DETECTIVE JAKE SWANSON of NEWPORT BEACH

SUPERSTITIOUS?

By M.J. Hatch, creator of Detective Jake Swanson and

the Murder Most. . . series of books

It’s funny how sometimes superstitions have a way of intruding unbidden into our daily lives and even our dreams to forestall our aspirations. These beliefs are so strong that sometimes we bring our fears into reality.

We believe that if we spill salt we need to throw some over our left shoulder to either to throw salt into the eye of the Devil, or to placate him with a rare commodity. As to purses on the floor—well, we ladies know that with our purse on the floor we will soon be broke either because the money runs out onto the floor, or because we have disrespected the funds. In either case, we are taught to BEWARE!

Within the last year I have come face-to-face with another superstition that seems to be haunting the Detective Jake Swanson TV series—don’t talk about something until the deal is signed because it will dissipate the good fortune!

ARRRGGG! 

Guilty, guilty, guilty! I was so excited to share with everyone the excitement of brining my favorite character to life that I completely blew by the constant warnings of my husband not to talk about something until it is brought to fruition. Ever since I began blogging about the possibility of the series weird things have happened to stall it. (Oh, that’s another blog, so stay tuned for that)

So, no more updates about TV, but rather let me introduce you to the characters in the Murder Most. . . series of books, Murder Most Blonde; and Murder Most Judgmental; with Murder Most Merry coming in early in 2016.

Detective Jake Swanson and his partner Melissa Sanchez people these books, with the city of Newport Beach being the main character—because who doesn’t like to laugh and point at the foibles of the very rich and wished-they-were rich? Join them and the others of the Newport Beach Police Department as they traverse this über wealthy city by the bay catching the rich doing incredibly vile things, including murder.

Stay tuned, as they say, it’s going to be a great journey. 

Chapter One

DETECTIVE JAKE SWANSON’S BIRTH OF

THE MURDER MOST TV SERIES

By M. J. HATCH

AUTHOR OF MURDER MOST BLONDE; MURDER MOST JUDGMENTAL, and MURDER MOST MERRY

CHAPTER ONE

[blog entry two]

ROBERT WAGNER CALLS

The voice on the other end of the line sounded familiar, but I could not place it, even when he introduced himself.

“Hello,” he said, “This is RJ Wagner, have I caught you at a bad time?”

I am a lawyer, and I was on a much needed vacation at my favorite place on the Central Coast of California—and the name did not ring a bell, other than I had a former client by the name of Wagoner. It only added to my confusion, leaving me speechless.

Again the voice said, “Hello, this is Robert Wagner, am I speaking to M.J. Hatch?”

I was really confused. Yes, I use M.J. Hatch when writing the Detective Jake Swanson murder mysteries, but I rarely use Hatch, so again I did not answer.

Finally the voice said, with a chuckle, “Listen, this is Robert Wagner, husband to Jill St. John, is this M.J. writer of that scoundrel Detective Jake Swanson?’

Suddenly the name and everything it meant came clear, I was speaking to the Robert Wagner, one of my idols.

My world tilted on its axis, as I breathlessly answered, “Yes, this is she.”

“Well, young lady, you’re a hard person to get a hold of,” he said. “I want to talk to you about your Jake Swanson character—I love him!”

By this time I was nearly fainting, having forgotten to breathe when I realized to whom I was speaking. But, somewhere from the outer universe I heard my voice, or anyway I think it was my voice, said, “Cool, I like him too.”

The incredibly rich voice of a trained actor chuckled and said, “yeah, there’s a lot to like about him.”

Of course I chuckled back, and then said, “So, what can I do for you?”

“Well, listen,” he said, “I think Jake would make a really great character, and I want to talk to you about possibly developing a series around him. What do you think?”

Trying even harder to be cool, after all, I am from California—land of the terminally cool, I answered, “Cool, I think that could definitely be arranged.”

And, that is how this incredible journey began, a simple phone call from Robert Wagner out of the blue.

Introduction

DETECTIVE JAKE SWANSON’S BIRTH OF

THE MURDER MOST TV SERIES

BY M.J. HATCH

INTRODUCTION

TO THE STORY AND BLOG

[blog entry one]

Sometimes dreams do come true, even those dreams you never dare to dream. In fact, I think there maybe even was a song about that.

For me, a secret dream, maybe not even a fully formed dream is coming true. This is the story of how it came to pass that one of my characters in my mystery series came to have life on the screen.

All of you writers, dreamers, and those who think you are too old, too sick, too settled in your ways, or believe that life has passed you by, follow me each day as I lead you through an incredible journey that even I didn’t dare to dream.

Along the way, meet Detective Jake Swanson, his partner, Melissa Sanchez, and the freaks, geeks, murderers, scammers, and mopes that inhabit their lives in the series of books by M.J. Hatch, including MURDER MOST BLONDE; MURDER MOST JUDGMENTAL, and the soon to be released MURDER MOST MERRTY. Hopefully, by learning them, you’ll love them enough to want to spend an hour with them every week.

So, stay tuned.