Coon Rapids woman pens humorous murder mystery

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By Elyse Kaner
Staff Writer

It was nothing she had planned. In fact, while in school she detested writing. But Jessie Chandler is now a full-fledged author with one book already published and two more on the way.

“I was thrilled and floored at the same time,” Chandler said about cinching a contract with Midnight Ink, an imprint of Llewellyn World Wide.

Less than two months after its release date and Chandler, a resident of Coon Rapids for 10 years, has already sold more than 3,000 copies of her first book “Bingo Barge Murder.”

The 228-page thriller, with a high-energy plot, centers on lesbian character Shay O’Hanlon, who finds herself in humorous capers solving a murder mystery, according to Chandler.

A sleazy barge

O’Hanlon is co-owner of a quirky coffee shop in Minneapolis. Her highly caffeinated but safe life is turned upside down when her lifelong friend, Coop, is tagged as a murder suspect. The dearly departed is Kinky, Coop’s former boss and owner of The Bingo Barge, a sleazy gambling boat.

Navigate a romp in dangerous and funny territories with O’Hanlon as she turns up clues to absolve Coop. Tangle with a junkyard dog and bumbling maffioso characters scheming to steal a truck load of almonds.

And talk about painting detailed descriptions!

In one scene, for instance, Chandler describes a character in her book.

O’Hanlon, crouching behind a cooler by a lobster tank in a stenchy Minneapolis fish market, is hiding from mafia goons. From her lowly view, she spots a thick set of calves, droopy nylons wrapped around a woman’s varicosed-vein gams. An upward scope reveals a faded skirt, grimy apron, meaty hands propped on wide hips, saggy breasts and a dark blue shirt buttoned to the chin. Granny glasses are perched atop the gal’s forehead with a wad of used tissue stuffed under the nosepiece.

Raised on ‘Nancy Drew’

Chandler’s favorite reads as a child were “Nancy Drew” and “The Hardy Boys.” As a pre-teen she read mystery/adventures “The Three Investigators Series” and “Encyclopedia Brown.” Her mother, June, who kept her well-stocked in adventure novels, was a librarian in the Robbinsdale School District.

“She lived books, and she passed that love onto me,” Chandler said.

Raised in Siren, Wis., Chandler later moved to Brooklyn Center. She graduated from what was then Robbinsdale/Cooper High School in 1986. She went on to earn a mass communication/TV journalism degree with a minor in criminal justice from St. Cloud State University.

Her colorful history includes working in a Brooklyn Park bingo hall for 17 years and working as a state patrol dispatcher. She was a police officer for less than a year, but the job was not to her liking. She has worked in book stores both as a book seller and manager.

Meanwhile, Chandler continued to read one of her favorite authors, J.M. Redmann, and her series.

“I liked the character so much, when the series ended, I was just crushed,” she said.

This set off the proverbial lightbulb. “If I write my own book, I can make the characters go for as long as I want,” Chandler said.

But it was an annual Internet contest that set her writing ball on a roll. Specifically, The National Novel Writing Month contest. The charge was to write and submit a 50,000-word novel in one month.

That was in 2006. She worked and reworked her story. Meanwhile, she took writing classes at The Loft in Minneapolis.

Her mentor and teacher Ellen Hart convinced her to submit her manuscript to publishers.

Four years after starting “Bingo Barge” and after much self-editing, Chandler had a contract in hand.

She not only landed a contract with Midnight Ink, additionally the Woodbury company signed her for two more Shay O’Hanlon mystery series books. The second one, “Hide and Snake Murder,” is scheduled to come out in spring 2012. The book will take mystery lovers on a jaunt to New Orleans.

‘Making people smile’

Chandler writes two times a week from two to six hours. Some days she writes from 10 to 12 hours with breaks. Her favorite writing venue is a coffee shop. She starts with an idea, outlines and, as opposed to free-style writing, she plans where her story will end.

For her, the best part of writing is “making people smile,” she said.

Today, Chandler works part-time as a book seller at Borders. She owns and operates a T-shirt and jewelry company out of her home called No Limits Printing. And she writes.

When not working she enjoys travel, movies – “Shrek” in particular, animation movies in general – and psychological thrillers and adventure/mystery movies. She also enjoys dining and eating ice cream.

In the future Chandler hopes to write 25 more books and make a living as an author, she said.

Keeping in mind her pledge, she will continue her quirky characters’ exploits, so readers won’t have to bid them a final farewell.

“I hope to expose folks to not only a lesbian main character, but to humor,” Chandler said. “I hope to give someone a break from their day and from their cares of the world.”

 

“Bingo Barge Murder”

by Jessie Chandler

Published by Midnight Ink

$14.95, available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, www.amazon.com

For more information, send an e-mail 

to jchandlerauthor@aol.com

 

Elyse Kaner is at elyse.kaner@ecm-inc.com