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Beneath the Covers, Past
A Romance Column


When All the Girls Have Gone
By Jayne Ann Krentz
Interview by Elise Cooper
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When All The Girls Have Gone by Jayne Ann Krentz leaves readers spell bound. This story has two plotlines that come together at the end. A private investigator, Max, is hired to find out why a woman was possibly murdered and in the course of his investigation links up with Charlotte Sawyer whose sister has disappeared. Together they search for answers and connect the death and disappearance to an on-line based investment club and Jocelyn’s past of being a rape victim. They find that power, privilege, an escalating serial rapist, and a friend-enemy are all fighting to silence Charlotte and Max.

Elise Cooper: Rumor has it you will turn this into a series. True?

Jayne Ann Krentz: Good guess. In fact, I am writing the other brother’s story as we speak. The third novel will resolve the evil cult mystery left over from this book. Each is a stand-alone with a mystery on to itself. There will be cameos from the characters of this first book.

 

Elise: Will you be writing a Private investigator series?

Jayne Ann: I really love that set-up of a private investigator series. Any mystery with a PI can handle more personal stories involving confidentiality, keeping secrets, and probing the personal corners of other people’s lives. This series is now a trilogy, but if it works it can be the core for a PI series.

 

Elise: Would you include the female characters as well?

Jayne Ann: My stories will always have an equal partnership between the hero and heroine. Both bring something to the table in solving the mystery. It makes for a unique partnership because the relationship is put under stress with the danger, need for trust, and to find out if you can put your life in another person’s hands. I might write an older romantic relationship for one of the characters I am fond of, the father figure, Anson Salinas.

 

Elise: It seems the theme has an introspective by the characters of their lives?
Jayne Ann: In looking back on their life most people say ‘where did it all go?’ I think at this time of the year people question where are they going, where have they been, and what do they want to do in the future? One of the tricks to enjoying life is finding out what you will do in the future. I think living in the moment is easier said then done. Human beings are geared to live in the future, but something I noticed about the very elderly is that they live in the past. But a good retirement home forces the elderly to be a part of a social network instead of being isolated in their own home.

 

Elise: Do you think Jocelyn and Charlotte grew as characters through the course of the book?

Jayne Ann: Yes. Jocelyn learned something about herself, which is she does need Charlotte as a sister of the heart. On the other hand, Charlotte learned that her inner strength was greater than she gave herself credit for. Most of us do not understand our own strength until something stresses us and then we have to deal with it.

 

Elise: What about Charlotte and Max?

Jayne Ann: Something I have in my books is how the relationship develops when the hero sees the strengths and the heroic qualities in the heroine and she sees those same qualities in him. Their story compliments each other. They share the common core values: courage, honor, determination, and the healing power of love.

 

Elise: You call those in the Investment Club “women avengers,” but I see them more as vigilantes. Please explain.

Jayne Ann: They did cross the line to find justice and then became vigilantes, which is not healthy. This is why I could not make the heroine one of them. Her own core values would not allow that kind of justice that involves less than legal means. I wanted to show women are perfectly capable of thinking about revenge and will have their own way of doing it. I always believe that whoever plans revenge has a dark side. Vengeance is a dangerous thing and usually comes back to haunt you. Vigilantism is like the western story of meeting a guy in front of the saloon and shooting it out.

 

Elise: Why the setting in Seattle?

Jayne Ann: Seattle is a very much self made and entrepreneurial vibe. These are the professions of my characters. They never inherit trust funds. I like to write about them because they are people in real life that I admire. It is different from the East Coast where there is old money versus new money.

 

Elise: Can you give a shout out about your next books?

Jayne Ann: My next book will be an Amanda Quick novel entitled, The Girl Who Knew Too Much. It will take place in the 1930s in California. The plot will have Hollywood glamor, prohibition’s repeal, Hollywood studios, and dead bodies at the bottom of a spa pool. Next November, the second book in this trilogy will come out, I Promise Not To Tell. It will have a cameo appearance by Max, but the main character will be his brother, Cabot Sutter. They have different last names because they are only foster brothers. The mystery will involve the real possibility of the cult re-emerging on-line.


 


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