In Marilyn Baron's The Alibi, a cover-up could cost heroine Merritt Saxe her life.
The director claims he didn’t kill the woman and coerces Merritt into being his alibi.
Description:
Release Date: September 13th, 2017
In Marilyn Baron's The Alibi, a cover-up could cost heroine Merritt Saxe her life.
Merritt Saxe, newly hired public relations specialist with the Florida prison system, answers an urgent plea from their division’s director, Willard Ware Baintree. Following his orders, she finds him in the apartment of his mistress, his bloody T-shirt and the mistress’s dead body convincing her the criminal justice superstar is himself a criminal. The director claims he didn’t kill the woman and coerces Merritt into being his alibi.
Meanwhile, as the director pulls her farther into his web of lies, Merritt breaks with her longstanding boyfriend and begins a steamy relationship with hunky attorney Israel Goodspeed, whose brother works for the director. Yet how can she trust Israel with her secret or her heart when she suspects the director has been orchestrating their relationship to keep her in line? Speaking out about the cover-up could cost her more than time in jail…it could cost her life.
MB's INTERVIEW
1. What does an author need in order to succeed writing good books in so many different genres?
An interest in that genre (as a reader and a writer) and the topic the author selects. I’ve been fortunate to have won awards in all the genres in which I write.
2. You said that “There is more than one pathway to love.” – There is one also in Alibi? If yes, how smooth (or not) is it?
The heroine, Merritt Saxe, has a longtime college boyfriend who won’t commit long-term so she takes a job in a small town in the middle of nowhere at the Florida Prison System with a good-old-boy network so she can get a job in her major—public relations. So the path is not smooth with the old boyfriend. When she meets and starts a steamy relationship with hunky attorney, Israel Goodspeed, she realizes what she had with her old boyfriend can’t compare. She’s in love with Israel, but she’s afraid that Israel, whose brother works for her director, may be dating her just to keep her in line and make sure she doesn’t reveal details of a murder she’s convinced her director committed.
3. What are in your view, the most important elements of a romantic suspense and how did you put them together in Alibi?
Well, for one, there’s the murder, which takes place at the beginning of the book and is a key component. She finds her director covered in blood at the apartment of his mistress, Judge Savannah Braddock, and she’s convinced the criminal justice superstar is himself a criminal. He coerces her to keep quiet and cover up the fact that she saw him there. He tells everyone he and Merritt were working on a special project at the time and he keeps her under his thumb with less than honorable intentions. She is sworn to secrecy and she’s afraid speaking out could cost her life. So she can’t confide in her old boyfriend or her new boyfriend and eventually she’s afraid the new boyfriend is in on the conspiracy so they have immediate trust issues, which provides conflict, another necessary ingredient. Israel tries to get to the bottom of the murder and the reader is kept guessing until the end who dunnit? So there’s a mystery and the suspense of trying to isolate the killer and see whether Merritt will end up with the old boyfriend or the new one and whether or not she can trust Israel with her secret or her heart.
4. Are all of your main characters women? Why so? Do you think that a male author can indeed know how a woman thinks?
No, a number of my main characters have been men. Normally, I wouldn’t think a man could do justice to a female protagonist but I’ve read too many great books by men writing in a woman’s POV. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden comes to mind or Stieg Larsson writing Lisbeth Salander, Herman Wouk novels that are full of female characters and Anthony Doerr, in All the Light We Cannot See, just to name a few. By the same token, I think a woman can do a great job writing a male character—J.D. Robb writing Roarke and Diana Gabaldon writing Jamie Fraser are just two examples. I find it challenging to write male protagonists and villains. I started my book Sixth Sense in a woman’s POV and things weren’t working out. Then an author friend suggested I change to a male’s POV and I had this “aha” moment. Her advice made all the difference and it was smooth sailing after that.
5. Alibi… false alibi… duty to disclose etc. How much should an author know about these things?
They probably should know a lot, but in my case, I got my inspiration and experience working in the Florida Prison System for a year. I didn’t have to dig too deep in criminal law and police procedures in my particular story. Merritt’s boss coerces her into lying about the fact that she saw him covered in his mistress’s blood and gets her to serve as his alibi.
6. What is characteristic for your writing? What would make a reader say this is a Marilyn Baron book?
The humor I infuse in all my books, whether I’m writing about vampires, serial killers or serious issues like the Holocaust. I use a lot of humor in my coming-of-middle-age women’s fiction. I use humor to balance dark and light subject matter. Humor is a good coping mechanism and helps us face difficult situations and adversity. I like to read humorous books. I love to laugh and my readers do too. Sometimes I think we take life too seriously. Case in point—the first line in my women’s fiction, Stones is, “Thank God for lint.” And the last line in The Alibi is “When you’re in love, who needs bagels?”
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About the author:
Marilyn Baron writes in a variety of genres, from humorous coming-of-middle age women’s fiction to historical romantic thrillers and romantic suspense to paranormal/fantasy. She’s published 13 novels with The Wild Rose Press, five short stories with TWB Press and self-published three books. AmazonEncore republished her book Sixth Sense on September 15, 2015. She’s received writing awards in Single Title, Suspense Romance, Novel With Strong Romantic Elements and Paranormal//Fantasy Romance. She is a Georgia Romance Writers (GRW) Maggie Award winner. She is the Finalist in the 2017 Georgia Author of the Year Award for Stumble Stones: A Novel in the Romance Category. She’s a PAN member of Romance Writers of America and GRW and winner of the GRW 2009 Chapter Service Award. A public relations consultant in Atlanta, Marilyn graduated with a BS in Journalism and a minor in Creative Writing from the University of Florida. She worked in Public Relations for AT&T in Atlanta for 13 years before starting her own PR firm. She serves on the 2017-18 Roswell Reads Steering Committee. She was selected as a featured author in the 2016 Atlanta Authors Series. She presented on a panel at the 2017 AJC-Decatur Book Festival (the largest independent book festival in the country) on September 3, 2017. Read more about Marilyn at
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GIVEAWAY
Tour-wide, 3 winners:
1) $25 Amazon Gift Card
2) eBook copy of Stumble Stones by Marilyn Baron
3) Stilt House print by Florida artist Sharon Goldman - "Stilt House," a signed, matted decorative print by Florida artist Sharon Goldman. Stilt House is on St. George Island off the Florida Panhandle, where The Alibi is set. The location is representative of where the hero and heroine go for their weekend beach getaway.
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