Then A Cowboy Walked In

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Do you watch Ozark? I love it. I truly love it. And I loved the ending, too, but of course will not discuss it. (Although someday, we should.)

And whenever it was on, the name “Claire Booth” would always spring to my mind. The first time, I was perplexed. I mean, I love Claire, and I love her books, and I also love her main character, a sheriff named Hank. (Which I gotta admit took a bit of getting used to.)

But why would her name come to mind at "Ozark"? Well, silly me. Of course.  As you're about to see. And today she delves into a very intriguing place: Her own mind.

The Cowboy in My Filing Cabinet
   by Claire Booth

Six years ago I was out selling the first in my Sheriff Hank Worth series, with several of events down in the very area where the books are set—Branson and the southern Missouri Ozarks. I was manning the signing table at the local Books-a-Million when a cowboy and long-skirted prairie woman walked in. This being Branson, no one batted an eye. 

People show up all over town dressed in all manner of costumes.

As his friend perused the shelves, the cowboy wandered over and we started chatting. It turned out that he was a musician for a local theater, where they did breakfast shows. For timeshare sales. I was fascinated. I’d always thought that timeshare pitches only came through those resort weekends you got for free as long as you agreed to sit through lengthy sales presentations. But during a breakfast theater show? Hmmm …

I tucked this conversation away in my memory, like a little newspaper clipping of information. And there it sat, in my mental filing cabinet, for years. Until I started work on Hank Worth Book Five. I needed inspiration so I opened up my mental drawers, rummaged around, and came upon that memory. (I’m making this sound organized, but it’s not. There’s a lot of junk in there. Who would need to remember that a friend’s brother’s dog is named Hughie? Not me, but I do anyway.)

I started doing research and it turned out that Branson—home to dozens of theaters of every size—was fruitful soil for timeshare sales pitches, including a few of the weedier, unsavory elements. There’ve been multiple complaints filed with the Missouri Better Business Bureau about the high-pressure, forced multi-hour treatment of guests at some traditional free-weekend sales presentations.

What if I put a breakfast show, like the kind my cowboy friend worked at, together with the sort of demographic who gets up early and loves a good tour group—i.e. retirees? And what if I wasn’t nice about it? What if I made the showrunners not nice about it—by withholding the promised meal?

And I was off and running. From that one cowboy chat, I was able to spin a book where a plan turns deadly and every player in Branson’s big tourism business fights for a piece of the profits. So come visit the breakfast shows in Dangerous Consequences. But bring your own snacks; there’s no guarantee they’ll feed you.

Do you have a mental filing cabinet? Whether it’s a tiny factoid about a place you’re visited or your elementary school friend’s old phone number, have you ever called up information you learned long ago and put it to good use all these years later? What was it? I’d love to know!

HANK: OH, great question! I think definitely those little snippets are tucked away in various interstitial slots throughout my head. Although I fear the fact that your friend's brother's dog is Hughie has now taken one of the empty spots.

What do you think, Reds and readers? And what snippet saved your life? Or...changed it, at least?

Claire Booth is a former newspaper reporter, which might explain why her brain stores information in the form of clipped-out news articles. She spent a decade covering crimes so convoluted and strange they seemed more like fiction than reality. Eventually, she had enough of the real world and decided to write novels instead. Her Sheriff Hank Worth mystery series takes place in Branson, Missouri, where small-town Ozark politics and big-city country music tourism clash in, yes, strange and convoluted ways. For more about Claire, her books, and her true crime television appearances, visit her at www.clairebooth.com.

DANGEROUS CONSEQUENCES
Elderly tourists visiting Branson, Missouri for a fun time are instead becoming so sick and disoriented they end up in the ER with Dr. Maggie McCleary. She asks the sheriff to investigate and, because he happens to be her husband, Hank Worth readily agrees.

When the tour operator denies responsibility, Hank digs deeper leaving Chief Deputy Sheila Turley to handle a simmering revolt within the ranks. Their policy to eliminate overtime pay has infuriated many long-time deputies. Those fired for insubordination have filed a lawsuit, while those still there sabotage Sheila at every turn.

With pressure mounting, they're called to a hit-and-run accident. But the victim's injuries haven't been caused by a car . . . she's been beaten to death and dumped by the side of the road. And she was someone they knew.

Will the victim's aggressive business dealings come to haunt them all? And can Hank and Sheila save their department from destruction?