given me over a few beers, eight years ago.  And the whole story (well, except for the ending) was suddenly there in my mind's eye.  A cold water, walk up loft in the Village, a young reclusive artist, a beautiful girl in a red dress who lives across the street, and old folks sitting out on their stoops. 

The Art of Murder

Monty is a struggling, unknown artist, living in a loft in Soho. From his third floor walk up, he watches his beautiful neighbor as she comes and goes. Too shy and reclusive to ask her out, he paints her again and again. Suddenly the police are at his door. His goddess, his dream woman is dead and the police like him for the crime. Detective Roarke sifts through the forensics, motives and physical evidence and at first glance it seems that all the evidence points to the strange artist who is obsessed with the beautiful actress. But, as time passes, several other suspects come to the attention of Detective Roarke and the case is now not so open and shut. As the detective emerses himself in her life, it turns out that she has more than one secret. Comment below and enter to win your own copy of THE ART OF MURDER or Trisha's 1920s novel WILD VIOLETS.