murder.booklocker.com

[The headline comes from NBC's report on Friday.] 

Any attack is tragic, expecially attacks on the elderly. But this incident [does using the word incident diminish what happened?] occured in a nursing home in suburban Maywood. I admit (with some shame) that I feel a bit vindicated. I’ve mentioned other violent encounters between seniors but the feeling persists that no one is taking me seriously.

My novel, PARK RIDGE, A Senior Center Murder, has come in for some criticism based on the assumption that seniors don’t commit crime, don’t have murderous thoughts or intentions. Even Marlys Marshall Styne asked me in her interview,

Do you believe that senior citizens, or most human beings, for that matter, harbor “deep, focused resentments” that can lead to murder?I admit I’m not really a murder mystery fan, but I guess I’ve always thought of that kind of resentment as mainly the province of disadvantaged youth, a few hardened criminals, and victims of domestic abuse. I’ve always considered those of us in the over-65 or 70 group forgiving and peaceful. Am I wrong?

It appears so.

I don’t know what happened in the game of bid whist that led Mr. Jacey, 77, to leave the card game, go to his room and come back with a .22. Even after the gun jammed and his victim, Eula Gillespie, aged 73, had run to the elevator, Jacey followed and struck her on the head. He then went outside and shot himself in the chest.

Shelley Glodowski of Midwest Book Review wrote: “Take a seemingly neutral environment and add passion and cruelty, and one has an excellent plot.” She meant it as a compliment on my novel and I appreciate it. I just hating seeing it happen in real life.