Murder, Mystery and Mayhem Laced with Morality

Family Secrets, Buried Truths & the Price of Remembering with John Infortunio
What if uncovering your family’s past changed everything you believed about yourself?
Join Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes on Murder Mystery and Mayhem Laced with Morality for a spotlight on author and longtime educator John Infortunio. His thrillers, Today Was Tomorrow and Destroyed by the Events of the Day, take readers into worlds where grief clouds memory, loyalty clashes with betrayal, and exposing secrets carries dangerous consequences.
From hidden family histories to scandal inside an elite prep school, discover stories that raise unsettling questions: Who can we trust? What do we owe the people we love? And how far would we go to protect the truth?
Follow the podcast and share this episode with someone who loves suspense with emotional depth.
Connect with John: Instagram.com/johninfortunio⁠
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What do secret societies, killer unicorns, Jane Austen, underground cities, classic board-game murder mysteries, and the ghostly legacy of Edgar Allan Poe have in common? Diana Peterfreund.
On this episode of Murder, Mystery & Mayhem Laced with Morality, Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes sits down with acclaimed author Diana Peterfreund for a fascinating conversation about writing across genres, creating unforgettable worlds, reimagining beloved stories, and crafting mysteries and adventures that keep readers turning pages.
Diana has written novels for adults, teens, and younger readers, including the four-book Secret Society Girl series; the killer-unicorn novels Rampant and Ascendant; For Darkness Shows the Stars, her post-apocalyptic reimagining of Jane Austen’s Persuasion; and Across a Star-Swept Sea, inspired by The Scarlet Pimpernel. Her Omega City trilogy sends middle-grade readers beneath modern Maryland into a mysterious hidden bunker city, while her CLUE mysteries, written in partnership with Hasbro, bring the iconic board game’s murder, motives, and suspects to life for a new generation.
Her newest series, Ellen Poe, ventures into paranormal mystery and adventure, following a contemporary heroine connected to the haunting legacy of Edgar Allan Poe—a perfect choice for readers who enjoy the clever sleuthing of Enola Holmes and the puzzle-filled adventure of National Treasure. Diana Peterfreund
Diana’s work has been translated into fourteen languages and recognized by the New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age list, Capitol Choices, the Texas Lone Star Reading List, the Sunshine State Young Readers Award list, and Amazon’s Best Books of the Year. She has also written dozens of critically acclaimed short stories and nonfiction essays exploring children’s and popular literature. Diana Peterfreund
Join us as we talk about where Diana finds her wonderfully unexpected ideas, what it takes to move successfully between age groups and genres, how familiar stories can inspire something entirely new, and why mystery, imagination, danger, and morality make such compelling companions.
Discover Diana’s books and learn more about her work:
DianaPeterfreund.com
🎙️ Listen, subscribe, share the episode, and tell us: Which Diana Peterfreund world would you most like to step into—Secret Society Girl, Killer Unicorns, Omega City, CLUE, or Ellen Poe?
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T.K. Bush on Writing Unveiled While Working in Healthcare
What does it take to write a psychological thriller while working full-time in healthcare?
On this episode of Murder Mystery and Mayhem Laced with Morality, I talk with T.K. Bush, author of Unveiled, about her writing process. We discuss how she balances writing with her work as a radiographic and cardiovascular technologist, and how that experience shapes her stories.
In Unveiled, Tessa Brooks has rebuilt her life after an accident stole her memories. When a man from her past returns, buried truths threaten the life she has made.
Listen to our conversation, follow the podcast for more mystery and suspense with purpose, and visit T.K. Bush at tkbush.com⁠. 
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When technology can manipulate information faster than we can verify it, who—or what—do we trust to tell us the truth?
Join us for a thought-provoking conversation where murder, mystery, mayhem, technology, politics, and morality collide.
Duncan spent thirty years advising governments and companies on energy, infrastructure, transactions, and policy. He has also written nonfiction for international organizations, including the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Environment Program, advocating for policy changes and investment related to climate change. Now, he has turned his experience with governments, policy, finance, and global affairs toward fiction.
The Truth Chamber began with a series of “what if?” questions Duncan started exploring in 2022. What might happen if outside forces attempted to exploit America’s political divisions? How could artificial intelligence change the battle over information? And what happens when people trying to protect democratic institutions begin questioning how far they themselves should go?
The resulting novel combines political intrigue, artificial intelligence, assassination attempts, foreign influence, disinformation, and moral dilemmas in a high-stakes story about the increasingly complicated relationship between truth and power.
At the center of the novel is Admiral Liam Driscoll, a grieving man drawn into presidential candidate Anna Hoffman’s campaign as political violence escalates. Their team recruits a Stanford Ph.D. student developing an AI technology known as the Truth Chamber, hoping it can help uncover who is behind the violence.
But the conspiracy extends far beyond one campaign.
As domestic turmoil collides with international ambitions, Liam and his team confront an unsettling question: How much can you compromise the principles you are trying to protect before you become part of the problem?
Dr. Katherine and Duncan explore:
Duncan’s journey from investment banking and international policy work to political thriller author

The real-world concerns and “what if?” questions that inspired The Truth Chamber

How he created a fictional American presidential race while separating speculation from reality

The Truth Chamber itself and the possibilities and dangers of AI in determining what is true

Disinformation, propaganda, foreign influence, and the manipulation of public perception

The global power struggles operating behind the novel’s domestic political conflict

Liam Driscoll’s central moral dilemma: how far can someone go to protect democratic institutions without compromising the principles behind them?

The challenges of writing politically charged fiction for readers who may bring very different perspectives to the story

How Duncan’s career and international experiences informed the novel’s geopolitical world

Why thriller fiction offers a compelling space for exploring uncomfortable questions about truth, technology, morality, and power

What Duncan is writing next

Duncan Ritchie is a former—he jokingly says “recovering”—investment banker who grew up on a plantation in North Borneo and graduated from the University of Western Australia.
During a thirty-year career, he advised governments and companies on major energy and infrastructure transactions and policy. He has also written persuasive nonfiction for multilateral organizations, including ADB and UNEP, focusing on climate-related policy and investment.
Concerned by international conflict, political extremism, and growing questions surrounding misinformation, Duncan began developing speculative “what if?” scenarios in 2022. Those ideas eventually became his political thriller, The Truth Chamber.
Duncan now lives in Tasmania with his Malinois pup, Aletheia—Alé for short—who, thinks he is slightly mad.
The Truth Chamber is a speculative political thriller examining AI, disinformation, foreign influence, political violence, power, morality, and the fragile boundary between protecting principles and violating them.

🎙️ What happens when the extraordinary enters an ordinary life—and certainty gives way to mystery?
We welcome back author Lou Pugliese, whose new thriller, The Portal, has just been released! 📖
From an international career with Toyota to teaching business in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Lou brings a wealth of experience, extensive travel, and a love of obscure research to his fiction. His stories weave subtle paranormal elements into realistic relationships, exploring the emotional consequences of events that defy explanation.
Now settled in Green Cove Springs, Florida, with his wife Kathy and their dog Mitch, Lou also hosts the Florida Writers Association’s monthly Clay County chapter.Stay in touch with Lou: https://loupuglieseauthor.com/
✨ Tune in, follow the podcast so you never miss an episode, and share this post with a friend who loves a mystery!
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