I’m delighted to chat today with Marcy McCreary, author of the upcoming mystery, The Disappearance Of Trudy Solomon.

Can you tell us a little about your backstory and the inspiration for your book?

I spent my summers (1965-1982) in the Catskills resort area. My dad was the tummler (Activities Director) and nightclub emcee at The Hotel Brickman in South Fallsburg, NY. I knew I wanted to write a story in this setting, but the question became… what story/what era… A coming of age? A romance? A memoir? Then, in 2017, I came across an article about a woman (a waitress at the Concord Hotel) who mysteriously disappeared from the area in the mid-70s and was found forty years later in an Alzheimer’s facility (in Massachusetts) through the fluke of a social security number search by a detective. She was unable to tell the detective what had happened to her in the intervening years. That was my eureka moment. I was intrigued by the idea of fictionalizing this woman’s story—filling in the forty-year gap between disappearing and being found.

The idea of the father-daughter team, where the father was the original detective and the daughter who is a detective came pretty quickly. I loved the idea of that dynamic, especially because I originally wanted to set the story in both past and present and explore how Susan’s coming-of-age woes would affect how she came at this case. The year Trudy disappeared — 1978 — was a terrible year for Susan — her parents got divorced, her grandfather died, her best friend dropped her. So pairing them on this case allowed me to dig deep into their relationship and have them both uncover things they didn’t know about each other. But they are coming at this case with different motivations. Will finally thinks there’s a chance to solve a case he couldn’t crack forty years ago. Susan is not exactly thrilled with reliving this time of her life, and is pretty reluctant at first, but she is intrigued with the idea of giving a woman—who can’t recall her own life—her story back to her.

Once you had the story, what was your process for choosing the character who tells the story?

I spent some time chewing on the question of whether the story should be told in first or third person, narrated by one or many through various perspectives. Once I settled on first person, I ran through the options of who should be the one to tell the story: the original police detective (Will Ford), the detective (Ray Gorman) who found Trudy Solomon, the detective assigned to the cold case (Susan Ford), Trudy Solomon herself, or one of the Roths (the hotel family)? I chose Susan Ford as the sole person to tell the story because I wanted to focus on her journey of coming to terms with her own past, not just figuring out Trudy’s. That said, Trudy’s “Alzheimer’s-hazy” perspective is presented in short vignettes throughout the book. I thought that would help build suspense as she is the consummate unreliable narrator of her own story… and acts as a counterpoint to Susan’s role as a reliable narrator.

What is your pitch for this book?

Set in the Catskills region of New York, Detective Susan Ford and her father, retired Detective Will Ford, team up to crack a cold case he couldn’t solve forty years ago.

In the waning days of the Catskills hotel era, Stanley and Rachel Roth, the owners of The Cuttman Hotel, were practically dynasty — third-generation proprietors of a sprawling Borscht Belt resort with a grand reputation.. The glamorous and gregarious matriarch, Rachel. The cunning and successful businessman, Stanley. Their four beautiful children. A perfect family deserving of respect and loyalty. Or so it seemed.

Fast forward forty years. The Roths have lost their clout. When skeletal remains are found on the side of the road, a 1978 missing persons case—involving a waitress who worked at the Cuttman—is reopened. Each member of the Roth family hold a clue to the case, but getting them to confess what they know forces Detective Susan Ford to come face-to-face with a family she hoped never to see again.

What is the synopsis of your novel?

Trudy Solomon was a Catskills resort waitress who mysteriously disappeared in 1978 and resurfaces in 2018, but she is suffering from Alzheimers and unable to tell anyone what happened to her in the intervening years. Will Ford—the original detective on the case—still suspects foul play and enlists his daughter, Detective Susan Ford, to investigate the mystery and circumstances around her disappearance.

Susan and Will track down ex-employees, old witnesses, and a few new ones to piece together Trudy Solomon’s life after she went missing. In the course of their investigation they uncover two murders, an extortion scheme, and a kidnapping. All roads of inquiry lead to the Roth family… Stanley and Rachel Roth, the past owners of The Cuttman Hotel and their four adult children. After selling the hotel, the family parted ways, estranged from one another and harboring secrets about their “perfect” family. As the family closes ranks and tries to stymie the case, the detectives are left to wonder if they’ll ever outwit the Roths.

What would you consider to be your main character’s strengths and weaknesses?

Weaknesses: I wouldn’t say Susan Ford had a traumatic childhood, but she had a shitty one. Her alcoholic mother constantly belittled her. Her dad was an absent workaholic. And her childhood best friend, who was richer and prettier, never let her forget they were from two different worlds. She suffers from a condition called palmar hyperhidrosis—uncontrollable and relentlessly sweaty hands—which adds a level of self-consciousness to her feelings of insecurity. She is a procrastinator, putting off conversations and confrontations essential to moving both the case forward and her family/personal relationships forward. You’ll notice it in small ways (repairs that need to get done around the house) and big ways (avoiding conversations with her mother, Thomas, the Roths).

