All of you lovely readers are in for a genuine treat! Today’s guest on the blog has gone above and beyond to provide us with not just any Character Interview, he’s recorded an old-fashioned radio interview in the spirit of his new detective novel set in the roaring 20s. The producers are signaling to us to wrap up this commercial break, so we’ll go ahead and pass it on over to our mystery host!

Hello-o-o to all listeners out there in radioland, at home and on ships at sea. This is your mystery host, Martin Hill Ortiz. As part of tonight’s wireless broadcast, I am delighted to have with me Alan Priest, the leading figure from the recent suspense novel, *Floor 24,* available now from Oliver-Heber Books. How goes your life and your world, Alan?

No rest for the weary.

You are staying busy?

These are weary times. Thank you for having me.

You are welcome. Floor 24 tells a riveting tale of mystery and action set in the good old roar-ing twenties. Prohibition, just ten years back, back when our country was dry. Hard to imagine these days.

Prohibition was hardly sober. I can personally swear to that.

Floor 24 tells a rather amazing story. How would you sum it up?

I was working for the Evening World. . .

That’s the New York Evening World, the Pulitzer paper, for those listeners outside our humble town.

Yes. The New York Evening World. It was Decoration Day. Memorial Day.

And you are a veteran.

Yes. And, being a day off, I was walking along Broadway, determined to find a watering hole, a speakeasy, when I passed in front of the Adams Express Building. It’s an immense downtown structure, 33 stories. Suddenly, a pen came crashing down from out of nowhere and exploded on the sidewalk in front of me.

Like a bolt of lightning.

Like a meteor. And on this pen was the name of a business: Carolyne Fritch Designs, 24th floor. Being a newshound, I thought I’d investigate and demand an apology, or some such matter.

They could have killed you.

They could have. When I got to Carolyne Fritch’s business I found the office empty and the window open and a curtain flapping. In front of the window ledge were scrapings on the floor and a single shoe. Looking outside, I saw the body of a woman on the street below.

She must have fallen while you were going up in the elevator.

Fallen or else thrown. That’s what I figured. Or what I would have figured, if I had time to think. Suddenly, a couple hands landed on my back end and someone tried pushing me out the window. I struggled free and the man made a run for it. Like a loony, I ran after him. By the time I got to the stairwell, a policeman joined me in the chase. Before I could stop him, the killer did in the cop and escaped. With no witnesses, I was soon blamed for both murders. From then on, I had to prove myself innocent. As for how that happened, you’ll need to read the book.

Remarkable. Without giving away the whole of the story, we should give a nod to a fascinating lady, Lorraine Marquette.

Lorraine gets credit for half of all that happened and she helps tell my story. Our story. She worked as a hostess in a gentleman’s club in the Adams Express Building and took me in, stashing me away from some hostile cops. She went on to hold her own against gangsters and tough cops and together we solved the mystery.

Having read it, I can say, truly a heart-pounding adventure. For those not in our studio, I would like to note that Mr. Priest is missing his right hand. Did that happen during the Great War?

Yes.

Would you like to tell us the story?

I tried slapping a Hun officer when he suddenly raised his bayonet.

And it cut off your hand? That doesn’t sound possible.

A French cathouse. It was a jealous lover with a meat cleaver.

Are you jesting with me?

It’s none of your goddamn . . .

Mr. Priest, this is a family show.

I don’t owe an explanation to any goddamned lily-livered . . .

We’ll be right back after this word from Tusk Brand Hand Soap. Choose Tusk Brand: as tough as ivory.

And we’re back for just a moment to remind you that you can grab your copy of Floor 24 here! Floor 24 is a heart-stopping, old-fashioned adventure with a reckless pace and breakneck twists, and we’re so excited it’s finally out in the world.

Martin Hill Ortiz, a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a professor at the Ponce University of Health Sciences in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where he lives.

Hill Ortiz has three novels: A Predatory Mind (Loose Leaves Publishing), Never Kill A Friend, (Ransom Note Press), A Predator’s Game (Rook’s Page) and a novella, Dead Man’s Trail (Seven Archons Press).

Over fifty of his short stories have appeared in journals and anthologies including Mystery Magazine, Miami Accent, Belanger Books’ Sherlock Holmes anthologies, and Over My Dead Body.

An award winning poet, in addition to his scientific background, he has worked in theater, having operated a comedy troupe in South Florida.

You can follow him on Bookbub.