The Ghosts in the Layers?

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HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: It's tempting, isn't it? To think of who has been the same places you've been, in the past, and waaaaay in the past? It crosses my mind whenever I walk on Boston Common, or go to Lexington and Concord,  or stroll down the street in Salem. You cannot tell me the present is all that's--present.

Our dear friend of the Reds Jeannette DeBeauvoir has been thinking just the same thing. 

The Ghosts in the Layers
By Jeannette deBeauvoir

I walk down Commercial Street—which here in Provincetown is our Main Street—and I think about what I’m seeing. I pass Lewis Brothers’ Ice Cream, and smile at the memory of my stepdaughter working there when she still lived with me. 

I stop in to East End Books for a lively conversation with my friend Jeff. I might go to the Portuguese Bakery for a decadent pastry—bittersweet memories, those, of breakfasts with my ex-husband. I have to go see Chomo at her Himalayan shop and find out what’s on sale. I’ll check out what Nan or Deborah put in the window at the venerable Provincetown Bookshop. If it’s a nice day, I might treat myself to a Bulgarian salad that I’ll take out on the pier and eat while watching the harbor. I’ll end up at the post office and have at least two conversations and three dog-petting sessions there. As I walk, I say hello to a lot of people; those of us who live year-round in this tourist destination pretty much know each other, at least by sight. 

And as I do all this, I realize that what I’m seeing is just a small slice of this street. I’m seeing what’s relevant to my life.

Which means I’m missing rather a lot.

I’ve talked a lot about the importance, to me, of using place when writing fiction, of populating one’s books with real shops and restaurants and streets and people. But it’s only recently that I’ve begun to think about the layers that exist everywhere, layers certain people see and others don’t. 

Commercial Street also has smoke shops, leather shops, bars, clothing stores, sex shops, antiques and home décor… I know they’re there, but they don’t really register. I don’t have a reason to go in, or a memory to attach to them. And what that means is readers of my Provincetown mystery series aren’t really experiencing Provincetown, are they? They’re experiencing my experience of Provincetown, and everybody’s mileage varies.

When I start thinking like that, I feel my head might explode.

To complicate things even more, there are ghosts that live in those layers, faces and voices and memories of people and things that are no more. I already mentioned two of my own: the ghost of my former marriage, the ghost of my stepdaughter handing out ice cream cones. There’s the memory of the old gatehouse at the Murchison estate, now replaced by something modern and forgettable; the real soda/malt shop with a long shiny counter that used to be part of Adams’ Drugstore; the horse farm over on Nelson that’s now condos.

Provincetown has more than its share of real ghosts, too, as we remember a time when men came here to die of an alienating plague; back then, there was a new funeral every week. Or we can listen to the wind that whispers over the dunes, reminding us of all the shipwrecked victims who died on our shores when the Cape was still the Atlantic’s favorite graveyard. 

Marc Cohn might have seen the ghost of Elvis when he was walking in Memphis; I strive to see the ghosts of my literary predecessors here, of Edna St. Vincent Millay scratching away in a cold attic room, of Eugene O’Neill staging plays on Lewis Wharf, Tennessee Williams at the Little Bar of the Atlantic House, Norman Mailer roaringly drunk and brawling with fishermen, John Dos Passos decrying war in three volumes of work. I don’t even expect most people are looking for the same ghosts as I am!

These thoughts could rapidly become paralyzing, as you can well imagine.

Of course, realistically, my perspective is valid. It’s the perspective I’ve given to my protagonist, Sydney Riley, who is actually quite a lot like me in ways both comfortable and distressing. But I also wonder if I have a responsibility toward those other layers, those other ghosts. Am I being honest in not including them? Yet how can I access things I don’t know about?

I don’t know the answer to those questions. Do you?

The one thing I know I can do is keep some of it alive. Honor some of the people who lived and died here and whose lives were so meaningful to the town. Ellie, the transgender woman who used to—at age 78—belt out Frank Sinatra in front of town hall.

 Richard Olson, the historian, who for decades sat at the bar at Napi’s and dispensed amazing wisdom. Tim McCarthy, activist, who was never without his video camera, documenting life. Names that in another ten years will have disappeared from memory, because they weren’t famous anywhere but here. But they were part of here, and so in my latest mystery, A Killer Carnival, Ellie is remembered; it’ll be Richard’s turn for my November release, The Christmas Corpses. And perhaps someone will pick up the book and muse, “yeah, right, I remember Richard! Gosh, I’d forgotten all about him.”

And maybe somewhere Richard will be smiling.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I'm sure that's true! And lovely to think about. And yes, we can honor them through our writing ,and our reading, as well. 

