Davis MacDonald’s first book, The Hill, is far from autobiographical but, as MacDonald told me, it does possess a great deal of Davis in the characters and the story. “A lot of my life is woven into the Judge in this novel. The murder mystery revolves around the duties of a teacher to a young student, how much must true love risk in the face of deadly adversity, and of course, a May-December love story.”
“Not long after The Hill was released, MacDonald introduced his second book in the Mystery Series, The Island. As a member of a prestigious Yacht Club in Catalina and a part time resident of Avalon, MacDonald has a first-hand understanding of the town and its cultural and economic dysfunction. “It’s really a stressed environment because the merchants make money during the summer, but struggle through the winter. It’s your typical one-season resort town, a perfect location for a mysterious murder.”
The third book, Silicon Beach, weaves a tale of mystery and intrigue which focuses in part upon the homeless, their presence in Venice and Santa Monica providing a compelling backdrop for the murder mystery. “I have scenes of people having cocktails in their fancy condominiums along Santa Monica beach while the homeless are shuffling along on the boardwalk below.” In the book, MacDonald documents the Suicide Bridge in Pasadena, so called because of the many despondent homeless who ended their lives there. The book delves deep into who the homeless are and why they are there, suggesting in the final Chapter a novel solution to the homeless conundrum.
The Bay, released this year, touches on another social issue currently predominate in our world; extremist Muslims who are out to destroy this country, its institutions and people, by active violence, or by stealth. “It’s unfortunate, but those of the Muslim faith who are not extremists are often negatively profiled by the police, the press, their neighbors, and the public, all because of the activities of a handful of Muslims on a destructive path,” says Davis. The Judge presides over this tale of murder which takes place in Newport Beach and California’s famed Orange Coast, tracking a plot aimed at destroying Orange County forever.
