About The Dancing Boy

(I’m hosting Michael Matson, who is here to tell us about his new novel, “The Dancing Boy.” The floor is yours, Michael:)

“The Dancing Boy” is a mystery set in the Pacific Northwest. Treat Mikkelson lives on Drake Island in a small cabin by the water with his cat, Ackerman. He’s retired from a lifetime of studying and writing about crime and keeps himself busy crabbing, fishing and harvesting enough clams for dinner.

This all changes when an elderly woman in a small, nearby tourist town is found at the foot of her stairs with a broken neck. Although authorities are inclined to consider it an accident, a friend suspects foul play and asks Treat to investigate the matter.

Treat is an iconic, self-contained ex-Ranger with a penchant for garish Hawaiian shirts and a love for the Blues and Hawaiian music. He’s a great study for a classic hard-boiled mystery, and the Pacific Northwest setting tweaks the traditional crime noir marvelously. Matson makes western Washington come alive for the reader as Treat and local law enforcement learn the reason why Margaret Neilssen died and act to foil a Canadian drug-smuggling and child pornography ring.

“The Dancing Boy” is fast-paced and absorbing, and you may find yourself considering a cabin on the water in the Pacific Northwest after reading it.

Biography:

Michael Matson was born in Helena, Montana, and was immediately issued a 10-gallon Stetson and a pair of snakeskin boots. After formative years spent in New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, California, Hawaii and Japan, Michael earned a journalism degree from the University of Washington in Seattle. Following a brief military stint in Oklahoma, where he first encountered red, sticky mud, heavy rain and tarantulas, he returned to Seattle and worked as an advertising agency copywriter, creative director and video producer.

In 2007 he (regretfully) left Seattle for Mexico, seeking time to write. He has since published “The Diamond Tree,” a fairytale for all ages; “Bareback Rider,” an inspirational adventure for children, and “Takeshi’s Choice,” a mystery novel. His short story, “Gato,” was selected for inclusion in Short Story America’s 2014 anthology. “The Dancing Boy,” his second mystery novel, was released by Dark Oak, a division of Oak Tree Press in April 2014 and is available on Amazon.

Matson lives with his wife, Maria Guadalupe (Tai), in Morelia, the colonial capital city of Michoacan, where, despite all the bad publicity given the area by U.S. news media, he has never seen a narcotraficante. His website is www.findmichaelmatson.com