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Two
Truths and a Lie

by Saralyn Richard

When I was a high school
administrator, one of my favorite ice-breakers for meetings was the game, Two
Truths and a Lie. If you’ve never played it, each person at the table comes up
with three facts about herself, one of which is not true. The others at the
table have to guess which fact is the lie.

            This
game is particularly fun for people who love mysteries. The participants have
to put on their sleuth hats, use clues about what they already know about the
speaker, and, once the lie is announced, praise or chastise themselves for
their deductive wisdom.

            Since
this is Back to School month, I thought I’d write a version of Two Truths and a
Lie, and let you guess. Are you ready? Here goes…

            Fact #1: After decades of living in a
totally different area of the country, I returned to my hometown, and I live in
the house I grew up in.

            Fact #2: I started thinking of myself
as an author when my sophomore English teacher told me that’s what I should do
for a career.

            Fact #3: I’m married to a police
detective, and that’s who my series protagonist, Oliver Parrott, is patterned
after.

            Before
we get to the solution, let me tell you a little about A PALETTE FOR LOVE AND
MURDER, which is my latest release. Second in the Detective Parrott mystery
series, the book takes you back to the beautiful, serene Brandywine Valley in
Pennsylvania, where the landscape is lush, the mansions are huge, and the
secrets are deep. Two valuable paintings, taken from the artist’s own studio,
start Parrott on his next case. Soon theft turns into murder, and Parrott is
thrust into a complicated case that becomes all-too-personal.

            Here’s
what novelist, William Kent Krueger, author of THIS TENDER LAND, has to say about it:

“In the Brandywine
Valley, a delicate balance exists between the very wealthy and those who serve
them, but the murder of a famous artist threatens this tenuous equilibrium. In
her second outing featuring Detective Parrott, author Saralyn Richard offers
readers a compelling story of worlds in collision. A Palette For Love and Murder probes more than the mysteries of the
art world and the motives for murder. Satisfied readers will discover that it
also delicately plumbs the depths of love and the human heart. This is another
winner for Richard.”

            A PALETTE FOR LOVE AND MURDER has
been honored with the Silver Medal in the category of Mystery/Sleuth in the 2020
Readers Favorite contest and the finalist status in the 2020 International Book
Fest contest’s mystery/suspense category. You can purchase the book at your
indie bookstore or online at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/A+Palette+for+Love+and+Murder?_requestid=2258777

or

https://www.amazon.com/Palette-Love-Murder-Detective-Parrott/dp/1644372045/ref=

Back to the
ice-breaker—if you chose Fact #1, you didn’t guess that I might have returned “home”
in 2005 to the house that I grew up in. That’s true, and I love being
surrounded by wonderful memories of family and friends and good times.

If you chose Fact
#2, you didn’t guess that my English teacher, Mari Allmond, inspired me to
become a writer (and a teacher), and, she continues to inspire me all these
years later. By the way, one of the main characters in A PALETTE FOR LOVE AND
MURDER is named after Mari.

If you chose Fact
#3, you solved the case with the best of them! Congratulations! I’m married to
a wonderful guy, who is my alpha reader and adviser in many topics, but he has
never been a police detective.

Thanks for reading,
and thanks for playing along. I hope Back-to-School month brings you good
health, lots of interesting activities, and much joy.