After his discharge from the military, Griffin set to work putting
himself through college, then law school. He earned degrees in history and law
from Mercer University before embarking on a 38-year career as a successful trial
lawyer. His career choice turned out to be another step along the road to
becoming a writer. “Good trial lawyers seem to have an intellectual bent and
spend a lot of time writing,” he explains. “We’re also very logical beings. We
have to have logical consistency to synthesize complex information into a tight
story based on the evidence presented by witnesses. That kind of logic applies
to mystery writing too.”
Writing had been a lifelong dream for Griffin. An avid
reader, he took a creative writing course at the University of Central Florida
in 1971, but the professional demands of his law practice didn’t afford him the time or energy to write. As he approached
retirement, he decided to stop taking new cases and start writing.
“I started
writing for my own enjoyment, but I never thought to publish anything,” he
recalls. “Then I decided to get serious and give writing a real shot. After
that, I finished a book in about six months.” Griffin self-published his first
novel, Longboat Blues, in 2005. The
legal thriller introduced reluctant hero Matt Royal, a former soldier and
burnt-out attorney who comes to Longboat Key to live the rest of his life
fishing, eating, and drinking cold beer. His idyllic life is shattered when an old army
buddy is indicted for murder and asks Matt to represent him. “Matt is who I’d
like to be if I were younger, quicker, smarter, and not such a chicken,’
Griffin says. Longboat Blues was
followed by a sequel, Murder Key. But
it was the third book in the series, Blood
Island, that made Griffin’s dream come true when it was picked up by
Oceanview Publishing. According to
Griffin, “Holding that first hardback book published by a national publisher
was the biggest moment of my life – even bigger than being sworn into the bar.”
Since then, Griffin has penned five more Matt Royal
mysteries, all set in Longboat Key. “Longboat Key is a wonderful, funky place,”
Griffin says, “and the books are sprinkled with stories I hear in the bars.” Wyatt’s Revenge (2009) has Matt hunting
for the murderer of his best friend. In Bitter
Legacy (2010), Matt finds himself in the sites of a sniper. Collateral
Damage (2011), which climbed to the top of Amazon Kindle’s Best Seller
list, has Matt searching for the killer of an old army buddy’s son. This
plunges him into a web of deceit, revenge and murder that stretches from
Longboat Key to Southeast Asia. Matt is aided by his detective friend, J.D.
Duncan, a character suggested by Griffin’s wife, Jean. “Jean thought I should write
a strong female character,” Griffin says, “so I gave J.D. a lot of my wife’s
attributes.” Fatal Decree (2012), has
Matt and J.D. facing a serial killer who is murdering women on Longboat Key.
Add to the mix Guatemalan gang members and Mexican drug cartels, and Matt and
J.D. are in for the fight of their lives.
In Griffin’s latest release, Found (2013), Matt and J.D. investigate the mysterious murder of
one elderly man and the disappearance of another. Joined by Matt’s friend, Jock
Algren, a member of a shadowy government agency, they find their work
complicated by a group of dangerous characters who threaten the peace and
security of Longboat Key. Like Griffin’s other books, Found delves into the concepts of honor, friendship, and the obligations
they entail. And it gives readers a fascinating story they’ll find hard to put
down.
For more information, visit the author’s website at www.hterrellgriffin.com.
