Fighting Fire

By Elaine Viets

    "My house is on fire. We are all out safely."
    Mystery writer Jeff Abbott, master of understatement, tweeted that July 8 at 2:31 p.m. Jeff, his wife, Leslie, and their sons Charles and William were all safe. A lightning strike had destroyed their Austin home.

    Jeff and his family have helped so many. Now we get a chance to repay their kindness. Chele Robinette and Marina Bird immediately started a GoFundMe account. Some of the Femmes Fatales have known Jeff since he was known as "Cozy Boy."

     Dean James: I met Jeff circa 1990 at the Rice Writers Conference sponsored by our mutual alma mater, Rice University in Houston. Jeff was not long graduated from Rice and working as a technical writer for a software company. He wanted to be a mystery writer, and soon after this he got his first publishing contract. Do Unto Others, a cozy featuring a small-town Texas librarian, Jordan Poteet, came out in 1994. The book went on to win both the Agatha and Macavity Awards for Best First Novel. As a young man writing cozy mysteries, Jeff quickly earned the moniker "Cozy Boy" and was a big hit at Malice Domestic his debut year. He went on to publish thrillers, leaving the cozy world behind, and has been nominated for a number of awards for these books, including the Edgar and the Anthony, among others. It's been gratifying to see him realize his ambition.

        Marcia Talley: I met Jeff at my first Malice Domestic years ago. Do Unto Others featured a librarian, which I was at the time. I told him I’d read his book and planned to vote for it — we librarians have to stick together, you know. In the early days of Malice, male authors were so rare that we referred to Jeff affectionately as “Cozy Boy.” Do Unto Others won the Agatha and he went on to write three other mysteries about Jordan before breaking into the big time with his best-selling, award-winning thrillers. I was an aspiring mystery writer at the time, and appreciate Jeff's friendly welcome and encouragement. He is always humble, gracious and fun.
        Toni L.P. Kelner/Leigh Perry: I adore Jeff Abbot, even though he is one of the worst people imaginable to be on a panel with. Well, honestly, the problem is following him on a panel. When he was still writing his Jordan Poteet mysteries, we were on a panel together addressing the idea that cozies were considered less realistic and less rough-n-tough than noir or hard-boiled books. Jeff said, “One time I was at a signing, and this guy in a trench coat came up to me and said, ‘Hey, Cozy Boy! How tough are you?’ And I whooped his butt!”
          The audience—and the other panel members—laughed for a solid five minutes. Then the so-and-so handed me the microphone! Yeah, I had to follow up on that. Never since The Who had to follow Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival was there a worse situation to be next up. Thanks a lot, Cozy Boy!
          Charlaine Harris: Jeff is a man I am always glad to see, and a writer I respect. That is why I asked him to be best man at my (fictional) Aurora's and Robin's wedding. Jeff was kind enough to agree, which delighted me.
           Elaine Viets: Leslie Abbott is as hilarious as her husband. When we were marooned at a rubber chicken banquet, Leslie kept me laughing through what could have been an endless evening. In 2004, Jeff came to South Florida to research his thriller Panic. I drove him to Miami in Black Beauty, my '86 Jaguar. Jeff has an amazing car chase in Panic. I don't know if my driving inspired the title. When I had six strokes and brain surgery, Jeff and Leslie made me laugh with their risque get-well cards.
        Hank Phillippi Ryan: I haven't read what everyone else is writing -– but I can predict it. Jeff Abbott is unfailingly lovely. Generous. Hilarious. Talented. Loving. Devoted. Thoughtful. Because that's the unflagging truth. Being a writer is difficult, high-pressure, and time-consuming – it wrests you from your family and overwhelms your life. Jeff has never let that happen. He's SUCH a family guy, from the proud parent photos he posts to the obvious joy he gets in taking about them – and his love of life is completely contagious. And his happiness-disease is one we are lucky to catch. Plus, he's incredibly cool.
       As for his books--they are unmissable. Here I am glued to the new one! I bet you are, too.

            

Donna Andrews: Twenty years ago I interviewed Jeff for a local public access TV show. We were talking about murder within a family, which he called "the ultimate betrayal in our society." I pointed out that his Distant Blood revolved around a family murder.

