Local Novelist Introduces New Murder Mystery Series
Santa Fe, NM—When Gleneden Beach resident Ron Lovell decided to
retire in 1995 after teaching journalism at Oregon State University
for nearly 25 years, he knew what he wanted to do—write murder
mysteries. To date, he has written four and a fifth is in the
works. On April 27 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Yaquina Head Interpretive
Center, Lovell will hold a reading and book signing for his first
published work, Murder at Yaquina Head.
“The reading and signing is the first ever held at the Interpretive
Center,” states the Bureau of Land Management’s Joe L. Ashor,
Yaquina Head ONA Manager. “It seems fitting that our first event
of this type be Ron Lovell’s Murder at Yaquina Head, since part of the story takes place at the lighthouse.” The BLM
has agreed to waive the admission fee for that day.
According to Lovell, “I am honored that the Bureau of Land Management
has decided to host this reading and signing. I have loved exploring
the Oregon Coast for many years—particularly the rugged and picturesque
Yaquina Lighthouse area. I am looking forward to meeting and sharing
my book with the visitors to the Interpretive Center.”
Lovell will donate a portion of all book sales at the Center to
Yaquina Lights, Inc., the private non-profit cooperative association
that interprets and aids in the restoration and preservation of
the Yaquina Bay and Yaquina Head Lighthouses.
Published by Sunstone Press of Santa Fe, New Mexico and due in
bookstores in mid-April, the hero of the murder mystery is an
unforgettable character named, Thomas Martindale, a journalism
professor at an Oregon university who used to be an investigative
reporter on a magazine in New York. This background gives him
the ability—and the curiosity—to delve into situations that most
laymen would ignore. This, combined with a penchant for helping
those in need, leads him to take far too many chances and puts
him into the middle of more murder and mayhem than the average
professor encounters in a lifetime.
In Murder at Yaquina Head, Martindale is enjoying the first day of his summer vacation at
the Oregon Coast. When he is invited to brunch at the home of
an old friend, she confides that someone may be trying to kill
her. The next night, that fear is realized when Tom finds her
body at the nearby Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Tom immediately sets
out to find her killer, using clues from a manuscript his friend
gave him for review.
During the next 30 days, Lovell is scheduled to appear at several
additional book signings and readings in Oregon. Appearances confirmed
to date include: Saturday, May 4, noon to 3 p.m. at Bob’s Beach
Books in Lincoln City; Wednesday, May 8, noon to 3 p.m. in Memorial
Union 206, on the Oregon State University campus; Thursday, May
9, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Myrtle Point library.
After a successful career in magazine journalism for Business Week, Medical World News and McGraw-Hill World News, Ron Lovell taught journalism at Oregon State University for 24
years. He is the author of 13 journalism and photography textbooks
and has published numerous magazine articles. A new text, Pictures & Words is due out in July. Murder at Yaquina Head is Lovell’s first novel and has already been optioned for a cable
television movie. A contract has been signed for a second novel,
Dead Whales Tell No Tales, which is set against an international whaling conference held
at the Marine Science Center in Newport.
For Additional Information on the Yaquina Head event, contact
Jane Maines at: 541-574-3129
For Interviews, contact the author at: 541-764-3254