M is for Murder

One evening last year, several of us writers met at a friend's house out of town. My friend Dora said to us, "Did you hear about the awful shooting?"

We hadn't. Dora had just seen one of the victims at a Sister Cities meeting the night before. Apparently the woman and her husband stopped to run an errand on their way home from that meeting, then met up with a business partner. The three drove to her house, and when the woman went inside an intruder shot her. The woman's husband was shot apparently as he tried to help her, and then the business partner was shot as well. All three died.

Police have revealed little so far, but what is known to the public is that the woman and her husband were suing someone and were due in court the day after the murder. Any witnesses or clues are either non-existent or a closely-held secret. Juarez, Mexico, called by some the world's most dangerous city, is less than an hour's drive away.

Another triple murder occurred at a local bowling alley twenty years ago, and that case remains unsolved.

Many of us love murder mysteries when they are figments of our imagination. We transport ourselves into a world of make-believe mayhem and then maybe share the tale with friends if we enjoy it. Then real mysteries come along and don't necessarily reach neat conclusions. They might in time provide grist for the novelist's mill, perhaps with location and circumstances changed. Can you think of any murder mysteries that were clearly inspired by real events?