1. The setting for this book comes directly from my own personal experience in a shabby rehab facility. I spent time living in what became direct inspiration for Lemon House in 2022. The details of the house in the story, and some of the minor characters, are based on true details directly from my memories. While the events of the story in The Lemon House Murders are entirely fictionalized, the setting is not.
2. It's more than your typical whodunit murder mystery.
Like all good mysteries, it will keep you guessing until the very end. What makes The Lemon House Murders special is that it will also make you think about important topics like societal marginalization of former addicts, the importance of self-determination to a fulfilling life, and what we're really doing when we judge others. Come for the mystery puzzle box, stay for the thought-provoking messaging.
3. It questions pervasive popular media messaging.
I like to build stories around a central idea that I think is worth exploring deeply. The Lemon House Murders was born when I noticed how much of our popular media emphasizes the importance of family. We hear it so much that it almost doesn't register any longer: family is everything, blood is thicker than water. We're constantly told that familial relationships are some of the most important ingredients of a happy life. It made me begin to wonder if there might be a downside to this pervasive messaging. What about the people who have no family? How are they meant to feel about all of this? Even more broadly, I wondered if it's healthy to put anything, even something as supposedly good as family, up on a pedestal in that way? This led me toward the topic of addiction, something that I have personal experience with, and I crafted The Lemon House Murders to explore our society's addiction to family and how that might potentially damage a young man's life.
4. It challenges the reader's pre-existing notions about addiction.
I hope that The Lemon House Murders encourages readers to think differently about addiction, which is a simple miswiring of feedback mechanisms that are baked into each and every one of our brains. Addiction is not a personal or a moral failure on the part of the struggling individual. The people who suffer from addiction are just as engaging, multi-faceted, and full of promise as anyone else. This story, I believe, can help others recognize these facts. Recovering addicts have much to offer the world and when we write them off as a lost cause, we're hurting them, ourselves, and our society as a whole.
5. It is my second published murder mystery novel.
My first book, Death of a Billionaire, follows a man wrongly accused of murdering the world's most famous tech billionaire. Will his desperate attempt to prove his innocence cost him everything he was trying to save in the first place? Death of a Billionaire is available to purchase on Amazon here.
Tucker May is a writer of mystery novels, whodunit short stories and all kinds of fun, puzzling tales. Murders, crimes, and mysteries abound. He grew up in Missouri then attended Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He’s a diehard fan of the Los Angeles Rams and Geelong Cats. He lives in Pasadena, CA with his wife Barbara and their cat Principal Spittle. He is the author of The Lemon House Murders and Death of a Billionaire.
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