Murder at Gill's Point

Nick McCord receives a disturbing call from his old friend, Tom Walker. Nick takes time off from his job as a Milwaukee policeman and goes to Gill’s Point Lodge on the shore of Lake Michigan. Tom told him about a body found on the beach incased in ice, and that the body is that of Elizabeth Samuelson who disappeared a hundred years ago. He is also told of strange sounds and ghostly figures in the lodge. Finding the tale hard to believe, Nick agreed to look into it. Monica Barnhart, a history professor, who was there to research the history of the lodge provides Nick with its background. She joins him in the search to find out what was happening. Although it was believed that the lodge had been built by Captain Bartholomew Samuelson as a summer home for his wife Elizabeth, they discover the real reason the home was built. Nick and Monica found it interesting that several of the guests at the lodge were related to the captain. Murder at Gill’s Point is a mystery story that is told by Nick McCord. It is the first in a series of Nick McCord mysteries.

I was born and raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan. I grew up in a family that liked to travel. I traveled by car, bicycle, canoe and on foot. We visited historical sights and landmarks all over the country; some became the background for my stories. As I teen, I was a camp counselor for inner city boys from Detroit and made up stories to tell them at bedtime. While in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman, I served most of my duty at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, California. My experiences became a strong influence in my book Balboa Rendezvous. My wife, Phyllis, and I have three children. At bedtime when they were small, I would tell them stories rather than read to them. I began writing stories about things I had seen during the day when I was traveling around. One evening while I was working in law enforcement in Colorado, I was reading a book we had gotten from a book club. I didn't like the book and set it down. I told my wife that "I could write a better book then this." Her response was, "Well. You can tell a good story. Why don't you write one?" Shortly after her challenge, I came up with an idea for a book. A year later I finished the book, but when I read it I had to ask myself "what second grader wrote this?" My wives encouragement and belief in me got me to rewrite it, actually several times. The Return Home became my first real book and I was hooked on writing. Over the year I have learned a lot about writing, and rewrites are a major part of writing. My ideas come from places I have visited, backs of menus in restaurants, and from things I remember as a boy or young man. I read a large variety of books including Westerns, Romances, Mysteries and Suspense, as well as write them. My background in Law Enforcement had helped me with my mysteries. But when it come right down to it, I like to simply tell a story, and that is what I do.