By Jennifer Moorhead
I’m obsessed with true crime. I know, not much of a shocker for a female thriller writer. Did you know the true crime audience is predominantly women? I did a little research on this and discovered three reasons why: we empathize with the victims (who are overwhelmingly women), we can use the stories as cautionary tales to learn from, and we can handle that fear in a way we can control. The psychology behind it is quite fascinating. I am no exception.
So it’s no surprise that my debut true crime thriller Broken Bayou was born from a newspaper article. A story it turns out was not a crime at all but a horrible accident. Nonetheless, another story buried within the one reported on got the wheels in my mind turning.
The story was about a schoolteacher who disappeared after leaving a bar in New Orleans. (And, yes, the time stamp on her departure below is correct – that’s New Orleans for you.) Police believed she could have had a car accident and ended up in Bayou St. John near New Orleans. Turns out that’s exactly what happened but that wasn’t all that happened.
The article was from The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, but the AP picked it up and ran it in USA Today, where I read it. There was a line from a member of the dive team that grabbed me immediately: Waterways are good dumping grounds. Oh, yes they are.
Here is a diagram from the article:
What was odd about this story was the amount of time it took divers to find her, months. They went into the bayou several times but because of the depth and murkiness had a hard time finding her vehicle. What they did find however were over twenty-five other vehicles police believed had been dumped there for false insurance claims.
That’s what got me thinking. I started to wonder what else could be hidden in a bayou. And I loved the idea that one story could lead to a much bigger one.
In Broken Bayou, like in the article, a schoolteacher goes missing on her way home from New Orleans. Divers are brought in to search for her car in the town of Broken Bayou. But, unlike the article, in my story it’s summer and there is a drought, so the bayou waters are dropping. Between that and the divers all sorts of macabre discoveries are being made. Then the divers unearth something that could tie my protagonist to the other horrible findings.
The missing person was my tipping point but since summer in Louisiana can be a character itself I wanted that involved too. Add in an unsuspecting protagonist with her own secret to protect and you have a perfect storm.
Here are a few of the headlines that grabbed me:
Old cars in Bayou St. John complicate search for missing teacher’s vehicle
Equusearch has found 8 cars in Bayou St. John, but not Terrilyn Monette’s
Search for Terrilynn Monette, missing teacher, ends with discovery of her submerged car
Once this seed was planted and started to grow, the story only got stranger.
I brainstormed ideas with my writing group, made lists of what else could be found in the bayou, and settled on old 55-gallon drum barrels. And then the story morphed from art imitating life to life imitating art – in a macabre way.
News headlines started grabbing my attention. Here are three true crime headlines I stumbled across after I’d written Broken Bayou.
Inside The Horrifying Mystery Of The Bear Brook Murders — And The Evidence That Points To The ‘Chameleon Killer’
Body found in barrel at Lake Mead could have been underwater since ‘70s
Lifeguard discovers body inside barrel at Malibu Lagoon State Beach
It was surreal, especially the Lake Mead story since it happened because of a drought. I forwarded the articles to my agent and my editor who both said to hold onto them for when someone says, “That would never happen.” Never say never.
In life, as in fiction, anything is possible.
True crime stories are an integral part of my writing. They can reveal all sorts of possibilities and are, in my opinion, the seeds that make a thriller thrilling. I love mining newspaper articles, podcasts, and online news outlets for the next “what if.” I’m researching a place right now for my next book that is delightfully creepy. No true crime articles involving it have popped up yet, but a girl can dream.
Jennifer Moorhead graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She has written and produced three indie short films that each made top 20 at the Louisiana Film Prize and were awarded at festivals around the world. Her debut crime thriller is “Broken Bayou”, out July 1, 2024. In this compelling murder mystery, Dr. Willa Watters, a celebrated child psychologist facing the looming threat of a career-shattering scandal, seeks refuge in the embrace of her childhood sanctuary, Broken Bayou. However, her quest for solace plunges her into an intricate and perilous web of long-concealed secrets. Jennifer Moorhead transports readers to Louisiana’s darkest corners, as Watters confronts her past to evade a deadly threat. You can learn more about her at her website, and follow her on Facebook, Threads and Instagram.
