Home » Authors Interviewing Characters: Marcy McCreary Interviews The Ford Family

Authors Interviewing Characters: Marcy McCreary Interviews The Ford Family

March 28, 2023 | By Women Writers Women Books | Reply More

The Murder of Madison Garcia is a contemporary police procedural that pairs a by-the-book female detective with her by-the-gut father (a retired detective) and takes place in the Catskills region of New York—The Borscht Belt—where the old storied hotels once dotted the landscape. It is the second book in a three-book standalone series, “The Ford Family Mystery Series.”

Detective Susan Ford notices a missed call on her phone from a number she doesn’t recognize, and when Madison Garcia, a woman with past ties to the town of Monticello, New York, is found stabbed to death the next morning, Susan realizes that Madison was the one who had called her. But why?

Susan teams up with her father, retired Detective Will Ford, to find the killer, and their investigation soon threatens to uncover Madison’s family’s secrets—an inheritance, accidental death, money laundering, extramarital affairs, and family rivalries—and they don’t appreciate the Fords digging into their business.

As the investigation deepens, the Fords discover that Madison was planning to confess to a long-kept secret, but someone brutally silenced her. Everyone she knew is a suspect. Anyone could be her killer.

Marcy McCreary interviews Detective Susan Ford, retired Detective Will Ford, and Vera Ford

Marcy: I want to thank you for inviting me into your home, Vera. I know the three of you don’t always see eye-to-eye, so I do appreciate that you all agreed to meet here in Vera’s kitchen for a group interview.

Vera: We can certainly put our differences aside for a few minutes. Do you mind if I smoke?

Susan: I mind.

Vera: Fine.

Marcy: I must say, this kitchen is something else . . . I feel like I’ve stepped back in time. Don’t see too many mustard-colored appliances these days. You must tell me who your designer is. Very retro chic.

Will: It’s not a decorating choice. It’s Vera’s inability to move on from the past. It’s been this way since the early 70s.

Vera: You’re one to talk. If anyone is stuck in the past, it’s you. Let bygones be bygones you always say and then bring up something from whenever and throw it in my face.

Susan: Hey, you two, knock it off.

Vera: [clicks tongue] That’s Susan. Always the peacemaker.

Marcy: [clears throat] So, tell me how did you all manage during COVID?

Vera: You wanna know how we fared during COVID? That’s what this f-ing interview is about?

Susan: Now, Mom. It’s a valid question. I’m sure there are lots of people out there who would like to know that you’re doing fine, especially with your underlying conditions.

Vera: What underlying conditions?

Will: Y’know, smoking and drinking.

Vera: I haven’t touched the stuff since January 2019. The cigarettes, well, a woman can have one vice. As you can see, I’m doing just dandy.

Susan: Well, Ray—my boyfriend—and I fared fine. I’d like to say there was less policing to do with everyone indoors all the time, but we did see an uptick in domestic violence.

Will: [staring at Vera] I can see how that would happen.

Vera: Can you now? Is that ever justified? No matter how much someone gets on your nerves?

Susan: She’s right, Dad. Just cause you’re stuck in the house with someone 24/7 doesn’t give anyone the right to do half the crazy we saw.

Will: [holding up his palms] Okay, okay. No need to gang up on me. Things got scary over at Horizon Meadows. Lost some good folk. I pretty much stayed to myself. Watched a lot of Nordic police procedurals on Netflix.

Susan: I’m a fan of the older shows . . . Cagney and Lacey, Jake and The Fatman, Barnaby Jones.

Marcy: Speaking of Barnaby Jones, you two make a good detective team. Ever think of hanging out a shingle and starting a PI firm?

Will: Ooh, I like that idea. Retirement can be a bit of a bore. Sure, I got my pickle ball and bocci, but I think it’s important to keep the old noggin active. I’m a by-the-gut sleuth. Susan is more by-the-book. We’re what you call complementary.

Susan: That’s one word for it.

Marcy: I noticed a small eye roll there, Susan.

Susan: Okay, I’ll admit we do make a good team.

Will: Like Nick and Nora Charles.

Susan: Well, more like Veronica Mars.

Will: Who?

Susan: Never mind. Like Dad said, his strength is his intuition. I just tend to be more thoughtful. So I would say we’re more like oil and vinegar than oil and water.

Vera: [taps table] Not to toot my own horn, but I had a hand in catching Madison Garcia’s killer.

Susan: [laughs] She did.

Will: [snorts] If you call whacking someone over the head with a cane, then yeah, she helped.

Marcy: Well, I want to thank you all for putting your differences aside and chatting with me.

Vera: I’d like to thank you too, Marcy, for giving me a redemption arc in the second book of the Ford Family Mystery Series. Lord knows we’re not the Brady Bunch, but doesn’t every family have a few warts? I’m damn proud of Will and Susan. We might have our little disagreements and periods of not talking to one another, but I wouldn’t trade those two for anything in the world.

Buy The Murder of Madison Garcia at: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Madison-Garcia-Family-Mystery/dp/0744308305

—

After graduating from George Washington University with a B.A. in American literature, Marcy McCreary pursued a career in the marketing field, holding executive positions at various magazine publishing companies and content marketing agencies. She retired from the 9-to-5 to write full-time. She lives in Hull, MA with her husband, Lew.