Richard K. Roos

I'm a life long resident of Westchester County in New York State. I had a long career of directing various Youth Development Services before my recent retirement. I enjoy travel and reading, golf and gardening, and a large family. My wife Carolyn and I reside in Yonkers, N.Y. and remain active in community affairs. I've enjoyed the works of Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald through present day writers such as Grafton, Kellerman, Dobyns, Connelly, and Silva, to name just a few. My novel Death in Westchester was written more as a parting gift to friends and family, a sort of intellectual photo album, than a money making enterprise. This freed me up to extend the traditional mystery novel in a variety of directions which breaks all the rules, and will no doubt be considered dubious at best, and controversial at least. Yet,when you're my age, and been around the block too often to count, a little controversy might bring a touch of joy and a sprinkle of spice to the golden years.

Update-August 2020

The second edition of Death In Westchester has just been published and is on sale at Amazon. The main reasons for doing a second edition were to clean up several errors in the first edition ( It's almost impossible to effectively proofread your own work) and expand and refine various portions of the novel. These changes were largely the result of comments by several readers. The most significant change is the development of the relationship between the protagonist (Keith), and the lovely lady (Ruth) he eventually marries in the course of the story.

I've been asked many questions about the novel to which I'd like to respond:

1. The word Death in the title indicates it is the prime theme, a broad exploration of our earth bound,time engulfed existence. The novel probes our encounters with that ancient scandal of humanity, the inevitable passing away of all things. The reader encounters psychological, spiritual, and moral death, and ultimately the dissolution of cultural and historical life.

2. Elements of the story tie in with Thomas Mann's novel Death In Venice. The main character of that novel makes a ghostly appearance in an interaction with our protagonist during his visit to Venice.

3. The frequent political and cultural commentaries are designed to tie in with the exploration of our time bound existence and perpetually changing views and values. The reader sees various reactions to such matters by the story's characters.

4. Yes, there are obvious ties to Hamlet's reaction to his father's murder.

5. Lastly, I am pleased so many readers told me that the numerous political, cultural, and historical side trips did not obscure or detract from the basic mystery plot and dramatic action of the tale. I had feared the violation of mystery writing protocols might spell doom for the central story line. In fact, I believe the Keynote Address (Chapter 38) written in 2018, turned out to be quite predictive of our current cultural disintegration and political chaos.

I wish to thank my loyal readers and wish them much health and happiness in the midst of trying times.