From his Q & A with Irene Lacher for the Los Angeles Times:
"Suspect" is about an LAPD officer and an ex-military dog who both have PTSD, which makes them suspect. What inspired your latest buddy mystery?--Marshal Zeringue
It probably grew out of grief that I felt about losing my dog. I've always had dogs, ever since I was a boy, and my last dog we got as a puppy. In fact, I picked him out from a litter when he was 3 days old, before his eyes were open.
How did you know he was for you?
I just loved the way he looked. He was moving and wiggling along with his brothers and sisters. I was drawn to him, and I said, "That's the guy I want," and six weeks later I took him home. He was a big guy, an Akita. And for 12 years, he was my boy. And then I lost him.
When was that?
This was 15 years ago. And he died in my arms, and I was just blubbering like a baby. There's a period where you think, "OK, I've lost Yoshi and I'll get another dog." And I felt at the time that it would be deeply disloyal. The first few years after that, I just accepted that as a way of life. In fact, there's an interesting concept that I came to when I began researching military working dogs and police K-9 dogs that the handlers all have, and that's that the leash is a nerve, that the emotions that are felt between a handler and his or her partner flow through the leash. The years rolled on. You begin to think...[read on]
