LUCY BURDETTE: Today I’m delighted to welcome my good friend Christine Falcone back to the blog. She has a new book out this month, BORROWED TROUBLE, the second in her Melanie Bass mystery series. And Hank! There’s a theme here this week too—pets in mysteries. I know you’ll enjoy Chris’s story (and her book too, coming mid-October from Level Best Books.)
CHRISTINE FALCONE: Thank you, Lucy, for inviting me to be on Jungle Red Writers today.
One of the characters I most enjoy writing about in my Melanie Bass mystery series is Melanie’s dog, Bruno. Bruno, a terrier mix, is an exceptionally well-behaved dog because, well, I have complete control over what he does. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make our real-life pets always do what we wanted and never misbehave? But no matter if they do not always behave perfectly, much like our children, we love them anyway. I have a Border Collie mix named Toby. He is a good boy too, except when he sees a squirrel, or a chipmunk, or even a bird and he whips me off my feet as I cling to his leash. (It would not be safe for him to wander off leash in our neighborhood). He likes dogs, but is iffy with people he doesn’t know, and turns into a Cujo when someone (You know who you are UPS delivery person) dares to come to our door. But really, he is (mostly) a good dog.
In writing about Bruno I realized that giving my main character a pet comes with a lot of responsibility. Just like in real life, you have to remember they need to be fed and walked. I found the necessity of getting home to feed and take out Bruno has actually helped me in transitioning my main character from one situation or location to another. But what if your protagonist is unable to get home in time to take care of their pet? Sometimes we get our main characters in dangerous situations, and in addition to dealing with the trouble they are in themselves they have to worry about who will look after their pet until they extricate themselves from the difficulty they are in. Melanie solved the problem by getting a conscientious dog walker. Like in real life, it was necessary to make sure Bruno’s health was being looked after. This led to Melanie meeting her love interest, handsome and single veterinarian, Justin McKenzie.
Bruno is Melanie’s main confidant as he is always there to listen to all her problems, comforts her when she is upset, and will tackle anyone he perceives as a threat – no matter their size. This goes both ways, though, as in book two of the series, BORROWED TROUBLE, it is Melanie’s protectiveness of Bruno that leads her to get mixed up in a dangerous police investigation.
So, if you feel your protagonist needs a little something to spice up, or complicate (in a good way) their life – have them get a dog, Or a cat.
Have you ever been annoyed by how pets are portrayed in fiction? What is it that has annoyed you?
ABOUT CHRISTINE FALCONE: Christine Falcone’s short stories have appeared in publications such as Imagine, Larcom Review, and Deadfall: Crime Stories by New England writers. After working for nearly forty years as an RN in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Christine is delighted that retirement coincided with the publication of her first full length mystery, EX’D OUT, published in October 2022. The second in the series, BORROWED TROUBLE will be out in October 2023. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. She lives on the Connecticut Shoreline with her family and a dog who is not nearly as well behaved as Bruno, the beloved canine in her novel.
