Three women conspire on one mystery novel

COEUR d’ALENE – Three retired Coeur d’Alene High School teachers have collaborated to self-publish a mystery novel, “Murder is Only Skin Deep,” inspired by a drowning in Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Set in Spokane Valley and Montana, Yvonne Dietz, Vikki Moorman and Susan Schreiber’s book was three years in the making.

Moorman said she came up with the idea for the story after reading an article in a local newspaper about a drowning in Lake Coeur d’Alene. She continued thinking about it during the night and kept saying to herself, “But what about this, and wonder if that happened?” By morning Moorman said she knew she had the outline for a good mystery and couldn’t wait to call Dietz and Schreiber.

With a combined 94 years of teaching experience among them and many years of friendship, the trio would meet every couple of weeks at the same “reserved” round table at the Iron Horse Cafe in Coeur d’Alene to discuss character development, plot and subplot for their book. Also on the agenda was a nice lunch, glass of Chardonnay and time for laughter. While all three agree tenacity, commitment and perseverance is vital when setting out on a project like writing a novel, Schreiber says not taking yourself too seriously is also important. “To have fun with what you’re doing.”

Because of their experience of working together on the curriculum committees at Coeur d’Alene High, Moorman and Schreiber knew they had similar views regarding grammar and vocabulary use.

“Each of us has what you call an old-fashioned good sense of a word,” she said.

It’s fitting that the protagonist in “Murder is Only Skin Deep” is Jean Smiley, a retired English teacher. The authors describe Smiley as a woman with principles and quiet faith. Her relationships with family and friends and even her cat, Mrs. Robinson, are heartwarming and sometimes inspiring.

While writing the book, each would swap finished chapters so it could be previewed and marked-up by the other two collaborators.

“We wanted to make sure the story flowed smoothly and didn’t sound like it was written by three different voices,” Deitz said.

“One of the things I’m most pleased about,” added Moorman, “is many of our mutual friends can’t determine which one of us wrote which chapter.”

“If you’re going to write a book with someone – the team itself has to be the primary focus. It’s not your book, or my book, but our book,” Dietz said.

Deitz, Moorman and Schreiber said they had great fun writing together and have already begun working on their next novel, “Murder is a Pain in The Neck,” another mystery featuring Jean Smiley.