Along Came a Spider

By John M. Artz

Introduction

Spider is the second of the Thaddeus Wentworth mysteries. Some of the readers of the first story wanted a more concrete detective story without all the symbolic and philosophical issues. So, in response, I decided to write a traditional 'who-dun-it'. In this classic style of detective story the reader is given clues at the same time the detective is given them and the challenge for the reader is to solve the mystery before the detective does.

A few readers of the first story said that they liked some of my descriptive scenes and asked for more detailed descriptions. The first scene in this story is an attempt to be more descriptive and more grahpic.

As you will see in this story, solving the murder leads to a legal dilemma. I would like to thank the attorneys, that I consulted on this issue, for their generous and patient advice.

Chapter four was held up for several weeks because I wanted to find a setting in Southwest Washington. I always find it easier to work with a real place and modify it. However, I was busy and couldn't get to the neighborhood I had in mind to look for a setting. And my readers were getting a little impatient. So I wound up just making it up. As it turns out, I don't think I did too bad.

Finally, when I first plotted out the story, I did not plan to have a partner for Wentworth. After chapter two, I got an email from Gita Zoks asking me to include her in the story. I gave her the standard warning that I don't control how the characters turn out and she agreed to the conditions. So I added her in chapter three. It would be hard to imagine this story without her character, but that just goes to show the serendipitous nature of writing serial novels.

I hope you enjoy the story.

John M. Artz
December 2000


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First person means from the point of view of the main character.