Mystery novelist to host book signing at Tatnuck

Novelist N.E. Castle PHOTO/SUBMITTED Region - What began eight years ago as something to do during her lunch hour has turned Shrewsbury resident Nancy Castle into the area's newest novelist.

"Serial," set in Worcester, is a fictional 284-page mystery that details private investigator Laurie Sharpe's efforts to track down the murderer of a young woman outside a nightclub. While tracking the killer, Sharpe uncovers facts that link the killer to other unsolved murders.

In addition, Sharpe comes to the realization that the killer not only could be someone she knows, but that she herself has become the focus of the killer's attention and very possibly the next victim.

Pretty heady stuff for something cobbled together on a series of lunch breaks.

"I started writing 'Serial' back in 2000," Castle said, "and I had a job at the time, working at UMass at the Center for AIDS Research, that gave me the opportunity to write at lunch. I had thought about writing a book for a long time and I saw these lunch hours as a chance to get started."

"Serial" was published last month and is available at Tatnuck Bookseller, Gift Gallery and Café, where Castle - who writes under the moniker N.E. Castle - will be Saturday March 15 from 1 to 3 p.m., reading excerpts of the book and signing copies.

After moving to central Massachusetts in 1983, Castle graduated from Auburn High in 1986 and attended both Westfield State and Quinsigamond Community College, taking courses in criminal justice with an eye on becoming a police officer.

While she never did end up a police officer, Castle did work as a private investigator while attending college. She said she drew on those experiences as she developed the characters in the book and the storyline.

"I don't think there are any specific things I did on the job that I put directly in the book," Castle said. "'Serial' is certainly not any part of a case I ever worked on; it's total fiction. The parts of the job that are in the book are things like the daily routine a private investigator may have and various components of the profession."

Castle said setting the novel in Worcester just seemed like a natural thing to do.

"I grew up here and I really like Worcester," Castle said. "It's got everything you need. It's a great city."

Castle said some local landmarks worked their way into her novel, including the Piccadilly Pub and the now-closed Plantation Club. Another recently-shuttered local establishment, Cactus Pete's, is in the book too, but is just called Pete's.

Friends and former acquaintances of Castle's who pick up the book hoping they might be in it will be disappointed. Castle said all the characters, and their names, have been created, not plucked from other parts of her life.

"Except for Gunnar, Laurie's partner in the book," Castle said. "That was the name of the waiter who was my server one day at Bugaboo Creek. I liked the name as soon as I saw it on his nametag. I don't think he had even finished taking my order before I started telling myself I had to name one of the characters in the book Gunnar."