One way to turn a “whodunit” into a “whatdidtheydo” is to light a fire under the plot.  A well-placed conflagration can destroy evidence, take away witnesses and set up conflicts among the good guys as police and fire investigators pick over their charred turf.  It can also affect the reader, since fire is a primal force that we encounter with fear and respect.

            Writer Shelly Reuben is not an armchair detective.  She is a licensed private detective and an Internationally Certified Fire Investigator who has trod carefully through many scenes of arson, and written many scenes that accurately reflect both the professional work and personal lives of law enforcement officers and fire fighters.

            Tabula Rasa is the fifth novel by the Chenango County resident, and much of it takes place in a small town she calls Fawn Creek.  (As with many fictionalized settings, the region around it carries real names: Binghamton, Norwich, Route 7…). 

Arson investigator Billy Nightingale and his brother-in-law, New York State Trooper Sebastian Bly, have been called in to investigate a fire at the “ugly house” of Edith and Wilbur Tuttle.  Two of their children burned to death, but an infant was discovered under the front steps.

The character of Edith Tuttle was inspired in part by the case of Waneta Hoyt (online NY Times story requires free registration), the Tioga County woman who was convicted in 1995 of multiple child murder after medical and forensic evidence ruled out Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and discovered that she had asphyxiated her children.  Hoyt died in prison in 1998, but in Tabula Rasa Edith Tuttle is released from prison after many years and seeks out her remaining child.

Shelly Reuben will join WSKG’s Bill Jaker on OFF THE PAGE to tell about her work as a fire investigator and as a mystery writer.  To join in with questions and comments call during the live 1:00 PM broadcast to 1-888/359-9754 or post a comment here... or directly via email to WSKG.Radio@Gmail.com.

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