Delia Pitts-"Trouble In Queenstown"
Dear Reader:
I am excited to welcome you to the world of Vandy Myrick, the private investigator who leads my new mystery, Trouble in Queenstown (Minotaur Books). The story follows a tangled case in which Vandy confronts the entrenched powers of her fictional New Jersey hometown to solve a racially charged murder.
I invented Vandy and Queenstown to satisfy my longing for stories which reflected the people and places I knew best. During careers as a U.S. diplomat (Africa and Latin America were my specialties) and an academic administrator (universities in Texas and New Jersey), I read thousands of crime novels for fun.
After retirement, I decided to write a PI mystery of my own. I wanted a modern hero who looked and sounded like people I’d grown up with. A woman of action to wrestle with power in defense of neighbors she believed in.
To populate Queenstown, I dug into my own family for inspiration. My cousin, Esther Myricks, founded a small private security agency in the Bronzeville district of Chicago’s South Side in the 1970s. Our fathers were brothers, so as a child and teenager, I looked to Esther as an older role model.
Esther, now in her mid-eighties, is smart, tough, funny, and determined. Her example of a Black woman tackling jobs in a rough neighborhood gave me the idea that I could accomplish whatever I set my mind to. Esther’s security agency focused on background checks, property protection, and insurance claims, I’m pretty sure murder never crossed her docket. Vandy Myrick, the private investigator I created, treads a far grittier, violence-strewn path.
I had a blast filling Vandy Myrick with Esther Myricks’ warmth and energy. I hope my cousin Esther is proud of this creation she inspired. And I hope you have a good time reading Trouble in Queenstown and delight in Vandy’s adventures.
Delia Pitts
DELIA PITTS is a former university administrator and U.S. diplomat. Her newest book, a contemporary noir mystery, Trouble in Queenstown, was published by Minotaur Books in 2024. Delia is also the author of the Ross Agency Mysteries, a series set in Harlem. She has also published several acclaimed short stories, including, “The Killer,” which was selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery and Suspense 2021. Delia is an active member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Crime Writers of Color.
Delia and her husband live in central New Jersey and have twin sons living in Texas.
Follow Delia At:
Website: https://www.deliapitts.com
Instagram & Threads: https://www.instagram.com/deliapitts50