Empty seats a mystery

Sue Clark

I couldn’t wait. I was taking advantage of the chance to see three

women of mystery and check out a few books besides. I felt like a

double winner, and was grateful to the board of the Newport Beach

Public Library for giving me this opportunity.

My friends, Eva and Rachel, joined me in the Friends Meeting Room

last Thursday and paused over the large piles of murder mysteries

available for sale. I’d read all but one of Barbara Seranella’s

“Munch Mancini” series, and had brought her latest one for an

autograph. We’d also read all of the Eve Diamond series by Los

Angeles Times reporter Denise Hamilton and were awaiting her next.

Patricia Guiver was a bit more of a puzzle (no pun intended). The

ever-organized Eva had found me one of Guiver’s “Delilah Doolittle”

series books, and assigned it to me as pre-event reading. This

character and author were new to me, but the tale of Delilah, the

original pet detective, was a fun, fast read. (Jim Carrey’s Ace

Ventura character came along well after Guiver’s books initiated this

theme.)

We checked out the three authors seated on the stage. I focused on

Barbara Seranella because her life had been so interesting. Barbara’s

bio on her book jackets tells of her running away at 14 and joining a hippie commune and some outlaw motorcycle gangs. Her protagonist,

Munch, has had a similar past, and is in recovery from heroin

addiction. And, like the author, Munch becomes an auto mechanic.

I noticed Seranella looking briefly at me and so took a chance to

glance at her, too. I hoped she was remembering the last time I’d

asked her to autograph one of her books for me. It had come at the

end of a personally tough year for me, and I’d told her about it. She

had been supportive and very down-to-earth. (Turns out she didn’t

remember that time, so maybe she was merely scanning the crowd to use

aspects of the audience for new characters.)

The organizers of the event began asking the three authors

questions about their mysteries, the characters and, thrilling for

me, how they actually got the books written. The audience also got

the chance to ask questions, so, never shy, I waved my hand.

“This comment is for Denise and Barbara,” I said. “I have worked

with Denise’s parachute generation (Asian teens sent to America

without their families). I currently deal with types of at-risk teens

described by Barbara. You got each type of teen perfectly.” At this,

Hamilton and Seranella nodded and smiled their thanks.

“But, Barbara, why was the school counselor in your latest Munch

book such a dweeb? We counselors have a bad enough reputation

already!”

Seranella laughed and reminded me that the counselor was a murder

suspect, so he couldn’t be too likable.

The authors also talked about the legal niceties of creating a

character and mentioned something I often did when writing about

students -- changing their gender to keep them from being recognized.

Hamilton also decried the double standard they feel is imposed on

female mystery writers.

She mentioned that she’d had a male acquaintance chastise her for

her character Eve’s promiscuity.

“How do you see that?” she’d asked. “Eve has only had two

boyfriends in several books.” Perhaps, thought the author, some men

see Eve as too bold. All agreed that if it were a James Bond male

hero, nothing would be said about his love life.

Then she looked over at Patricia Guiver, who smiled and confessed

that none of the characters in her Delilah Doolittle books had any

interest in that sort of thing.

“Even the dogs are neutered,” Seranella said.

After the presentation, I shyly hung around the people who were

talking to Seranella. Finally, she turned to me, and I asked her for

that second autograph. I told her it had been four years since I’d

seen her, and I’d been touched by her caring demeanor that day. I

also thanked her for her dedication in her latest novel, which says,

“For all the kids who have broken the chain, and for all the

counselors, teachers and mentors who helped them.”

“It’s true,” I told her. “One person can make a difference to a

troubled teen.”

After the panel, Eva and I hashed over the event in the parking

lot.

“It made me sad,” I said, “to see half the chairs empty. Library

benefactor Elizabeth Stahr and her board went to a huge amount of

trouble to make this event happen.” We wondered if the male mystery

readers in our area had eschewed this event as a “chick evening.”

I told Eva about the Witte Distinguished Speakers Program, where

I’d heard one of the smartest men in my life, David Gergen. He’d

discussed four presidents for whom he’s worked. This is the man who

inspired me to read his beautifully written book, “Eyewitness to

Power,” and changed my mind (to some extent) about Ronald Reagan.

Although the Witte Speakers Series is fairly expensive, the price

for Women of Mystery was free. Next year, I hope we see a full house.

Why we didn’t on Thursday is a mystery to me.

* SUE CLARK is a Costa Mesa resident and a high school guidance

counselor at Creekside High School in Irvine.