Character Interview: Meet Doris Matheson of Lauren Carr’s Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries
By Lauren Carr
Doris, it is such a pleasure to meeting you, your son Chris, and your three adorable granddaughters in Ice. For our followers who haven’t read the first installment in the Chris Matheson Cold Case Mysteries, can you tell us a little about yourself?
Sure, I would be glad to. My name is Doris Matheson. Let’s just say I’m of legal age. I’m from Boone County in southern West Virginia. I was only eighteen when I married Kirk Matheson and moved up here to Harpers Ferry to live on his grandpappy’s farm. Kirk worked his way up to local captain of the state police and I became director of the library in Harpers Ferry-Bolivar. We had Christopher right away. (sigh) We had a good life. It broke my heart when Kirk had that heart attack and died last year.
We’re sorry for your loss. It must have been really hard running a hundred-and-fifty-acre farm on your own. You were lucky that Chris was able to retire and bring his family home to help you out.
Lucky for both of us. Yes, God does have a plan. Just the year before Kirk passed away, Blair was killed in that awful terrorist attack in Nice. I thank God that Christopher and the girls had decided to stay here in the states when Blair took that job with the state department. Otherwise, they would have been there. That was hard enough. But when Kirk died, everything fell into place. Christopher always loved the farm. He’s happiest out there working with the horses. Kirk had taken to adopting retired race horses. We have about a dozen of those beasts out there.
You also adopt retired law enforcement canines, don’t you?
Oh, do you mean Sadie and Mocha here? (pets Doberman and golden Labrador at her feet.) Christopher calls them my entourage. Sadie, the Doberman, was trained in security. Mocha, the lab, was trained in search and rescue. Just recently, they found a body that had been dumped on our farm.
Yes, we read about that in Ice.
Wouldn’t you know it? Christopher ended up knowing the guy from his days when he was working undercover with the FBI. Then, when Christopher’s old boss ended up in the hospital, she asked him to work the case for her. Of course, Christopher couldn’t resist.
Good thing Christopher had some help from his friends in the Geezer Squad.
Excuse me? Geezer Squad?
I mean… His book club. I don’t know what I was thinking—I must have been thinking about another book. I mean, didn’t his friends in his book club, which is made up of law enforcement retirees help him with the case?
I wish I had never pushed Christopher into joining that book club. After losing his wife and then his father, I felt like he was spending too much time here at the farm. He needed to get out and meet people. Well, Christopher’s father had started this book club after my friends and me kicked him out of ours.
You kicked him out of your book club?
Him and Elliott. Those two would only read the book if it had a dead body in it. So romances were out of the question. Then, they would go off on tangents about what the author got wrong during their investigations and heaven forbid if the book reminded them of one of their old cases. So we took a vote and kicked them out. That was okay. They went off and started their own book club. All of their members are retired law enforcement—so they can go off on all their tangents.
They only read mysteries, suspense, thrillers—crime fiction. Christopher loves to read, and I thought he’d make some friends. But from what I have seen, they’re as strange as he is. The other day, I walked into the library, which was closed because of the ice storm, and there they all were. They had all these folders and reports scattered all over the table. They had the white board out with names and pictures—some of them pretty gory if you ask me—up on the board.
What were they doing?
They told me that they were going through the evidence in that month’s book to see if the writer had the killer right—which is strange. I mean, the book was fiction. They were going over fictional evidence of a fictional murder for a fictional book? (shakes her finger) Something is awfully fishy if you ask me.
Maybe they were investigating a real murder case?
No. Never. Because I know their families. Ray’s daughter would skin him alive if she found out he was working again. And Christopher? He retired because he has three little girls who depend on him. If I found out that he was out there getting himself into trouble working real murder cases—I’d knock him into next week.
And that’s why the Geezer Squad only investigates fictional murder cases in fictional books.
Why do you call them the Geezer Squad? They’re not a squad. They’re a book club.
