No one can tell a story quite like author DL White, and this time she’s giving readers a book that you’ve never seen from her before. I recently spoke with her about Missing Persons.
Tell me about your latest book.
Missing Persons follows former Army investigator, now civilian P.I. Yvette Young, who specializes in surveillance work, namely catching cheating spouses. When her friend and former superior officer, attorney Wesley Payne, brings her what seems like a routine missing person case, she expects to locate a deadbeat dad and collect her fee. Instead, Edward Foster’s disappearance leads to a massive criminal conspiracy that gets more dangerous by the day. This book explores Yvette’s journey as she navigates both a dangerous investigation and her complicated relationship with Wesley. Three years after losing her fiancé in Afghanistan, she’s built walls around her heart. Wesley has been patiently waiting for her to heal, but this case forces them both to confront what they really want from each other.
How long did it take you to write it?
This one took me years! If I am not reading or writing romance, I am reading a thriller. I love a police procedural or a private investigator series, especially if it’s led by a woman. Yvette popped up in a previous novel (Dinner at Sam’s), and her story has never left my brain. I started writing her ages ago, wanting it to be a romantic suspense, but the story wasn’t…suspenseful. I hit a wall and put it away. Every year, I’d drag it out, add seven words to the draft, then stuff it back in the drawer. Then one day earlier this year, I saw someone online talking about a missing person in their family (how and where they were found!) and suddenly I knew exactly where the story needed to go. The idea cannons started shooting off, and I was able to finish this book over the summer.
Which character could you relate to the most and why?
Yvette, hands down. She’s stubborn, independent to a fault, and has convinced herself that keeping people at arm’s length protects everyone involved. She’s not like me as a person at all (wink, wink). I understand the impulse to control your environment by limiting how much you let others in. Sometimes it’s a security blanket, but more often it’s harmful and blocks what a blessing another person can be to you and your life. She’s also fiercely protective of her professional reputation and works twice as hard to prove herself in a field dominated by men. The drive to excel while maintaining emotional distance is probably very familiar to women in any profession but moreso in jobs where we have to interact with a wide variety of people.
How are you celebrating the book’s release?
I’ve been very bad about actually celebrating a book release. I don’t do anything special really. Releasing the book is just one step in the book release routine. I have marketing to put together and sales to track. I’ve got to get back into the habit of celebrating Words Complete and a new release. This one was super low-key but I just bought a house so….we can say I bought a home to celebrate?
Who is your author best friend (either in your head or in real life)?
In real life, I have a tight circle of author friends who keep me sane during the writing process. We text constantly about everything from plot problems to marketing struggles. I stay in those DMs! I converse often with Sharon C Cooper, Delaney Diamond, Fiona Zedde. Less often with L.S. Stratton but if I’m going to keep going along the vein of romance to mystery, I need to keep L.S./Shelly Ellis much, much closer. I have also always appreciated how supported I feel from authors like Tayari Jones and Beverly Jenkins. If I could live between Bev Jenkins and Tia Williams, my life would be golden!
What is the most valuable piece of writing advice you’ve received?
Read, read, read and don’t rush it. It’s done when it’s done and not a moment sooner. You don’t have to beat X author to the publishing table. You don’t have to sell like X author, you don’t have to write like X author. You are you, and there is no voice like yours.
What books have you read lately and loved?
I just fell in love with Steve Cavanagh’s Devil’s Advocate. He’s got me by the eyeballs… masterful writing! Rachel Howzell Hall’s Fog and Fury blew me away too, and I am so happy to see her writing an investigator again. But I have to scream about S.A. Cosby because King of Ashes was so dang good! Romance-wise, I’m all over the place right now. I devoured Can’t Get Enough from Kennedy Ryan’s Skyland series, Plus Size Player by Danielle Allen, and CM Barnes’s newest release, Awakening. I feel like I’m running from one book to another—there’s so much good stuff out there to take in!
What books are you excited to read?
I just downloaded Dominion by Addie E. Citchens, and I’m trying to get it read before everyone on the planet discovers how amazing it is! I also just grabbed Jhéanell Westonberry’s Promise: A Small Town Black Romance because that is indeed my weakness.
What’s next for you?
I’m already plotting what I hope becomes the Young Investigations series. I think it would be fun and a different approach for me because I have never started a series on purpose. Ha! But upcoming this year, I have Potter Lake Book 4 on deck, titled Still I Rise. We get to meet Renda Belle LeBlanc, the daughter you never knew Helen and Orlando, owners of Helen’s Restaurant, ever had. Years ago, Renda was a runaway bride and due to circumstances beyond her control, is forced back to Potter Lake. I’m so excited about this one.
Do you have anything you would like to add?
This book represents a shift for me into romantic mystery, and I’m excited about blending those genres. I wanted to write the kind of story where the romance doesn’t stop when the couple gets together and the mystery doesn’t overshadow the relationship. It’s hard for me to write a book without the romance, but I just needed something with teeth. I hope readers will have some fun with me here!
To learn more about reader, writer, and storyteller DL White, visit her website or connect with her on social media:
Website: BooksbyDLWhite.com
Social Media: AuthorDLWhite at Instagram, Threads, TikTok. Books by DL White on Facebook, BlueSky
Browse and buy books at Booksbydlwhite.com/shop
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