I know we've talked about "ghosts" before. But even if you haven't encountered them personally, where are places you've gone where you think they might still be?

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Jeannette de Beauvoir writes mysteries and historical fiction, sometimes intersecting the two. A Killer Carnival, Book Four of the Sydney Riley Provincetown mystery series, is just out, as Ptown’s Carnival parade starts with a bang—literally. More about her at jeannettedebeauvoir.com.

(PS from Jeannette: Just as a postscript, as I was writing this article, Atlas Obscura popped up in my inbox inviting readers to share a real place they’d discovered through a work of fiction. Timing is everything! You can see them all here.)

Jungle Reds Celebrate Hank's Big THE MURDER LIST Day!

RHYS BOWEN: We Reds are having such a fun month. First we danced for joy when Hallie’s book, CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, and mine, LOVE AND DEATH AMONG THE CHEETAHS, came out and now we have been counting down until Hank’s THE MURDER LIST. 

Well, dear readers, that day is finally here. We are so excited about this book. Already so many stellar reviews. So much buzz. It has to be a huge hit. And we decided to celebrate by making Hank the spotlight of our deep and meaningful questions:

HALLIE EPHRON: It seems like with every book, you push the envelope. Going deeper. More complex. More unexpected. What new turf are you tilling with THE MURDER LIST?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN : Here’s a funny thing.  So many of the marvelous and spectacular reviews (yay!) of THE MURDER LIST have called it character-driven, and wow, I love that. Hurray. But in fact, THE MURDER LIST came from the story. Then the characters, like Rachel and Jack, came to populate that story. And happily, they took over.

I was listening to my criminal defense husband discuss a murder case one day. One track of my mind was listening to his narrative, and the other track was thinking—wow, what a good guy he is. The authentic real thing—standing up for the little guy, protecting the rights of the individual against the vast power of the state and the prosecution, making sure the prosecution plays by the rules and that the trial is fair and just.

And then I thought--what does the prosecutor’s wife think about her husband? Certainly she things he’s a good guy—protecting the public, putting miscreants behind bars, keeping criminals off the streets, standing up for law and order.

So how, I thought, can everyone be a good guy? And I started thinking about good, especially when it comes to the justice system. And realized that everyone involved chooses the side they think is the good side. And then they fight it out to see which “good” wins.

And then added to that: the obsession with lawyers--sorry, Jonathan and all--to win. 

You ask a lawyer, “What’s a good case?” And they’ll say “Winnable.” So given that they all think they’re good, and that they all want to win—and they’re always always in a battle with each other—doesn’t that set up perfect conflict? And the question of how far someone might go to win?

And then add a newbie—a young lawyer wannabe who has to choose a side.

So I created law student Rachel, trying to figure out her legal life.  And her influences—her brilliant defense attorney husband and her new employer, the powerful prosecutor. Two sides, battling for the legal soul of this novice attorney.

At least, that’s what they think they’re doing.

LUCY BURDETTE:  Your books are mostly (all?) set in Boston, and they involve reporters and lawyers, all of which are close to home for you. How closely do you stick to reality, with settings and characters and plot?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Yes, they are all set around Boston at least, and yes they involve reporters and lawyers. I'm fascinated by how reporters and lawyers are required to think, seeing every possible side of every possible story, and then sticking to the truth they choose. 

Then, think how much what a reporter says in the story can affect a trial. And how much what a lawyer tells a reporter can affect that story. And yes, no one in my books, reporter or lawyer, does anything that a real person would not or could not do.

THE MURDER LIST, I have to say, is quite realistic. Terrifyingly so.

As for the settings, yes, part of the fun is making it authentic. Now I sometimes drive by places where events occurred in the murder list, and I think oh, that’s where Rachel and Jack first met for coffee. And then I laughed, and remember, oh, I made that up.

If a murder takes place in someone’s house, though. I make up an address or if there is a scene in a restaurant, I make up the restaurant.  Just in case :-)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING:  You dig deeper into the legal profession in THE MURDER LIST than you have in any other book, and you have expert help in the form of your husband! (For readers who don't know, Jonathan Shapiro is a VERY distinguished trial attorney.) But what's it like getting him to talk about the messy details of cases? Will Jonathan spill tea? Do you have to wait until X many years after a verdict before he'll disclose what REALLY happened?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:   Well, I have to admit I am incredibly lucky to have having in-house legal counsel. We are also both lucky to have the framework of spousal immunity, and reporter-source confidentiality. Jonathan and I talk about absolutely everything about everything, with the understanding that some of it will never get past the kitchen table. Except very fictionally :-)

In THE MURDER LIST,  all the super conflict, and the super dynamics, and the super inside details, those are all based on reality. Sometimes I say to Jonathan: I cannot believe you have such an interesting life! And he says the same thing to me.  

