It
May Surprise You That...is Literarily Speaking's latest feature. Here
we have authors give us 10 things that would surprise us about
themselves and/or their book. Today we have James Blakley, author of The K-Frost Caper.
Insurance fraud investigation can be very dangerous and exciting.
“A claims man is a doctor and a bloodhound and a cop and a judge and a jury and a father confessor all in one.”—Barton Keyes, Double Indemnity (the movie)
When Luna Nightcrow and “The K-Frost Caper” were first envisioned, there were several high-profile cases of insurance investigators being murdered in the line of duty (per the following):
Louisiana insurance fraud investigators should carry guns, commissioner says
Ed Anderson, The Times-Picayune
Aug 13, 2011
Sallie Rohrbach Murder: Where is Michael Howell Now?
Sounak Sengupta
September 22, 2022
https://thecinemaholic.com/sallie-rohrbach-murder-where-is-michael-howell-now/
‘Nub City,’ and Other Stories Of an Insurance Investigator
The Story Of Florida’s “Nub City,” Where Residents Cut Off Their Own Appendages For Insurance Money
By Gabe Paoletti
Published November 2, 2017
Updated June 12, 2019
https://allthatsinteresting.com/nub-city-vernon-florida
The main character, Luna Nightcrow, is a female Cherokee Native American.
In an attempt to make the book memorable, the main character is of a race that hasn’t much broad representation in pop fiction as others.
Luna Nightcrow was originally inspired by a TV insurance fraud investigator, instead of a real-life one.
When I was growing up, there was an NBC TV show called “Banacek” that featured actor George Peppard in the title role: A refined and clever Boston-based insurance investigator named Thomas Banaceck. Unlike most insurance investigators, who are tied to a company, Banacek was self-employed; he chose his own clients and charged them whatever he wanted. Banacek often travelled cross-country to foil the oddest insurance frauds. Banacek was also ethnically Polish and proudly included “old Polish proverbs” when chatting with friend and foe.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068044/
According to this article: Today, women make up 60 percent of insurance company employees.
Insurance is a great industry for women, but imbalances linger
Insurance News
By Bethan Moorcraft
Mar 11, 2022
And at the time “The K-Frost Caper” was first written, 63.3 percent of insurance investigators were also women (per the following):
https://www.iii.org/table-archive/23055
“The K-Frost Caper” has many diverse and significant female characters.
“The K-Frost Caper” also has a variety of ethnicities and races that play critical roles in the story.
These true “missing persons” cases were researched while writing “The K-Frost Caper” (to show the plot is plausible):
Living, breathing man will remain dead in the eyes of Ohio law
Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley, CNN
Updated 4:05 AM EDT, Thu October 10, 2013
https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/09/us/ohio-legally-dead-man/index.html
Is Olivia Newton-John's boyfriend alive?
Baja California locals say they've spotted the man supposedly missing at sea. Keith Morrison reports.
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15520212
Luna Nightcrow’s odd choice of self-defense is a real-life weapon.
After several murders of insurance investigators, many in the field decided to arm themselves. As a nod to that, Luna Nightcrow carries a .38 caliber revolver when necessary, but always has a discreet stun gun that is built into her smartphone protector. Yes, it’s an actual device (though perhaps not quite as powerful as depicted in “The K-Frost Caper”).
And the settings for the story (Oklahoma and Florida) seem to have little or no restrictions on stun gun use.
https://www.stungunbuyersguide.com/stun-gun-laws/
Oklahoma Stun Gun & Taser Laws / Statutes:
No restrictions in Oklahoma State law concerning stun guns or tasers.
Florida Stun Gun & Taser Laws / Statutes:
Stun Guns/Electric Weapons: Section 790.001 (4)(b)
Definitions. A nonlethal stun gun or dart-firing stun gun or other nonlethal electric weapon or device that is designed solely for defensive purposes. (Note: Non Lethal is the word that makes this law)
790.53 Open Carrying of Weapons
A person may openly carry, for purposes of lawful self-defense:
A nonlethal stun gun or dart-firing stun gun or other nonlethal electric weapon or device that is designed solely for defensive purposes.
Concealed Carry on any college or university facility unless the licensee is a registered student, employee, or faculty member of such college or university and the weapon is a stun gun or non-lethal electric weapon or device designed solely for defensive purposes and the weapon does not fire a dart or projectile.
Despite drawing from the dangers of being an insurance investigator, “The K-Frost Caper” isn’t a dark and gritty thriller.
There is some humor and romantic tension similar to the style of Hitchcock suspensers like “North by Northwest” and “To Catch a Thief.”
“The K-Frost Caper” is critically acclaimed.
It’s ranked 15th best mystery featuring a Native American detective per the following:
https://mysterytribune.com/24-best-mystery-novels-featuring-native-american-detectives/
A cold case heats up when Kelvin Frost, believed to have drowned in Alabama, returns from the dead to apply for more life insurance. Or has he? When a body-a dead body-identified as Kelvin Frost, turns up in Miami, murder complicates matters. Enter Luna Nightcrow, the insurance fraud investigator whose “smartphone never sleeps.” After recovering a valuable Cherokee relic, Nightcrow accepts Charmed Life Mutual Insurance’s offer of $50,000 to sniff out and close down the K-Frost Caper. But it won’t be easy with so few leads or clues. Paired with cosmopolitan cop Tiago Toussaint, the two match wits and wiles, in attempt to find out when is the last time anyone saw Frost … in Miami?
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3zru92q
Books-a-Million: https://bit.ly/3MssXnl
Walmart: https://bit.ly/3MazR0j
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3nFV8Vp
BookBub: https://bit.ly/3GePsIf
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