Local writer Tony Piazza is the author of five mystery novels featuring private investigator Tom Logan, including Anything Short of Murder, A Murder Amongst Angels, Murder is Such Sweet Revenge, Murder Will Out, and his latest, Murder in the Cards. He is also the author of The Curse of the Crimson Dragon, as well as a memoir titled Bullitt Points, a detailed account of his family’s participation in the 1968 Steve McQueen film Bullitt.
In his most recent book, set in the 1930s, protagonist Tom Logan and his wife, Rita, are investigating a strange murder when they are invited to a Halloween party by Charles Randolph at his mysterious castle atop a Central Coast hill. The case involves fortune telling, tarot card readings, and a seance featuring the ghost of a dead actress as they try to figure out which of Randolph’s guests is the killer.
The Sun spoke to Piazza about his latest work and what fans and new readers can expect.
Sun: Tell us about the Tom Logan series and what it’s all about.
Piazza: The Tom Logan series started with the Turner Classic Movie site. That’s where I started blogging about working in the film industry. I decided to pad it out and started with Anything Short of Murder. The audience that I had back then sort of dictated the kind of story that I wanted to write because they loved film noir, they loved old Hollywood movies, and I love detective stories, and I felt there was a way to weave in a lot of Hollywood history and landmarks. So that’s what started the series.
Sun: What do you like so much about writing Logan? What makes him a fun character to write?
Piazza: He is sort of an amalgam of many of the characters of the 1930s that I enjoyed, like Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade, and I’d always liked that sarcastic, world-weary type of detective. He was the typical hero from that era I’d always enjoyed reading about. I started him off like that but as time went on I started weaving a lot of other personalities into him, including my father and some of myself. That’s where some of the humor comes in. He’s all of that. It’s strange but when you start writing characters, they start taking on a life all their own. I found that Logan, Rita, and Red and all of those characters now have become very real to me. I hear from other readers too who are interested in what direction these characters are going in.
Sun: Where does Murder in the Cards pick up with Tom Logan?
Piazza: Murder in the Cards is a direct sequel from Murder is Such Sweet Revenge, which is actually two books ago. At the very end of Murder is Such Sweet Revenge, I had a teaser. Rita and Tom had gone on their honeymoon and gone to San Diego, which got ruined by a murder they had to solve. So at the very end they get a second chance for a honeymoon at the Grand Canyon. But what happens is there is another murder, and Tom gets involved. It ends right there and that was just supposed to be a joke. But I started hearing from a lot of fans and when they heard Murder Will Out was coming they thought it was going to continue with the Grand Canyon murder. But when I decided to do Murder Will Out, I wanted to do a prequel and go back in time to prior to Anything Short of Murder. I wanted to experiment a little. … When I decided to do Murder in the Cards I thought it wouldn’t be fair to the readers if I don’t pick up where I left off at the Grand Canyon. I had to continue on from there.
Sun: How does the Central Coast fit into the novel?
Piazza: I’ve always been interested in writing something locally, about Santa Maria and the area around here. The first thing that came to my mind was William Randolph Hearst and Hearst Castle and the connection to the Santa Maria Inn. The Hollywood crowd always stopped off here before going up to the castle. I decided to put all of that together. The title Murder in the Cards came first, and from that I started building up this whole scenario … then Hearst came into mind and all the big parties they used to have up there, and then I started thinking about cards, seances, and gypsies and just threw it into the cauldron, and the book is what popped out.
Sun: Do you have any plans yet for the next book in the series?
Piazza: When I’m traveling, I’m always thinking about what would be great plots for future books. Just recently we’ve been spending a lot of time going to the old movie ranches that are on the outskirts of Los Angeles, like Iverson Movie Ranch and Corriganville. They used to shoot a lot of old Westerns there … I thought that might make an interesting follow-up, if Logan and Rita end up going out on one of these ranches and a murder occurs. I’m working up on that angle right now.
Arts and Lifestyle Writer Rebecca Rose has an alibi. Contact her at rrose@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 2, 2019.