Glendale native’s first book is a murder mystery

Joyce Rudolph

Kathleen Delaney’s first book “Dying For a Change” [America House]

is a murder mystery set in a small town facing the challenges posed

by progress.

The heroine, Ellen McKenzie, heads home to Santa Louisa after her

divorce and hopes to start a new career in real estate.

She finds the owners of a large chain discount store have chosen

her city as its next location and residents are divided about the

prospect. McKenzie is drawn into the drama when she discovers a man’s

body in a closet of the first house she is showing. The dead man is

the town’s most prominent contractor and the new store’s most ardent

supporter.

“You almost never find a real-estate theme,” Delaney said about

why her book stands out from other mysteries on the shelves. “I think

it leaves it open to a wide variety of people she can meet and she

can become involved in many types of experiences.”

The heroine is in her 40s, but she isn’t sure of herself or sexy,

like other authors try to portray their characters, Delaney said.

“She’s starting a career for the first time in her life,” she

said. “She has lost a lot of confidence after the divorce and she is

trying to rebuild that.”

A Glendale native, Delaney also works in real estate. The book

isn’t autobiographical, she said, but some of the events do mirror

what happened when larger stores started to move into Paso Robles,

where she lives now.

“I watched people become nervous that they would lose their

businesses, and others worried the town would not survive without the

discount store,” she said.

But the results were positive, she said, and the new stores have

kept downtown Paso Robles vibrant and alive.

Delaney was born at Glendale Memorial Hospital and was active in

theater arts, dance groups and social clubs before graduating from

Glendale High School in 1954.