And then:
Jeff: That came from my family.
Donna: Oh, my God!
Jeff: I know—isn't that shocking? I should say it was inspired by my family. The situation in Distant Blood is that Jordan has found out he's part of this new family through illegitimate birth. He's attending his first family reunion, and murder and mayhem break out on this island where he's gathered with these new relatives — some of whom are not very happy to welcome him onto their branch of the family tree. I was about sixty pages into writing Distant Blood and I realized one of the driving forces in this family was that there had been a murder no one was willing to talk about.
        When I was fifteen, doing one of those awful oral history projects that you get assigned to do on your family, I found out one of my grandmother's brothers was in prison for murder. This was a big secret because we all thought he was off working in Biloxi or Cheyenne or wherever the oil business had taken him. We would get letters from him at these places. But it turned out he had gotten into a bar fight with a man who had been cheating on him with his wife. He shot him dead through the heart, put the gun on the bar, told the barkeep to call the police. He pled guilty, was tried and convicted of manslaughter—because we're fairly forgiving about gunfire in public places in Texas. And it was seen as a crime of passion, not something he had planned. And he went to Huntsville and the family—my grandmother's family is this big proper Southern family in a very small town. My great-grandmother was in her nineties at that point, this was the youngest of her ten children, her baby, and they did not want her to know that he was in prison.
Donna: So she never knew?
Jeff: She never knew. This circle of silence formed where my grandmother, my mother and some other relatives went to these elaborate hoaxes to hide the fact that he was in prison. I found this out by accident. So they said “Well, you can't let anyone know.” And sure enough my uncle was a model prisoner, was released, and went to go live with his sister and his brother-in-law—who was the sheriff. So that really helped at the parole hearing. “Well, where are you going to live?” “With the sheriff, my brother-in-law.” So the ex-sheriff and the ex-con spent the rest of their days sitting together in La-Z-Boys in front of the TV drinking beer in perfect accord. All the major players in that drama have passed away so I could tap into those feelings of shame and shock. To know someone you care about and have such high regard for can make such a terrible choice is very compelling. There was a lot of embarrassment, there was shame, there was grief that he'd done it. In Distant Blood I took the raw fodder of what my family had gone through and just kicked it up a level and thought “what if this family had kept this secret for the worst possible reason?”

         The Femmes agree with Donna: "The man's a born storyteller. Don't take my word for it. Get hold of a copy of Blame." Find a link here: http://jeffabbott.com/book/blame/
        Jeff posted on Facebook: "My family and I have been overwhelmed by kindness of neighbors and friends. Leslie and the boys and I want to thank everyone who has responded with kind thoughts, prayers, and offers of help. We all got out safely and that is what matters. Long road ahead but we will make it. Thank you so much."
       Here's the GoFundMe link: https://www.gofundme.com/help-our-friends-the-abbotts

Comments

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

And Let me say… The book is fabulous!

[Laura DiSilverio]

I don't know Jeff, but my heart goes out to him and his family. So much loss when your house burns! Photos and memories and irreplaceable mementoes. Thank goodness no one was physically hurt.

[catriona mcpherson]

I wouldn't know, Hank. I didn't sit outside the coffeeshop reading it instead of going in and getting on with my edit. Nope. Not me.

[Marcia Talley]

BLAME is already on my Kindle and as soon as I deliver my WIP -- soon, soon -- I'm planning to get right on it!

[Kristopher]

BLAME is one of the best domestic suspense tales of the year - last few years actually. I loved reviewing it and hope that it is a grand success for Jeff. He(and his family)deserve it.

[Mark]

I must admit, I only know Jeff through the Stay at Home mysteries he wrote at Jeff Allen. I loved them and wish there had been more. Obviously, I need to get more of his books and read them.

[Jody]

Blame is absolutely wonderful. I knew Jeff would write well, but this was excellent. I usually would have waited for a library copy, but I ordered it as soon as I heard about the fire.

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

Oh, Jody, that's just what we hope everyone will do! Thank you!

And Kristooher, he must be so thrilled with your review! Xx

[Jane Lee]

I met Jeff at Bouchercon years ago and loved the Poteet books. Jeff is one on the nicest author I have met in my 30 years of attending mystery conventions. He is the kind of guy that you are so happy that such a class guy has had such success. A fire is a terrible thing. My house was completely destroyed in Katrina so I can understand a little. The way I have been helping Jeff all of these years hS been to buy all of his books.

[Elaine Viets]

I totally agree Jane, and condolences on the loss of your home.

[Jeff Abbott]

Thank you all so much for the very kind words and for the offers of help. The outpouring of concern and love has been overwhelming. My family is doing okay, we take it from day to day. Next week we move into a lease house, which will be good to be settled in as our house is rebuilt. And I am more grateful than I can say that readers have embraced BLAME. I am so glad that people have enjoyed the book. And so grateful to the wonderful Femme Fatales for writing about my family with such kindness. Thank you again.

[Elaine Viets]

Wishing that long road back is as short as possible for you and your family, Jeff. Stay strong and keep writing. Wishing you much success.