I mean book club. I must be thinking about another book that has a group of retired detectives who investigate cold cases under the guise of a book club.
That sounds like a fascinating book. I’d love to read it. What’s the title?
Oh, look at the time, Doris. Thank you so much for coming. It was so nice meeting you.
Book Details:
Book Title: ICE by Lauren Carr
Category: Adult fiction, 380 pages
Genre: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Cozy
Publisher: Acorn Book Services
Release date: February 26, 2018
Tour dates: April 2 to 30, 2018
Content Rating: PG (It’s a murder mystery and there is mild violence. Very mild swearing no F-bombs. No on-stage sex scenes.)
MY REVIEW
Ice by Lauren Carr has such a cool cover, but it is her stories that make her a must read author for me. I was hooked right out of the gate, with the sweet and fun kids, the retired service dogs, a female rabbit named Thor, who thinks she’s a dog, a book club of retired law enforcement officers who love reading mysteries and suspense novels, then tearing them apart…but the book club segued to so much more.
Lauren Carr includes so many wonderful elements in her stories, and makes each one a separate and unique experience.
Doris…I know Chris is the main characters and all the others are just as important to the story and lovable (or hateable) in their own way…but, Doris, a manipulative mother with a magic touch.
And Sterling, a German Shepherd forced to retire because he couldn’t pass a psych evaluation. Goofy? I just think he has tons of personality.
Lauren Carr also has a way with dialogue, snappy and fun, filling me with chuckles and laughs, even as we work to solve the murders and mysteries.
“Bad news, Bell.”
“Matheson’s lawer’s here,” the deputy sheriff said with a sigh.
“Worse. His mother.”
Rodney’s eyes were as wide as the deputy’s when he looked across the table at him. “You called your mother?”
Chris Mattheson is 46 years old. To some he is old, to others he is young. Depends on which group of characters he happens to be hanging with. The entire scene is hilarious, but I just wanted to give you a taste. Don’t mess with Doris!
Lauren Carr’s books are always hard for me to rate. I consider them cozy mysteries over the heavy thriller and suspense stories I read. Most of the time I rate cozies in the 3 to 4 range. I love my books darker and grittier…BUT I could not put the book down and the cast of characters and the storyline I feel are above and beyond the norm, and I can hardly wait to read more, so 5 stars it is.
I am so excited to have A Chris Matheson Cold Case Mystery series to add to my Lauren Carr reading list.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Ice by Lauren Carr.
5 Stars
Book Description:
The clues for a close-to-the-heart missing person’s case heat up when Chris Matheson starts chipping away at the ice on the cold case.
When Sandy Lipton and her unborn child disappear, the court of public opinion finds young Chris Matheson guilty. Decades later, the retired FBI agent returns home to discover that the cloud of suspicion cast over him and his family has never lifted. With the help of a team of fellow retired law enforcement officers, each a specialist in their own field of investigation, Chris Matheson starts chipping away at the ice on this cold case to uncover what had happened to Sandy and her baby and the clues are getting hot!
To read reviews, please visit Lauren Carr’s page on iRead Book Tours.
I love a good mystery. Ice sounds like a great read.
IT WAS! I hope you get a chance to read it and good luck in the giveaway.
Thank you so much, Sherry, for inviting Doris to your site today for such a fun interview. I am absolutely thrilled that you so enjoyed ICE. I am sure your followers will enjoy this cold case mystery and Chris’s family and friends as well. here’s wishing each one luck in the giveaway!
I was very happy to have Doris visit and to share Ice with my followers. Sterling stole the show, but I loved visiting some familiar friends and making some new ones. Looking forward to the next book.
Oh my goodness, this was a fantastic character interview. I went ahead and grabbed book one 🙂
Super Kim! I look forward to hearing what you think. Lauren spins some fantastic tales and I think you will love it.
I so adored Lauren’s first book in this exciting series. I knew you would too!
For sure!!!!!
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I like the cover to this one. The mystery is intriguing!
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