LUCY BURDETTE: Peter Abrahams aka Spencer Quinn can write dark, as with his novels of suspense, and he can write light, as in his Spencer Quinn Chet and Bernie mysteries--we love them all! So I was delighted to hear about his new book, MRS. PLANSKY'S REVENGE--it's such a clever premise-- and very happy when he agreed to write a blog for us. Welcome Peter and Spencer!
PETER ABRAHAMS/SPENCER QUINN: Six or seven years ago, my dad got a phone call. At the time he was in his early nineties. He died two weeks short of his 97th birthday and was in excellent mental shape and very good physical shape until the end. I want to emphasize that mental part. He was a very smart guy: quick, sharp, clear-headed. Back to the call.
Caller: Hey, Grandpa!
My dad: Jake?
Caller: Yeah, Grandpa, it’s me, Jake.
Cut To: My dad’s wife, noticing he’s putting on his jacket.
Wife: Ed? Where are you going?
My dad: To the bank. Jake’s in trouble and he needs some money.
At that point it was decided to call Jake (living in another city), and he had not called my dad and wasn’t in any trouble. “Jake” never got a penny. But I was amazed that my dad – whom I could never fool when I was a kid! – could be fooled so easily.
But I soon forgot all about that and went back to writing Chet and Bernie. Then one day while I was riding my bike, the whole story of Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge came to me in one fell swoop! She’s a seventy-one year old retired widow in Florida who late one night gets a call from her grandson Will in Colorado, who’s in DUI trouble and needs help. Following his precise instructions, she sends $9726.18. She can afford it. Her grandson is in trouble. Case closed.
But it wasn’t Will. And because Mrs. Plansky—unlike you, I’m sure—uses the same password for everything, the scammers have cleaned out not just her checking account but her retirement accounts as well, everything. The FBI tells her the scammers are probably in Romania, but identifying them would be almost impossible and the chances of getting her money back are nil. Mrs. P is humiliated. She goes to Romania to recover her self-respect and her money.
So: that all dropped into my mind on the bike path but at first I didn’t connect it to my dad! Then I started wondering why I’d chosen the name Plansky. Bingo! Tony Plansky was a legendary track coach at Williams College, where the Navy had sent my dad in WW2 as part of their program to get officers (my dad commanded a sub chaser hunting Nazi U-boats in the Atlantic). My dad had run cross country at Williams and he had some funny stories about Tony Plansky. And when I went to Williams in the 1960’s he was still there! Therefore Mrs. Plansky’s name was the bridge to where my story had come from, even if I was too blockheaded to put it together myself.
And then, on the current book tour for Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge, came the bonus! I’d just finished telling the above story about the Plansky bridge at one of the stops when two audience members rose and introduced themselves: Mary Plansky and Lisa Plansky O’Neill, great nieces of Tony. They’d been intrigued by the title and come to find out more.
You can imagine the ensuing emotion. There are spiritual rewards in this business.
Peter Abrahams (aka Spencer Quinn) is the Edgar-award winning author of 46 novels, including The Right Side, The Fan, Oblivion, and the Echo Falls series for younger readers. Under his pen name, Spencer Quinn, he writes the New York Times bestselling Chet and Bernie series – of which the next is Up on the Woof Top, coming October 2023. Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge came out last month. Abrahams was born in Boston, graduated from Williams College, and lives on Cape Cod. “My favorite American suspense novelist.” – Stephen King. “The best writer of psychological suspense around.” – Laura Miller, NPR. Online -peterabrahams.com, Facebook.com/ChetTheDog.
