Things That Bump You off in the Night

 I got a new idea for a book a few months ago.  It has been percolating ever since.  It is about a group of former college roommates who get back together and start a paranormal investigation team.  They meet once or twice a month to investigate something unusual, but they wind up involved in actual, real-life murder mysteries.  I'm thinking about calling the series "A Monster Hunter Mystery."  I might change it to "A Ghost Hunter Mystery," but I think I prefer the alliteration of "monster" better.  It seems to poke the bit of levity that many such armchair amateur detective series need.  Unlike my previous work, I will not be posting anything about it on my online blog, just yet.  I am currently in the middle of writing the prelude story as part of my latest writing sample to be sent out, so I would prefer not having it be seen in such a widespread format.  However, I will give out some of the basics of the characters and plotting here, just to drum up some feedback or further suggestions.  The team is formed around these four roommates/friends from college.  They are all in their upper twenties, but the four of them have distinctively different lives.  The main character is Micheal.  He is married to Lily, an attorney for the county courthouse, with a young son, Timmy, who is getting ready to start school.  Michael owns a book store (nothing to add here, so just keep reading), but is dissatisfied.  He has a degree in journalism, but he became disheartened with the trend the field was heading, so he wound up taking over a store, while struggling with starting a writing career (again, nothing to add).  They barely can afford to keep the store going, but with Lily going back to work full time, they should be able to get ahead.  Micheal is the researcher for the group.  Although a fan of horror fiction and folklore, he is mostly skeptical.  He only reluctantly went along with the idea for the group.  In my prelude piece, Lily all but forces him to go on the first case.  Christopher, who prefers to go by his shortened last name of Beck, is the leader of the group.  He is about halfway through getting his doctorate in sociology, with a focus on folklore and the belief in the supernatural.  He is the only one not native to Kentucky, and his problems with his family is the major reason why he doesn't go back.  This team is a sideline to his research, but he is really getting deep into the subculture.  He is at risk of losing his academic and professional clout by doing this, but he really is beginning to not care anymore.  He is also single.  Jesse is the legal advisor for the group.  He was recently made a junior partner is his uncle's firm.  Jesse is also the reason why Micheal and Lily met, as well as how Lily got here job in Jesse's hometown.  He is on the verge of proposing to his longtime girlfriend.  He also has a big secret, beyond trying to keep Micheal's store afloat by buying extra books there.  Jesse has been seeing ghosts his whole life, but he has kept it a secret from his friends, although Beck has suspected something since the time they met.  It is one of the reasons why Beck wanted Jesse brought into the group.  Jesse has also represented another paranormal investigation team, and it is one of the reasons he became a full partner so quickly after passing the bar. The final member of the team is Ed, a consummate outdoorsman.  Ed and Micheal actually went to high school together, but they hung out in different circles.  Neither knew they were going to the same college until they sat next to each other on the first day of classes.  Ed is the only former classmate that Micheal talks to or sees on a regular basis, even with Ed living in Lexington.  He is a chemical engineer for a mining company.  Most of their properties are out west, forcing Ed to travel constantly.  However, a recent promotion will allow Ed to stay at home more often and finally start a family with his wife, Mary (placeholder name, it might change).  On one of his trips, Ed may have had a close encounter with "something," and has kept it secret from everyone.  For their first case, I have the team at a site, only to be interrupted by another team.  Ed's younger brother, Rick, who is more of an outdoorsman and hunter, almost gets into a fight with the other team's leader.  A day or so later, the team leader is found dead, and Rick is the prime suspect.  Ed has been keeping secrets about Rick's brief military stay, as well as the reasons behind his two previous marriages.  It is up to Micheal, and the rest of the team, to find a way to clear Rick, as well as what happened at the site originally that led it to become haunted.  I'm still working on the prelude though.  I want to get the feel of the series before writing anything else, as mysteries have a certain style I would need to get right before going on, but it is getting there that is the fun part.  By the way, the title of this post would also be the title for the first book in the series.  Themed mystery series are known for the wordplay and puns in their titles, and this is something I am great at.  See previous blogcast posts.