Hampton brings air of mystery to Magness

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

Lynette Hall Hampton displays a copy of her new book “Jilted By Death,” her first mystery novel. She spoke at Magness Library for the Lunch at the Library program Thursday. (Charles W. Johnson photo)

Lynette Hall Hampton’s writing has a decidedly Southern flair, which is not surprising since she was born in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Hampton talked about her distinctive writing style, and her love of mysteries, recently at the Magness Library’s Lunch at the Library program. She offered some hints to aspiring writers as well.

Hampton’s newest book is a mystery novel called “Jilted by Death,” which was published by Silver Dagger Press in March. She had three children’s books, all of which are out of print now, and has had a number of stories and articles published over the years.

Hampton developed a love of writing early on.

“I have written all my life,” she said. “Ever since I was a little girl. I started out with crayons,” she added with a grin.

Though her first novel is a mystery, Hampton isn’t locked into that genre. Still, mysteries are her favorite.

“I love mysteries,” she said. “And to me, life itself is a mystery. No matter what you write about, you’re almost writing another mystery because every day, we don’t know what it holds. It’s a mystery for us.”

Hampton says she has had a wide ranges of influences, having grown up on Bible stories, comic books, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Roy Rogers and fairy tales. Along with that, there were the tales her grandparents, aunts and uncles told, which, of course, were tinged with the mood and folklore of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

“I can’t imagine life not writing,” she said. “I like the excitement. I like the adventure. I love it when your characters come alive and talk to you and tell you what they’re going to do and what they’re not going to do. And they will. I mean, I know these people in my book better than I do my next-door neighbor.”

The protagonist in “Jilted by Death” is a newly hired associate minister at a First United Methodist Church called Willa Hinshaw. On her second week on the job, a bride disappears and Willa winds up caught in a cat-and-mouse game with a killer.

The novel is the first of a planned series featuring the spunky associate minister/detective, and Hampton is currently at work on the second book in the series, “Echoes of Mercy.”