Mark de Castrique is the author of a series of mysteries featuring Iraq War veteran Sam Blackman and his no-nonsense private eye partner, Nakayla Robertson. An interracial couple in the new South, the Asheville, NC pair love their investigations, which always carry a thread from the past. In the seventh installment,
MURDER IN RAT ALLEY (which will be in stores December 31st), the Apollo moon missions, mountain music and our nation's weather data collide in their most complex and dangerous case yet. To celebrate the book’s upcoming release, Mark has written a wonderful essay about the inspiration for the series and the significance of William Faulkner’s famous quote in relation to these novels: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”