Murder Déjà Vu

A few years back I heard a newstory about a man who had spent half his life in prison for murder before DNA set him free. Since then, thousands of prisoners have been exonerated because of the improvement in DNA testing. The story gave me the idea for my book, Murder Déjà Vu, in which a man spends fifteen years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He's released not on DNA evidence but on a botched crime scene technicality. A TV story about an artisan who created rock fireplaces filled out my character's profile.

Wealthy Harvard-educated architect, Reese Daughtry, has spent the last six years living an almost hermit-like existence in the mountains of North Carolina after his release from prison, building artistic rock fireplaces for a waiting list of clients. When author Dana Minette, newly divorced from her abusive husband, the county prosecutor, sees photos of Daughtry's creations in a magazine, she contracts him to build a fireplace in her new home. There’s a romance, a murder that mirrors the one for which Daughtry went to prison, and a jealous ex-husband who sees a path to higher office by prosecuting Daughtry, not only for the present murder but to prove he was guilty of the murder in Boston.

After the book’s publication, I received an email from a woman who lives with a man who spent ten years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. He was exonerated when DNA incriminated another man. She told me I had portrayed my character’s PTSD exactly right. It was the best “review” I ever received. 

 

Polly Iyer is the author of nine novels: standalones Hooked, InSight, Murder Déjà Vu, Threads, and Indiscretion, and four books in the Diana Racine Psychic Suspense series, Mind Games, Goddess of the Moon, Backlash and The Scent of Murder. A Massachusetts native, she makes her home in the beautiful Piedmont region of South Carolina. You can visit her website for more on Polly and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.