Admittedly, book six in The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Truth or Die, doesn’t have a lot of secrets.
It was a nice, polite book that cooperated with me from the start. But that’s not to say I didn’t make any changes, or that it didn’t have any challenges.
Today, I’m sharing five tidbits about Truth or Die.
1. The idea to jump ahead a few months came while writing Misfortune.
From Cliffhanger to Misfortune, Belinda and Bennett’s story spans just a few months, basically one summer. By the time I wrapped Misfortune, I knew I wanted to jump ahead with the next book for a few reasons.
I wanted Kyle to return from Australia, Victoria to have had her baby, and take Belinda and Bennett’s relationship to the next level. The best way to do all of that was to leap ahead a few months.
2. Kyle’s situation opened the door for Belinda and Bennett.
When I started Truth or Die, I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do with Belinda and Bennett’s storyline. But Belinda’s issues with Kyle gave the answer. It opened the door for Bennett and Belinda to realize some things about their relationship that will be very important in book seven!
3. Baby Willa’s disguise was one of my first scene ideas.
I was excited to introduce Victoria’s baby, who’d been born between books.
It’s been a challenge working Victoria into the story, though. She makes a very good partner-in-crime for Belinda, but keeping her safe in the process has been difficult. Truth or Die was no exception.
So, Kyle’s storyline came to the rescue again, and opened the door for Victoria and baby Willa to go in disguise and help Belinda with a safer side story. It was one of my first ideas, and still one of my favorites!
4. The murder plot started with a bridge.
The main murder plot for Truth or Die changed a lot during development. My initial idea involved a girl jumping off a bridge, so a lot of the story involved figuring out it was a murder, not a suicide.
While that intrigued me, it wasn’t fitting in for some reason, so I decided to change it. After some thought, I merged part of that concept with another one, and the pieces fell into place quickly.
The bridge idea may resurface at some point, but for now, it’s safely stored in a notebook. 🙂
5. Originally, there were two murders that converged.
At first, I had two murders that didn’t seem connected but wound up converging. (The bridge victim and another death that also looked like an accident.)
But, as mentioned, the bridge idea wasn’t working for me. As much as I liked the idea, I decided to skip that for book six.
Instead, I stuck with one initial murder, combining parts of both ideas. In the end, it made for a much more interesting and effective murder plot.
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What would you like to know about Truth or Die, or The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries in general? Let me know in the comments!