Watch Out for the Musicians and Arizona Author D.R. Ransdell

Readers have asked how I got started writing Mariachi Murder.  The truth is that I didn’t sit down and decide to write a novel about a mariachi player who gets involved in a murder story. Andy came to me while I was doing something mundane—painting the house. Have you noticed? When you paint the house yourself, it’s very big. When you’re trying to find a place to put all your stuff, it’s very small. Those are the laws of physics! 

Perhaps because I was bored with painting (this was the second coat), the first scene of the novel came to me. Andy saw something. Something maybe he shouldn’t have. That’s the thing with mariachi players. They don’t play from written music. Everything is by memory. When I started playing in a mariachi myself, I found this situation extremely challenging. But there’s a pay-off. While we’re performing, we have plenty of time to look around.

Naturally we spend a lot of time interacting with the customers who come to hear us play or the participants at a party.  But we also have plenty of time to notice things. We can tell if someone starts crying when we play “Amor eterno,” “Eternal Love.” Usually that means they just lost someone important. We can tell if they’re celebrating a birthday because they ask for “Las mañanitas,” the traditional Mexican birthday song.

But we also notice other stuff. Couples who are unhappy with one another. Women who are bored. Men who are looking around for something else. Such people would be surprised that we’re paying attention to them because they aren’t paying the slightest amount of attention to us. Their mistake.

For my companions, these observations are merely a source of gossip. Did you see the lady who always comes in with her husband come in with that other guy? Did you notice that man with the wedding ring flirting with those young girls? Because the musicians get tired of playing the same request songs over and over, they’re happy to have something new to focus on.

For me it’s a bit different. It’s research. On good nights, I used to get home from the restaurant and write notes about what I saw. I didn’t have a mystery series planned at that time. I didn’t have anything planned. I just knew I might be able to use the information later on. So when the scene with Andy came to me while I was painting, I wasn’t surprised, but I was ready to take action. I took a break, sat down, and wrote out the whole first chapter. (Later that became a second chapter, but that’s a different story.) I vowed to write daily until I finished.

With rare exception, I did just that. But the more I wrote about Andy, the more I drew on my own experiences, not of murder victims, but of what it’s like to play in a music group night after night, noticing things whether you want to or not. For a mystery writer, there could hardly be a better environment.

After Mariachi Murder, Andy’s going to wish he weren’t so observant. He might even have to turn to classical music to keep out of trouble!

So, when you go to hear mariachi music, just remember to watch out for the musicians. They’ll be watching you.    

As a Thank-You for stopping by, D.R. Ransdell offers a Mariachi CD...comment for your chance to win! 

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