Undercurrent

In this crime murder mystery, Paul Bannon, a combat decorated veteran, decides he needs a break from the 4 million people jamming up the roads in Los Angeles. He decides to take a road trip to check on an old Army buddy, Jack Franco who has gone underground for about a year. Jack lives in the sleepy small town of Little Bay Harbor. He finds Jack in a complete state of human disrepair. Jack is broken and Paul vows to fix him. His honorable plans fall by the wayside as he falls in love with Jack's wife Swan. Swan is complicated. And, she is a chameleon. Paul dreams of a life with her but she has other plans. Paul becomes a pawn in her manipulative game of re-creating her own world. Paul plots to murder Jack on a seemingly innocent boat ride for a picnic on an outer island but finds himself unable to finish the task. Jack drowns and Paul and Swan are witnesses to the drowning. Paul is indicted for second degree murder. As thing progress, Paul begins to question his own innocence. Stories collide, motives stack up against each other and witnesses from the small town are conflicted.

In Undercurrent, a crime fiction novel, Jack Franco, a combat decorated veteran drowns under somewhat suspicious circumstances. Undercurrent is set in a sleepy harbor town in northwest Washington. It all begins when Paul Bannon, former Army buddy of Jack is fired unexpectedly and decides he needs a break from the fast paced life of Los Angeles. He heads up to Little Bay Harbor to check on Jack who has gone radio silent for the past year. As he spends time with Jack he begins to understand the self-inflicted and tragic world that Jack has created for himself. Paul is determined to help Jack but becomes conflicted when he finds himself falling in love with Jack's wife, Swan. To Paul, Swan's world seems tragic as well. There is a subtle but constant tension among the Franco family and their close friends. Paul is a soldier. And he is a problem solver. He has killed before and wonders if he can do it again albeit under very different circumstances. He carefully plans a boating adventure with Jack and Swan. A series of fast paced events result in Jack's drowning. The drowning is initially ruled accidental but when more evidence begins to surface, Paul is indicted for second degree murder. In a turn of events it seems that Paul's indictment may have been premature. Central to the plot is Jack's wife Swan. She runs the family owned bakery with Jack's aging mother Millicent. Swan is manipulative. She is trapped in a cycle of endless boredom and a loveless marriage. She dreams of a life filled with freedom and excitement. She sees no possibility of escaping her situation until Paul appears and stays longer than he planned. Their affair marks the beginning of a treacherous path of deceit and death.

Elisabeth Wright is a graduate of the University of Southern California, a former academic and author of several textbooks. I have published two short stories and self-published a comedic novella in 2021. I am an avid reader and particularly enjoy murder mysteries and fact based fiction. Creative writing is my passion. I live in a place not unlike Little Bay Harbor and have used scenes and descriptors that embody this quiet place.