⭐PUYB Virtual Book Club⭐: PUYB Author Talks: ⭐A Bookish Conversation with 'The Lemon House Murders' Tucker May⭐ #interview

Tucker May is a writer of mystery novels, whodunit short stories and all kinds of fun, puzzling tales. Murders, crimes, and mysteries abound. He grew up in Missouri then attended Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He’s a diehard fan of the Los Angeles Rams and Geelong Cats. He lives in Pasadena, CA with his wife Barbara and their cat Principal Spittle. He is the author of The Lemon House Murders and Death of a Billionaire.

╰┈➤ Visit Tucker’s website at www.tuckermay.com.

Connect with him on social media at:

╰┈➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Tucker-May-Mysteries

╰┈➤ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/TuckerMayMysteries

╰┈➤ BlueSky: http://www.bluesky.com/TuckerMayMysteries

╰┈➤ Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/58926295.Tucker_May

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Are you a full time author?

My name is Tucker May. I’m a Texas-born, Missouri-raised author who now lives in Pasadena, California with my wife Barbara and our cat, Principal Spittle. I’m an alcoholic in recovery with over four years of sobriety under my belt at this point. I’ve been drawn to writing since I was a small child and started writing short plays for the neighborhood kids to put on. I ended up attending college at Northwestern University to study Theater, but my heart has always driven me back to writing. I’m very happy to be taking steps toward making that my true livelihood.

Can you tell us about The Lemon House Murders?

The Lemon House Murders is a thinking person’s murder mystery novel. In its pages readers will find the requisite clues, red herrings and shocking twists that make mystery such a beloved genre. They will also find challenging moral dilemmas and intriguing philosophical arguments wrapped into the narrative and the character journeys. It’s a whodunnit that aims to both entertain and raise questions about how our society treats some of our most vulnerable citizens: those who struggle with addiction.

Can you tell us a little about the characters?

The central character is a young man raised in a deeply religious and highly sheltered environment. He finds himself dropped into a world unlike anything he’s ever known: a live-in drug rehabilitation facility where most of the men have only agreed to live in order to avoid extended prison sentences. When his fellow residents begin dying in suspicious ways, he takes it upon himself to find answers. In doing so, he’s forced to confront his own assumptions about these men and even himself. In the end, he’ll question everything he thought he knew about this world we all have to share together.

Around him swirls a colorful cast of recovering addicts, many of whom are inspired by men I met personally during my time in addiction treatment.

Where is this book set and why did you choose that location?

This book is set almost entirely within the confines of Lemon House, a low-rent, bargain budget addiction treatment facility in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. While the story itself is fully fictional, the setting is not. Nearly everything about Lemon House comes straight from the low-rent, bargain budget addiction treatment facility that I myself lived in for months back in 2022. This is my most personal novel to date, as it explores ideas that I struggled with while first getting sober and the setting is pulled from my own personal memories.

How can people benefit from reading The Lemon House Murders?

I hope that readers of The Lemon House Murders will, first and foremost, be entertained. It is a gripping mystery tale that will keep readers guessing until the shocking final reveal. I also hope that it can help people realize that individuals who struggle with addiction are not lost causes, but rather interesting, engaging and full human beings with just as much potential and promise as anyone else. Everyone needs help from time to time. It’s a true shame that our society tends to so deeply stigmatize addiction treatment. Addiction is not a personal or moral failure. It is a misfiring of the feedback mechanisms naturally wired into our brains. It could happen to anyone if only their life had taken a slightly different track. I hope this novel can help better our collective understanding of these issues.

Is The Lemon House Murders your only book?

My first mystery novel, Death of a Billionaire, follows a man wrongly accused of murdering the world’s most prominent tech billionaire. The accused man’s attempts to prove his innocence bring him to the brink of losing everything he was fighting for in the first place. Will he find the true culprit? And if it costs him everything he holds dear, will it still be worth it? Intertwined is a secondary mystery surrounding the identity of the novel’s narrator. Death of a Billionaire can be purchased here: https://a.co/d/04XQZzhu

Thank you so much for this interview, Tucker. What’s next for you?

My third novel, The Last Dead Guy In Hell, is a missing person mystery. It explores the question: can a person live a full, meaningful life without succumbing to the all-consuming ambition that drives late-stage capitalist societies? It is due out in late 2026 or early 2027. Visit tuckermay.com to sign up for updates on this and future works if you would like.

Where to purchase the book:

The Lemon House Murders is available here: https://a.co/d/0bK8AX0m

Where to find Tucker:

Follow Tucker on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tuckermaymysteries/

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/tuckermaymysteries.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556491591135

Inside the Book

A string of mysterious deaths . . . A house full of suspects . . . A secret that will change everything…

When residents of a live-in drug rehabilitation facility called Lemon House start dying one by one, no one in the outside world seems to care.

Two Lemon House patients, nicknamed Trip and Gobstopper, are the only ones who can see the truth: these are murders.

Their quest to find the killer will push their budding relationship to the brink, cast suspicion on everyone locked in the house with them, and force them to question their most cherished beliefs.

The Lemon House Murders is the rare murder mystery that will have you guessing at the culprit AND thinking deeply about theology, society’s relationship toward the downtrodden, and the importance of self-determination to a fulfilling life.

╰┈➤ Read sample here.

╰┈➤ The Lemon House Murders is available at Amazon.

╰┈➤Book Details