with Treva Hall Melvin
We are delighted to welcome author Treva Hall Melvin to Omnimystery News today.
Treva's new first in series young adult mystery is Mr. Samuel's Penny (The Poisoned Pencil; November 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had a chance to talk with her a little more about it.
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Omnimystery News: Give us a brief introduction to your new book and the series.
Photo provided courtesy of
Treva Hall Melvin
Treva Hall Melvin: "Lizbeth" is a fourteen year old black female born and raised in Queens, NYC. This first YA novel has her living with her Aunt Alice and Uncle Frank for the summer of 1972. Desegregation has left its mark on her, thus she is very leery of whites in the south. On her very first day there, Mr. Samuel and his thirteen month old daughter are driven off the bridge on their way home, to drown in the river below trapped in their car. Upon further examination, a bullet is found imbedded in the wood bridge. Now it is murder. But, when Mr. Samuel's body is examined, he is found clenching his fist with a 1909 penny in it. Why? Lizbeth is a collector of pennies, as she sets out to find it and much more than she had ever expected.
The characters are going to mature as they move through time; in particular Lizbeth. Gaining greater confidence, appreciation of life, and family. But I haven't given much thought to the other characters yet. Most likely in the third. Oops.
OMN: Into which fiction genre would you place the book?
THM: Young adult mystery thread, with a coming of age story wrapped around it.
OMN: Tell us something about the book that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.
THM: A relationship develops between two unlikely characters. That's all I can say!
OMN: How much of of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the storyline?
THM: As far as actual experiences, very little except that I had spent many summers visiting my relatives in Ahoskie, N.C. during the 1970s and I really had a fabulous great aunt named Ode. I took a piece of a few aunts, uncles, and cousins and smushed them all around to create certain personalities. The events are entirely made up. The story line just came to me one day. It all came together this way. I must admit, my father and my maternal grandmother were great story tellers.
OMN: Describe your writing process for us.
THM: I hate to admit this, but I might have an idea or two washing around in my head for days. Then, if I really love it, I sit down and start writing. I keep a small note book in my purse so that I can jot down little details that I would otherwise forget. The best trick came from a friend, Gina. She told me to start using my app on my phone to record ideas! That was great idea especially since sometimes I might have a bomb drop in my head in the middle of the night. It's much easier to find the phone on the night stand, than try to scribble some notes that are as meaningful as chicken scratch the next morning. Writing, creating makes me feel good, so I just sit and write whatever floats to the top.
OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world to research a setting for a story, all expenses on us, where would it be?
THM: Great question! I have a thriller that I've written a chapter or two that I cannot complete until I visit Barcelona, Spain for at least a week. I have a very tactile personality; hands on with almost everything. I have to have walked the streets, eaten the food, and visited the not so nice areas in town to really put my heart into it.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests?
THM: I love sports. I participated on several teams from junior high to college. I love collecting; jars, antique wash boards, Chinese mud men, McCoy bowls, I could go on and on.
OMN: How involved were you with the cover design? And how did you come up with the title?
THM: I had several ideas that my daughter's friends drew for me. I submitted them to our book cover designer Peter Z., and his crew took a bit of this and that, and came up with the great cover. My only wish was that only three major colors (red, black and white) would be used besides the copper for the penny. The title was the easy part. Mr. Samuel is found drowned in his car, along with his baby daughter. When his body is taken for an autopsy, a penny is found in his clutched fist. Thus, Mr. Samuel's Penny.
OMN: What types of books do you read for pleasure?
THM: Period murder mysteries. Favorite character, Sherlock Holmes. The best ever.
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Treva Hall Melvin has been a practicing attorney in all levels of government as a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. A native New Yorker, she graduated from Villanova Law School in Pennsylvania and now lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband, their two children, and their dog Audrey.
For more information about the author, please visit her website or find her on Facebook.
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Mr. Samuel's Penny
Treva Hall Melvin
An Elizabeth Parrot Landers Mystery
It's 1972 and fourteen-year-old New Yorker Elizabeth Landers is sent to the sleepy town of Ahoskie, North Carolina to spend the summer with relatives. Her expectation of boredom is quickly dispelled when police sirens and flashing lights draw her to a horrible scene at the Danbury Bridge. Mr. Samuel, owner of Samuel's Lumber Yard, has driven his car off the bridge and into the river, drowning himself and his daughter. The medical examiner thinks it's an accident, but the Sheriff finds fresh bullet holes on the bridge right where the skid marks are. Curiously, Mr. Samuel died clutching a unique 1909 wheat penny — a penny that is then stolen from the Sheriff's office. Lizbeth witnesses Miss Violet's grief upon learning that her husband and child are dead, and decides she will help by finding the penny.
Her search involves Lizbeth in the lives of many Ahoskie residents. Like the owner of the grocery store, mean old Mr. Jake, who — as all the kids in Ahoskie know — hates black folks. Plenty of pennies in his till. Then there is Ms. Melanie Neely, otherwise known as "Ms. McMeanie," who thinks the lumber yard should belong to her. And Mr. Samuel's handsome brother Ben, who struggles to keep the business afloat after his more clever brother's death. Lizbeth searches through the collection plates at church and in the coin jars of crazy old Aunt Ode, a strange old woman missing one eye and most of her teeth, who keeps a flask in her apron pocket and a secret in her soul.
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