Last year, I had the privilege of being a part of TG Wolff’s Mysteries to Die For podcast series. It was such a treat to have an opportunity to write in a different format and have my work featured in this modern-day way. I didn’t know if I’d get another chance, but to my delight, she’s invited me back for her new season! My first short story premiers tomorrow, and I had the treat of contributing another one, due out in August.
Entitled “Games People Play,” the season is based around old-fashioned games. As an avid game player, I jumped right into the theme. With a closet full of board games and a lifetime of memories playing them, I had a tough time choosing which one to center my story around. The obvious pick for a whodunit was one of my favorites, Clue, but I figured that would be in high demand.
After some deliberation, I started to shift away from a board game and toward another game I had fun playing as a kid—Marco Polo. This summer game meant a lot to me growing up, given my limitations prevented me from playing many of the racing games my peers were able to enjoy on the playground. My family has had a pool for therapy reasons throughout my whole life, and in the water, I have a lot more freedom than I do on dry land…so long as I have a floatation device!
Because of how rowdy the game can get, I usually had to coerce my family to give me a few rounds during our pool time. Being the youngest, I didn’t really look at the pool as means of relaxation like the rest of my family did, and though therapy was the main purpose for my parents having one, I can’t say I embraced that altogether. I wanted to play! As I mentioned earlier, my heightened freedom out there gave me the chance to make up for all the activities I was excluded from elsewhere. I soaked up the fleeting weeks of an Ohio summer to be a rambunctious kid.
For any of you who haven’t played the game, Marco Polo is basically an aquatic version of Hide and Seek. The finder has to close his or her eyes and spin around to adequately disorient themselves, before trying to locate their opponents without opening their eyes. To aid their quest, they cry out, “Marco,” beckoning the other players to respond, “Polo,” in an effort to determine how close they are. As much as I loved the game, I never excelled at it because, for starters, our pool was never big enough to hide very well, and my laughter along with my radical movements didn’t leave much guesswork as to my whereabouts!
When I was brainstorming the short story, I also felt that the game lent itself well to a mystery. I imagined what it would be like if a character closed his or her eyes and couldn’t find the other player anywhere. That’s exactly what happens in “Marco! Mayhem!” and it’s up to The Unde(a)feated Detective herself, Minka Avery, to sort through why Xavier Maccabee disappeared from his game with his girlfriend and ended up murdered.
About Marco! Mayhem! Detective Minka Avery is enjoying a well-deserved day off from sleuthing. After taking her six-year-old daughter, Caela, to the dentist and running some other errands, she takes her to the community pool to escape the July heat. The excursion doesn’t provide the refreshment they’re seeking, however, with a dead body dousing the summer fun.
In her flipflops, swimsuit, and cover-up, Minka and her colleagues at Orlando Police Department must dive into the pool of suspects to determine why Xavier Macabee’s game came to such an abrupt end. With several of the victim’s foes nearby, can Minka and the gang identify the Polo they’re seeking?
“Marco! Mayhem!” dives into podcast waves tomorrow, June 7,
Follow along with the detectives’ investigation into the pool of suspects and motives.
on TGWolff.com!
KarinaBartow.com 