When I started planning Lethal Design, I already knew the main story. Commander Frank Travers would take center stage this time. But KC & Orlando Prime is exactly what the title says—a shared series. I needed a believable reason for Detective Kylie “KC” Cassidy and her partner, Rick Spaulding, to become involved in a case that would eventually intersect with Orlando Prime.
Then I remembered a comment from a reader after Fatal Invitation.
“How come no one is talking about T.J. Simms?”
Simms was the attorney representing one of the bad guys in Book 1. He wasn’t a major character, but apparently he made enough of an impression that readers wondered what happened to him.
That comment got me thinking.
What did happen to T.J. Simms?
The answer became the opening scene of Lethal Design.
Simms is found dead, and because he’s a prominent attorney, the case lands on KC and Rick’s desk. At first, it looks like a high-profile death they’ll need to investigate thoroughly. Meanwhile, Commander Frank Travers and Orlando Prime are working what appears to be an entirely unrelated case.
Or are they?
One thing I love about writing thrillers is weaving together seemingly unrelated threads. I rarely write a single, straight-line plot. Instead, there are two or three investigations unfolding at once, each revealing a different piece of the puzzle until, eventually, they collide.
Sometimes all it takes is one reader asking about a forgotten character to send me down a path I hadn’t originally planned. In this case, that simple question helped shape the entire opening of Lethal Design.