Have you ever wondered what it would take to disappear from your life entirely?

I've been thinking about this conversation with Laura since we recorded it in late December, 2017. How does a person go about disappearing?

Laura's detective in her debut mystery novel, Daughters of Bad Men, is a skip tracer; she finds people who don't necessarily want to be found. In our wired world it must be increasingly difficult for those who want to disappear to do so. Toward this end of this interview, you'll hear Laura touch on the idea for her next book featuring skip-tracer Jamie Rush, which asks the question, what if it's better for one of Jamie's targets to remain unfound?

You can find out more about today's guest, Laura Oles, and all her books on her website LauraOles.com. You can also find her on Twitter @lauraoles.

Links and resources mentioned in this episode

* Click on any of the book covers to go to Laura's books on Amazon

* Laura belongs to a group called the Austin Mystery Writers. Click here to learn more.

* Book People bookstore in Austin, Texas

Press play (above) to listen to the show, or read the transcript below. Remember you can also subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts. And listen on Stitcher.

You can also click here to watch the interview on YouTube.

Transcription of Interview with Laura Oles

Alexandra: Hi, Mystery Readers, I'm Alexandra Amor. This is "It's A Mystery Podcast" and I'm here today with Laura Oles. Hi, Laura. How are you?

Laura: Hi, how are you?

Alexandra: I'm good, thanks. Let me introduce you to our listeners.

Laura Oles is a photo industry journalist who spent 20 years covering tech and trends before turning to crime fiction.

Daughters of Bad Men, her debut novel was named The Killer Nashville Claymore Award Finalist in 2016. This is the first book in a new series which introduces skip tracer Jamie Rush and her partner Cookie Hinojosa.

Laura's short stories have appeared in several anthologies, including Murder on Wheels which won the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award in 2016. She's also a Writer's League of Texas Award Finalist. Her short story, "Island Time," has been selected to appear in the "Malice Domestic 13 Anthology: Murder Most Geographical" to be published next year. Laura lives on the edge of Texas Hill Country with her husband, daughter, and twin sons.

Just before we started to air the show today, we both mentioned that as we're recording this, it's Friday, December 29th, 2017. And the world is just finding out that our beloved Sue Grafton has passed away.

I asked Laura if she would be comfortable just talking a little bit about Sue's influence.

Why don't we start there, Laura,