Senegor Writes

Tibor Bognár, the fearsome Slovakian gangster respects his adversary Mark Kent, our hero in Mark to Murder. After his men capture Mark, while interrogating him, Bognár says, “if I may say so, I kind of like you. If circumstances were different I wouldn’t mind sharing some of my homemade pálinka with you. I make good pálinka. Strong. Apricot flavor. Did you get to taste some pálinka while you were here?” “Yes,” answers Mark, recalling the poison-like drink he sampled a few days earlier. He then lies. “It was very good.” I discovered Pálinka while researching Hungarian drinks. It is a[...]

    Meet Dr. Robert Lawrence, respected forensic pathologist who has served San Joaquin County for decades. Bob is the son of Ernest Lawrence, Nobel Prize winning Berkeley nuclear physicist. He has a keen, sharp intellect and a passion for his work seldom found in those who have been at it for decades. Bob always took special pleasure in crime scene lectures to fellow physicians while at lunch or dinner, zestfully explaining their unique puzzles with photos that could upturn the sturdiest stomachs. I was fortunate to have Bob as my forensic pathology advisor for Mark to Murder. He recommended[...]

At the end of Chapter 34, in a scene at the Nyugati train station, Turgut and Ergün, two amiable Turkish criminals running a Budapest chop shop, are bewildered and much impressed when they set eyes on lovely Jasmin, a policewoman and Mark’s dinner date. “Only rich doctors can attract women like that,” says Ergün, unaware that Mark is no ladies man and that his date came about by happenstance. Turgut agrees and says, “The rest of us, we get the scraps.” Nyugati Railroad Station, Budapest This tiny detail with the pun on scraps emerged from a troubled period[...]

In 2014, after publication of my second book Appassionata, an anthology of short stories, I mustered the courage to tackle a novel. It was to be a recollection of my Turkish high school days cloaked within the format of a murder mystery. At first I had no idea how to go about it. In late 2015 my mother in law Pat Snyder, an avid reader, recommended Martin Cruz Smith. He is a good crime writer, she said. So I read Red Square, his second book in the Arkady Renko series. The first one, Gorky Park had been made into a[...]

The one most worrisome aspect of each book I published was the front cover. Could I ever design a catchy one? As it turned out, all three were easier than I thought. Perhaps my background as an amateur photographer helped. But what helped the most were nameless, faceless graphic artists provided by publishers. When the step-by-step publishing process comes to the cover art, it begins with a detailed questionnaire about the information and mood that needs to be conveyed. Afterwards sample photos are requested. I chose to combine two images with each one of my covers. With Mark to Murder[...]

  The spectacular Gresham Palace hotel in Budapest is the main backdrop for the plot of Mark to Murder. It is where Mark discovers his old high school mate’s dead body, encounters the sultry masseuse Olga, and experiences an eerie visit from the eccentric Hungarian inspector Karpáty. The luxury hotel is Mark’s home away from home. Built in 1906, the Art Nouveau building was originally the European headquarters of the Gresham Life Assurance Company of London. It was named after 16th-century financier Sir Thomas Gresham who founded the London Royal Exchange, and whose bust Mark observed on the façade of[...]