The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Warning: 'Espionage coming to Chelsea'
Suspense writers pick Chelsea for location of their latest international mystery novel
By Terry Jacoby, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: June 5, 2008
It's no secret in these parts that Chelsea has the power to reach out and grab you. Just driving down main street or strolling through a few neighborhoods or meeting a few of the residents is all it takes. A pastry, a cup of coffee, conversing with the couple running the local art gallery, dinner at the Common Grill, rapping with the locals at the pub, an original play at the Purple Rose ... we can go on and on.
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Chelsea leaves a lasting impression. It simply doesn't take much to fall in love.
And that's what happened with Diane and David Munson - they fell in love with the small town with a big heart. Norman Rockwell's America was on display and the Munsons just couldn't look away.
"We were living in the western part of the state and my mother was in the hospital in Ann Arbor," said David Munson. "One day she was well enough for us to take her somewhere nearby and for some reason we decided on Chelsea. We had never been there before and just loved it."
The Munsons weren't your typical family out for a daily stroll. In fact, the Munsons are as far away from typical as Chelsea is from the moon.
Diane and David Munson are husband and wife authors of legal suspense novels drawn from their own experiences in the U.S. justice system. Their novels "weave together multiple plots that are related to each other, although sometimes do not reveal the connection until the exciting conclusion."
But they were quick to make a conclusion about how they felt about Chelsea. They even concluded that Chelsea would make a perfect setting for their next novel.
"We had just finished our most recent book ("The Camelot Conspiracy") and were thinking about where our next story would take place," Diane said. "We thought it would be perfect to have one of our main characters living here in Chelsea."
The untitled novel is currently being written, and while they are excited about the recent release of "The Camelot Conspiracy," they can't stop thinking about what is unfolding on the pages in front of them. And it's all happening right here in Chelsea.
The Munsons have spent time recently in Chelsea doing research on the community. While the stories are fictional, a good part of what happens is based on truth and reality. And a good part of that truth comes from their own experiences. It also comes from the desire to create meaningful and convincing characters and put these characters on the streets lined with realism and flavor.
"We want to know as much as we can about Chelsea," Diane said. "It's important to us that we present a true picture of the community."
While not wanting to give away every twist and turn, David and Diane did offer a glimpse into what Chelsea has to look forward to in the near future - at least through their eyes of the near future.
"Bo Rider is a small character from 'The Camelot Conspiracy' who is working on a case where espionage comes to Chelsea," David said. "What happens greatly impacts a family in Chelsea. A single mom from Chelsea goes on an archeological dig in China and is arrested by the Chinese government for being a spy. Her 4-year-old son (Lucas) is left with her mother back in Chelsea."
While Rider is trying to help free her daughter in China, the grandmother (Sophie) in Chelsea is facing legal problems of her own. The estranged father's parents have shown up and are claiming custody of Lucas.
"A lot of suspense novels lack authenticity on how the system works," Diane said. "Our background helps us tell our stories based on how it really is."
And Diane and David know first hand "how it really is."
Diane Munson was an attorney for more than 20 years. She served the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C. where as a Federal Prosecutor she brought indictments, tried criminal cases and argued appeals. Earlier, she served the Reagan Administration, appointed by Attorney General Edwin Meese, as Deputy Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
She also worked with the Justice Department, the U.S. Congress and the White House on major policy and legal issues. More recently she has been in a solo general practice specializing in helping families and representing children and parents in cases of neglect and abuse.
David Munson served as a Special Agent with the Naval Investigative Service, U.S. Customs, and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration during a 27-year career. He conducted many investigations and often assumed undercover roles, even infiltrating international drug smuggling organizations. He even traveled with drug dealers, met their suppliers in foreign countries, helped fly their drugs to the U.S., then feigned surprise when shipments were seized by law enforcement.
"Many things in our books have happened to either of us, while some have happened to our associates or others," David said. "Remember, facts, names, and situations have been fictionalized to protect everyone's privacy. Suffice it to say, our careers provide us with much fodder for fiction."
Publishers encouraged the Munsons to write a novel related to their careers, which resulted in their first novel, "Facing Justice."
In the Munsons' much awaited new suspense thriller, "The Camelot Conspiracy," TV reporter Mary Katherine Kowicki takes on powerful U.S. Senator Lars Zorn, only to be demoted from Washington D.C. to Chicago. When she receives evidence about President John F. Kennedy's assassination from a retired Chicago police detective, who worked on the assassination in November 1963, Kat plunges into a decades old conspiracy and her life is rocked to the very core.The Munsons once led fast-paced lives and the stories in their books rarely break stride. Readers are advised to put on their track shoes along with their thinking caps - and set aside plenty of time because once you're hooked, you're hooked.
Writing about the Kennedy assassination was a natural for the Munsons. Diane studied the JFK assassination in college, reading the Warren Commission report and always believing there were unanswered questions and flawed conclusions about Lee Harvey Oswald being the lone shooter.
David worked as an investigative aid at the Chicago FBI office while in college. On the night of Nov. 22, 1963, he received a telephone call from FBI Dallas with an urgent request to identify the purchaser of the murder weapon at Kleins' Sporting Goods in Chicago. Thus, began his interest in the unsolved mystery.
"Because Americans remain fascinated with what happened to John F. Kennedy, we both felt it was time to revisit the facts," Diane said.While "The Camelot Conspiracy" deals with the death of a president, their newest novel will focus on the living. And you can be sure that Sophie will help Chelsea come alive.
"We have an idea of where she is living, somewhere in the northwest part of town on a farm," Diane said. "She is an illustrator for children's books and loves to paint."
No doubt some of the pictures on her canvas will look pretty familiar to the people of Chelsea.
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