Why Ant Dens for the name of a mystery novel? One of my friends recently asked me this question as I told him about my plans to do several October blog posts on my latest mystery, which will be available in NOVEMBER!

I asked him what he thought of when he thought of an ant den.

He said: scurrying ants, many intersecting tunnels and stores of ant food. He remembered his childhood ‘ant farm,’ a birthday present from a well-meaning grandparent. The grownups helped him set up the farm, and it wasn’t long before the ants had dug an entire network of tunnels, visible through the side walls of the plastic container. Once their pathways were complete, the insects scurried through the tunnels, up to the surface to get whatever crumbs he had left for them, and then back down into the tunnels to feast and then store the leftovers.

The farm ‘operated’ for about a week until he accidentally knocked it over. Soil and ants spilled out onto his bedroom carpet. Knowing that he might get a swat for making such a mess, he took the broken pieces of the farm outside and tossed them into the garbage can. That took care of the plastic farm – but not the ants. The next day, his mom began to find ants throughout the house; under a pillow, inside a kitchen cabinet, in the bathtub, on the piano. Ants have a way of getting into everything, even places where you’d least expect them, like in between the bed sheets.

In my second mystery, Ant Dens, the title is symbolic for the deeply hidden mystery unfolding on the pages. It all starts with the disappearance of Rebecca Aldrich. (If you read last week’s post, the prologue, you met Rebecca.) Rebecca is the stepdaughter of Jamie Aldrich, the main character, and the daughter of Jamie’s second husband, Ben, who died the previous year. (Jamie was also the main character in Cobwebs – A Suspense Novel, published November 2013.)

Here’s the book blurb from the back cover of Ant Dens:

Rebecca Aldrich has a history of disappearing. But this time is different. The spirited college freshman simply vanishes, like several other young women in Las Vegas, New Mexico. When Jamie Aldrich embarks on a desperate hunt for her missing stepdaughter, she discovers that the surrounding grasslands and foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains are full of secrets, and that her recently deceased husband left behind a life enshrouded in mystery. When loved ones go missing, only the truth can bring them home.

I’ll get back on my regular posting schedule this week, so expect a post on Friday and Monday as well as Wednesday. I can’t wait to share more about Ant Dens with you!