When it comes to friendship, hope, and hometown life, private investigations work is surprisingly closer to dealing with those ideals than hard-core crime, wild car chases, and dead bodies as depicted on television. A large part of PI casework deals with interpersonal relationships, like child custody, suspicion of cheating spouses, marital discord, divorce, drug use, and abuse, wrongful death, etc. As a PI working these cases with my husband, there were countless times that we had the opportunity to share our faith, encourage and give hope to those with assorted problems. What I liked best as a PI, I also at times liked least—surveillance work. Observing what someone was up to was interesting and exciting since you never knew where a person might take you. It also meant long hours of nothing going on. You get sleepy, hungry, cold or hot, and need a restroom break, but you have to stay in place. My husband was in law enforcement serving as a criminal investigator and sheriff before retiring and opening the private investigations agency. I taught school and worked as a guidance counselor by day and did PI work as needed at night, weekends, and summers for many years. After retiring from education, I worked as a full-time private investigator and certified lie detection examiner. I closed the agency last year when my husband passed away. But a few years before my husband died, we both started writing. He wrote about his true experiences of farm and small-town living as well as his military and law enforcement career (Umbrellas Make Poor Parachutes by LaVelle Pitts). I write fiction, drawing from characters and experiences during my teaching, counseling, and investigation years. My first books are sweet romances set in the small fictional town of Hamilton Harbor in northwest Florida. Books include: book #1-And Then Blooms Love, book #2-Stumbling Upon Romance, and book #3- Designed for Love. If you like Hallmark Channel movies, you’ll enjoy this series. The Seasons of Mystery is a four-book series featuring an experienced investigator and a kindergarten teacher who through extenuating circumstances become private investigators. The female lead character reflects what I went through as a novice investigator intern trying to learn PI work. The books will follow the seasons: Book #1 Autumn Vindication, Book #2- Winter Deception. Books #3 and #4, Spring Betrayal and Summer Cover-Up I am currently writing. These stories have the flavor of TV shows Moonlighting with Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd and McMillan and Wife with Rock Hudson and Susan St. James.
Sally’s latest book, Winter Deception is Book #2 in the Seasons of Mystery series Christmas at the historical antebellum plantation could have provided a restful holiday … if it weren’t for the murder.
Private Investigators Robert Grey and Jane Carson intend to combine business with pleasure when they arrive at Topazus, their client’s South Carolina antebellum estate.
But the property’s trustee is found dead and when their client’s mother is arrested for the crime, Robert and Jane are pressed into service. This newly formed investigative team is adjusting to private eye status. Robert is a former lawman who no longer carries a badge and Jane is a kindergarten teacher.
When the investigators dig into the mysterious happenings in the mansion, they are convinced the police arrested the wrong person. Topazus, which withstood the ravages of a Civil War, is imbedded with bitterness, deception, and an array of suspects.
It’s a case where the unlikely duo must pool their intuition and unique skills to unravel clues before the real killer gets away with murder.
About the Author:
Sally Jo Pitts brings a career as a private investigator, high school guidance counselor and teacher of family and consumer sciences to the fiction page. Tapping into her real-world experiences she writes what she likes to read, faith-based stories, steeped in the mysteries of life’s relationships. She is author of Autumn Vindication, book #1 in the Seasons of Mystery Series. You can connect with her:
I love Sally Jo and her writing. Thanks for sharing this with us. Just on a personal note, she and I share a birthday! She’s a lovely lady and a terrific writer.
Thanks for stopping by, Debra. It sounds like you two have much in common because you are a terrific writer too. I’ll bet you and Sally Jo would make a great detective team.
Oh Sally Jo, these 4 titles coordinating with the seasons are simply genius! I am excited to venture along with you as these all come to light. Your professional experience in teaching, counseling and PI work play well into the stories you write.