A Beautiful Island, Murder, and Mystery with C. Michele Dorsey, Author of NO VIRGIN ISLAND

C. Michele Dorsey joins Fresh Fiction to talk about her new release NO VIRGIN ISLAND, St. John, and Law!

Jen: Michele, thank you for joining us on Fresh Fiction! You’re a lawyer, mediator, and adjunct professor on top of being a writer. Why did you want to write mysteries and what was your road to publication?

Michele: I have loved reading mysteries since I was a kid, but it was reading Sue Grafton that made me actually want to try and write one, so I did. At first, I was writing as a creative process just for my own enjoyment, but soon I realized I wanted to share my writing with others and perhaps bring pleasure to readers as Sue Grafton and so many other authors have done for me.

My road to publication took more than ten years. I signed my first contract the same month I turned 65. I had been a finalist in the St. Martin’ s Malice Domestic contest for three different books I’d written. I wondered if I would ever be published. I was haunted by a phrase I’d heard my grandmother use: “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.”

But I kept writing, attending writing conferences, and basically refused to give up. My reward is that my book is now published by Crooked Lane Books, an exciting new mystery publisher.

Jen: NO VIRGIN ISLAND makes great use of its beautiful, exotic setting on the island of St. John, a place you love as well. What is on your absolute “must do” list for people visiting St. John?

Michele: The first thing you must do is unplug all of your devices! You don’t want to miss any of the natural beauty on St. John. Take in the blues and the greens of the water, the huge puffy clouds. Listen to the tree frogs at night. Smell the lush rainforest after a shower. Soak in the warm and silky ocean.

An absolute “must do” list would include a swim at Trunk Bay where the sand is like talcum powder and you can snorkel along an underwater trail. I would also recommend a hike out to Ram Head, which gives you a sense of the mixed terrain on St. John and was the site of island historical events. The third essential thing to do is to meet and mix with the island people. The locals who have lived their entire lives on St. John can teach you more about the island than any book. And the expatriates— well, they have their own stories to tell.

Jen: Your main character in NO VIRGIN ISLAND, Sabrina Salter, is a Boston- area transplant who’s now running a bed and breakfast on the island of St. John. What skills does Sabrina bring to mystery solving from her past and her current occupations?

Michele: As a meteorologist, Sabrina always had to have her eyes open, watching for any signs of stormy weather approaching. Her vigilance should help her avoid troublesome situations, but we know it doesn’t always. Running a villa rental business requires her to interact with people, which is good for Sabrina, who tends to be a little reclusive.

Jen: What skills from your work as an attorney came in handy while you were writing NO VIRGIN ISLAND?

Michele: I’m constantly telling my law students that judges don’t have time to read a lot of words, so they should work to be concise and persuasive. I had to keep reminding myself that readers are like judges and don’t want to waste their time reading a lot of words that don’t add to the story.

The other skill that I borrowed from my legal training was my use of deductive reasoning. Logic is such a wonderful tool, especially when leaving clues in a mystery.

Jen: What’s your next project? Will we see more of Sabrina and her guests?

Michele: Yes, Sabrina, Henry and Neil will return in the next installment of the Sabrina Salter mystery series with new guests and a new mystery to solve.

About C. Michele Dorsey

C. "Michele" Dorsey is the author of No Virgin Island , a mystery which will be published in 2015 by Crooked Lane Books.. She is also a lawyer, mediator and adjunct professor of law, who finds inspiration and serenity on the island of St. John, USVI, where her latest mystery is set. Michele was a finalist in St. Martin's Minotaur Books/Malice Domestic Competition in 2013 for No Virgin Island, in 2012 for Oh Danny Girl, and in 2004 for My Pink Slippers.

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About NO VIRGIN ISLAND

Sabrina Salter traded a high-pressure job as a Boston meteorologist for life as an innkeeper on St. John. But storm clouds roll in when Sabrina finds Carter Johnson, her most attractive guest, tucked up in a hammock way past check- out time… and he’s not just dead to the world, he’s just plain dead, with a bullet hole in his chest.

This isn’t the first time Sabrina has seen a dead body, and the island police are well aware of that. Thanks to her checkered history, not to mention the fact that she was the last person who saw Carter alive and far from entirely clothed, she finds herself marked as the prime suspect.

The U.S. Virgin Islands may be the sort of place where even defense attorneys wear flip- flops, but the laid-back life is over for Sabrina unless she can clear her name. So, she sets out to solve the crime, only to find herself caught in a tidal wave of adultery, kidnapping, identity fraud and murder in No Virgin Island, C. Michele Dorsey's outstanding mystery debut.