The Turnbull Murders, the latest release in award-winning novelist R.J. Koreto’s Historic Homes Mystery Series, now available nationwide

SUFFERN, NY, USA, December 18, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Award-winning journalist and acclaimed mystery novelist R.J. Koreto has used his fascination with historic homes to create a critically acclaimed mystery series. The latest release in Koreto’s Historic Homes series, The Turnbull Murders, published by Level Best Books, is now available in trade paper (ISBN: 978-1-68512-411-3, 307 pp., $16.95) and eBook ($5.99) editions wherever fine books are sold.

Koreto builds a smart, suspenseful, sensational tale in The Turnbull Murders. The second release in Koreto’s popular Historic Homes Mystery Series, the cornerstone of which is architect protagonist Wren Fontaine, The Turnbull Murders has earned high praise for its clever plotting, charming characters, and glorious historic homes backdrop.

Koreto, a native of Manhattan, says that being surrounded by NYC’s numerous old buildings shaped his love of historic homes. According to Koreto, “In New York, you always find reminders of the past, even in the city’s official flag, which shows the colors of the Netherlands, the founders of what was then New Amsterdam. I grew up just a block away from Gracie Mansion, the official home of New York City’s mayor, which became the model for the house I used in The Turnbull Murders.”

A journalist by trade, Koreto says that it was an article he wrote for a newsletter for homeowners that finally solidified the idea for the mystery series: “W published an article on the special rules you have to follow if your home has been declared a historic landmark. You can't change certain aspects, and any work has to be done by a specially certified architect. It hit me right away: an architect would thus be working on the past and present at the same time.”

As he began to flesh out ideas for the series, Koreto said he realized why an architect would be uniquely qualified to be an amateur sleuth and protagonist Wren Fontaine was born: “An architect like Wren Fontaine is well-trained to look at details, so nothing gets by her. Also, I decided someone like that might be neurodiverse in a way: Wren has trouble reading people--but she can see how people react to houses, how houses can change people, and vice-versa. This is crucial to solving mysteries.”

Ultimately, Koreto said that he thought historic homes made the ideal backdrop for building a mystery for one important reason: “Homes have secrets. I'm hardly the first to realize that. This trope goes back at least as far as Wuthering Heights.”

Koreto’s fascination with old homes goes far deeper than his mystery series: he proudly lives in a home whose original part dates back to 1850. When undergoing upgrades on the home, Koreto said he was intrigued to learn that the home was put together with some very old building techniques—techniques still deemed safe by today’s standards, but building methods that hadn’t been used since the 19th century. That home provides Koreto the perfect place to work on the next series installment, The Cadieux Murders.

R.J. Koreto is the author of seven mystery novels. Koreto’s short stories have appeared in such prominent publications as Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and in multiple anthologies. A native of New York City, Koreto is also an award-winning financial journalist. He and his wife have two grown daughters and divide their time between Rockland County, New York and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Visit R.J. Koreto online at: www.rjkoreto.com

Founded in 2003, Level Best Books is one of the country’s leading publishers of crime fiction and short story anthologies.

Maryglenn M. Warnock
Maryglenn M. Warnock
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