But one caveat (!) there is a dashing handsome brilliant defense attorney in THE MURDER LIST, and people wonder if that actually is Jonathan. It most definitely :-) is not. Truly. Trust me. (Hmm. The more I say that the more you won’t believe me. But Jack is not Jonathan!  And I know you have read it, Julia, and I know you recognize that from page 1.)

The murders are not based on any real cases. And, though I worked hard to keep legal jargon at a minimum, all the details are authentic.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Hank, which came first, wanting to be a reporter or a writer? What were your "aha" moments?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN  Oh, Debs, I never wanted to be anything but a lawyer or a disc jockey. Those were my basic ambitions. I kind of wanted to be a detective, too, like Sherlock Holmes. 

My aha moments, and there have been many, came more as a surprise then a quest. My mother always said I was incredibly curious, and she taught me, and I can hear her saying this, to “go and find out. “ so I learned how to do that.

I knew I wanted to be a reporter only after two weeks of being a radio reporter! I went home those two weeks, sobbing, because I had no idea what I was doing. Then one morning I went to the station and I thought wow, this is exciting. And I know how to do this! And I have been a reporter ever since then, 1971, can you believe it?  

Same with television… There was a learning curve, certainly, and then I fell in love with it.

As for investigative reporting, I totally remember that aha moment. I was interviewing the head of the water department from somewhere, and he said “we have no evidence of toxicity in our water.”

And I sort of looked at him, and said: “Have you ever tested for it?”

And he said no. And I thought: whoa. People lie. And I can find out the truth.

As a writer, the aha was when I had the idea for Prime Time. I had absolutely no doubt that would be a good book, and that I could do it. Silly naive me, right? But it turned out to be true.

JENN MCKINLAY:  What was your most embarrassing moment on air?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Most embarrassing moment? Such a perfect Jenn question.  Oh, I have two big big big ones. 

One, when I was filling in for the weekend anchor person, and you know, one of the edicts in television is to just read the prompter. So at the end of the newscast, as I was mentally telling myself how good I was, I read the prompter. Which said  Thank you for being with us tonight, I’m Kate Sullivan, have a good evening.”

Which I read, out loud, on live TV. And then I realized, no, I was not Kate Sullivan.

Other one was when I was doing a big investigation into nuclear medicine. And one of the elements sometimes contained in those is krypton. But--I called it kryptonite. Much to the glee of all the scientists who called me to tell me that that was only in Superman.

What can we learn from this? ALWAYS have an editor who is smarter than you are.

RHYS:  And last from me. Everyone else was so literary and career-oriented in their questions. Mine is more mundane. I have always wanted to know about the nickname HANK. Who gave it to you and when? Did you choose it yourself? Are you happy with it? Do you feel it fits your personality? Has it been a help or a hindrance in your career? Have people thought you were a male? Any funny mixups? (I ask because Rhys is also a man’s name and I have been approached with Dear Mr. Bowen).

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN  Oh, Rhys.  My real name is Harriet Ann. I loathed it, absolutely hated it. I was such a geeky nerdy kid, and Harriet just made it all worse, especially when all the cool girls were Debbie and Linda.  Then my first day of college in 1967, someone said oh, you don’t look like a Harriet, we’ll call you Hank. And it’s been that ever since.(I love Harriet now.)

Honestly? I think other people like it more than I do. If I had a choice, I might be Harriet again. And yes, if it weren’t for my picture on the books, it would be utterly baffling. Because unlike people who use initials, where there is always the possibility of being either gender, Hank is definitely a man. Until they meet me or see the picture. 

Interestingly, The UK version of TRUST ME comes out this Thursday — and my fabulous UK publisher wondered if there was another name I could use instead of  Hank. So in the UK, I will be at Anna Ryan. Cool, huh? I love it! And here is the cover of that book.

But here in the US, Hank it is.  I love it, though, in that it’s at least memorable. You never know what seemingly small decisions are going to change your life!

RHYS:   We are rooting for you and hoping for great things this week, my friend!

Dear readers, check out Hank’s signing schedule on her website. She has a HUGE tour!

And--not being pushy, but we're all pals: you can buy THE MURDER LIST here! 

And who has a question they would like to ask Hank? A signed copy of THE MURDER LIST to her one very lucky commenter!