Strengths: Susan is dogged and determined. She’s contemplative in a way that allows her to probe her own shortcomings and insecurities, and eventually overcome these feelings. Her self-reflection and probing nature is also key to helping her understand the motivations of others, and guides her through solving the case.

What is the central message you hope readers take away from the novel?

I would like my readers to discover the power of empathy. Empathy is not something that descends upon you like a kind of grace, you need to work at it. We are naturally self interested creatures. Walking in someone else’s shoes helps you understand what motivates others, what fears they have, what obstacles they need to overcome in life. It is my belief that if more people exercised a bit more empathy we would have a more just society. All my characters need to leverage empathy — to varying degrees — in order to come to some resolution of a problem or situation that is affecting them and find a way forward from their current predicament. In most mysteries, the plot revolves around good vs. evil. In The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon, empathy represents the good, and selfishness is the evil. Those who practice empathy, become better versions of themselves. And the selfish eventually get their comeuppance.

What’s your favorite scene in the book?

Detective Susan Ford and her father, retired detective Will Ford, track down an old neighbor of Trudy’s, named Eleanor Campbell. Forty years have passed since Trudy’s disappearance, but Eleanor’s memory is still quite sharp and she is eager to assist in the investigation. A fair amount of humor is injected into this scene—Eleanor owns two noisy Budgerigars (known more commonly as parakeets or budgies), Laverne & Shirley, one of which curses. 

What was most fun about writing this book?

Writing the dialog between family members—capturing the sting of hard-to-hear candor—whether it was between Susan and her dad, Will; Susan and her mother, Vera; but especially the ultimate confrontation scene involving the Roth family.

What was the greatest challenge writing this book?

Keeping the dates straight!

What is your writing process?

I am a “pantser” for the most part (in writer lingo that means I do not formally plot, but instead write by the seat of my pants). I have a general idea of the plot (and a very clear idea about who the characters are and their role in the novel), but I let the protagonist lead me on her journey. I try to think logically… if she learns something new in the case, what would she do next? So I’ll write each scene as they logically make sense along a timeline. Of course, the protagonist will be lead astray, so then I need to think about how she would get out of a predicament (whether that’s assessing poor intel or finding herself in danger). However, there does come a point (usually about half-way in) when I need to take a step back and do a bit of outlining. I want to make sure the clues, red herrings, and plot twists make sense, and that requires being more of a “plotter.” But my outlining is quite minimal. Usually a few bullet points for each remaining chapter to make sure all the plot elements leading to the story reveals are coordinated.

What are you working on now?

I am working on the next Detective Susan Ford novel called “Sackett Lake” (although I might rename it “Murder at Sackett Lake” — still mulling that). It picks up where “The Disappearance of Trudy Solomon” leaves off in the summer of 2019. (There was one unresolved thread in the last novel and that will run as a subplot in this new novel.) When the novel opens, Susan is called to the scene of a murder—a young woman who used to live in the town and was found stabbed in her car at Sackett Lake. In the course of this investigation, Susan (and her dad, Will, who has once again wormed his way into the case) unearth other crimes, past and present, related to this murder.

What’s one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you?

I have an identical twin sister.

Who are your favorite authors?

Fiction: Kate Atkinson, Denise Mina, Susie Steiner, Tana French, P.D. James, John Banville
I love the flawed protagonists in their stories, and how these main characters bring their own personal baggage to a case, which might at first seem to get in the way of their investigations, but eventually it’s their quirky personality traits that make them especially adept at solving the case. I also love the way they use location/setting in their stories. These authors are deeply knowledgable about the places they set their stories in, and in doing so make the setting itself a character with its own story arc and bearing on the other characters.

Non-Fiction: Erik Larson, Lawrence Wright, Patrick Radden Keefe
I’m a big fan of narrative non-fiction. Wright and Keefe, both reporters, are adept at laying out stories in almost a documentary style. Larson’s narratives are replete with mood, propulsion, and well-drawn characters, making his books feel more like fiction than factual events. Larson’s “Devil In The White City,” published in 2003, still remains one of my favorite non-fiction reads.

Where can readers find you on social media?
Instagram: @marcymccrearyauthor
Facebook: Marcy McCreary
Twitter: @mcmarcy

What is your official author bio?
After graduating from George Washington University with a B.A. in American Literature and Political Science, Marcy McCreary pursued a career in the marketing field, holding executive positions in marketing communications and sales at various magazine publishing companies and content marketing agencies. With two daughters and two stepdaughters living in four different cities (Los Angeles, Nashville, Madison, Seattle), Marcy spends a lot of time on airplanes crisscrossing the country. She lives in Hull, MA and Nantucket, MA with her husband, Lew, and black lab, Chloe.

Thank you so much, Marcy, and best of luck with your book launch! The Disappearance Of Trudy Solomon will be published on September 7th, 2021 by CamCat Books. Pre-order today!