Santa Rosa novelist scores national honor with mystery

There actually is a Violent Crime Investigations unit at the Santa Rosa Police Department, but Lt. Eddie Mahler doesn’t work there.

Mahler is the fictional hero of the Violent Crime Investigations, or VCI, mystery series written by Santa Rosa novelist Frederick Weisel and set in his hometown.

The detective — head of the Violent Crime Investigations Team and a former Army Ranger plagued by chronic migraines that affect his vision but still determined to track down murderers — has starred in two VCI books so far.

“When I started writing my first novel, I wanted a team of detectives and I wanted them to be part of the Santa Rosa Police Department,” Weisel said.

“After I had written the first book,” he added, ”I went on the SRPD website and discovered a team called Violent Crime Investigations.”

Mahler and his crew strive to solve a series of murders of lone woman joggers in “The Silenced Women,” published in 2021.

The second installment in the series, a missing person case titled “The Day He Left,” published in 2022, won the 2023 Nero Award for the best American mystery novel of the year. The award was presented in December by the Nero Wolfe Literary Society at the 46th annual Black Orchid Banquet in New York City.

“The Day He Left” was chosen by two teams of judges from among 56 other books submitted by American publishers.

Previous winners include bestselling mystery authors Lawrence Block, Walter Mosley, Lee Child, David Baldacci, Michael Connelly and Tony Hillerman.

The society, and the award, are named for the eccentric, sedentary detective hero of 33 novels and 41 novellas written by Rex Stout and published between 1934 to 1975.

Unlike Nero Wolfe, a classic armchair detective aided by streetwise Archie Goodwin, Mahler and his crew are down-to-earth officers of the law.

Critics have deemed the VCI stories part of the “police procedural” detective novel genre, in the tradition of Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct novels.

Weisel said he admires the novels of Michael Connelly, whose world-weary LAPD detective Harry Bosch deals with the gritty details of modern life.

Weisel is committed to continuing the series. A third novel, tentatively titled “Bitter Finish,” has been written and involves a murder in the Sonoma County wine business. A fourth novel is underway. No date has been set for their publication.

The VCI team includes Eden Somers, a young former FBI analyst with a background in criminal psychology; Martin Coyle, a detective who uses his computer science and technical background to solve crimes; Daniel Rivas, a veteran detective nearing retirement age whose knowledge of local crime history is encyclopedic, and Steve Frames, a former Marine and a newer member of the team.

An important supporting character is Mahler’s mentor, retired police officer Tom Woodhouse. In writing his books, Weisel had his own real-life adviser in the person of former Santa Rosa Police Department officer Tom Swearingen, who retired in 2007.

“Tom Swearingen bears some similarities to Tom Woodhouse,” Weisel said. “But I actually wrote that character several years before I met Tom Swearingen. In my mind, Woodhouse is older than Swearingen. I pictured the actor Ed Harris when I wrote Tom Woodhouse.”

Swearingen’s last assignment with SRPD was as a lieutenant in charge of four teams, dealing with violent crime, gangs, property crimes and sexual assault.

“He gave me a lot of comments and pointed out what I got wrong,” Weisel said.

Swearingen said he also serves as an adviser to Heather Chavez, former Press Democrat staffer and author of four mysteries, including the most recent, “What We’ll Burn Last,” scheduled for publication in July.

“Fred and I got together and he asked me some very basic questions and he asked me to tell him about some specific cases,” Swearingen said.

One case he recalled was a missing person case and “The Day He Left” is about a respected teacher who vanishes one morning, although all the details are quite different from the story Swearingen told Weisel.

“I have incorporated as many of Tom’s changes as possible for accuracy,” Weisel said. “When Tom first read ‘Silenced Women,’ he made detailed marginal notes, but later told me that after 50 pages, they didn’t matter because he was hooked and couldn’t stop reading.”

While Swearingen’s contributions were vital, Weisel didn’t limit his research to their exchanges.

“I participated in the Santa Rosa Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy and took a four-week course,” Weisel said. “I took a lot of notes and eventually did a ride-along with the police.”

While the Santa Rosa Police Department has not been involved in the writing of Weisel’s VCI series, the city itself is a major character.

“All of my books take place in Sonoma County and I use real names of streets and neighborhoods,” he said.

Weisel, who has lived in Santa Rosa since 1980, previously had a long career as a science writer.

“I did a lot of very technical work,” he said.

Perhaps that experience contributed to his use of vivid detail in his books, which include the collection and analysis of evidence, balanced with vivid action scenes and suspense. He has no intention of slowing his own pace now.

“I’m working on the fourth book right now,” he said.

For more information on Weisel and his books, visit frederickweisel.com

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On X @danarts.