{"id":6852,"date":"2015-04-08T18:19:12","date_gmt":"2015-04-08T18:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?page_id=6852"},"modified":"2026-02-11T19:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T19:58:10","slug":"about-a-truth-stranger-than-fiction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/the-dakota-stevens-mystery-series\/about-a-truth-stranger-than-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"About A Truth Stranger Than Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>He\u2019s BACK. Dako\u00adta Stevens, the tough, wise\u00adcrack\u00ading New York pri\u00advate eye\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Truth Stranger Than Fic\u00adtion<\/strong><\/em>, the 3rd nov\u00adel in the Dako\u00adta Stevens Mys\u00adtery Series by Chris Orcutt, delves into the bizarre, inter\u00adcon\u00adnect\u00aded world of for\u00adeign spies and fan\u00adgirls, mob\u00adsters and mur\u00adder\u00aders, gov\u00adern\u00adment bureau\u00adcrats and cor\u00adpo\u00adrate prof\u00adi\u00adteers.<\/p>\n

Man\u00adhat\u00adtan PI Dako\u00adta Stevens has just moved into new offices on Fifth Avenue when a young woman walks in with a prob\u00adlem: her old\u00ader broth\u00ader, a famous sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion author, has been miss\u00ading for a week.<\/p>\n

Before Dako\u00adta even has a chance to take the case, he and the young woman are accost\u00aded by a horde of peo\u00adple search\u00ading for the broth\u00ader: gov\u00adern\u00adment agents, thugs, mob\u00adsters, and two mys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous Chi\u00adnese men. What could her broth\u00ader pos\u00adsi\u00adbly be into?<\/p>\n

In a case that leads from the streets of Man\u00adhat\u00adtan to the woods of Upstate New York, to Boston and the shores of Maine, to Wash\u00ading\u00adton, D.C. and the Midwest\u2014by foot, train, truck, boat and pri\u00advate jet\u2014what begins as a sim\u00adple miss\u00ading per\u00adsons inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion quick\u00adly devolves into the most dif\u00adfi\u00adcult and per\u00adson\u00adal case of Dako\u00adta\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

In the end, Dako\u00adta expos\u00ades a secret that lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly has the pow\u00ader to change the world.<\/p>\n

And the truth is a truth stranger than fic\u00adtion.<\/p>\n

With humor, action, intrigue, and lush writ\u00ading, A Truth Stranger Than Fic\u00adtion<\/em><\/strong> is a com\u00adpelling noir mys\u00adtery in the tra\u00addi\u00adtion of Robert Park\u00ader and Ray\u00admond Chan\u00addler.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery thought-pro\u00advok\u00ading and engag\u00ading mys\u00adtery with deep\u00ader impli\u00adca\u00adtions, all wrapped up in humor and action. High\u00adly enter\u00adtain\u00ading read (4.5 stars).\u201d \u2014 The Portsmouth Review<\/em><\/p>\n

Buy: <\/strong><\/span>Ama\u00adzon<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Excerpt from A Truth Stranger Than Fiction<\/em><\/h1>\n

We passed the slot machines, and the craps and roulette tables, before we reached the black\u00adjack tables. If Svet\u00adlana was in the casi\u00adno, this is where she\u2019d be. We strode past the tables, study\u00ading the play\u00aders at each one. There were lots of men in bowl\u00ading shirts smok\u00ading cheap cig\u00adars, and women in risqu\u00e9 blous\u00ades drink\u00ading white wine, but nobody who even remote\u00adly resem\u00adbled Svet\u00adlana.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot here, huh?\u201d Kelsey said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI bet she<\/em>\u2019<\/em>ll<\/em> know.\u201d<\/p>\n

A cock\u00adtail wait\u00adress approached with a tray of drinks. She was a mid\u00addle-aged blonde with after\u00admar\u00adket fea\u00adtures and a hyp\u00adnot\u00adic sashay that wasn\u2019t learned at Welles\u00adley.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood idea.\u201d I pulled out a $20 bill and held it up to the wait\u00adress.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, hon,\u201d she said, \u201ccan I get you on the way back?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need drinks.\u201d I tossed the bill on the tray. \u201cI\u2019m look\u00ading for a friend. Ukrain\u00adian woman. Tall, trim, exot\u00adic look\u00ading. She\u2019s a spe\u00adcial guest of the hotel, and she plays a lot of black\u00adjack.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, yes\u2026I know who you\u2019re talk\u00ading about.\u201d She point\u00aded at a room across the casi\u00adno floor. \u201cThe high rollers lounge. Can\u2019t miss her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

We crossed the floor, and as Kelsey and I went inside, I ignored the fact that the oth\u00ader men were in suits, a few even in din\u00adner jack\u00adets. Mean\u00adwhile, I looked like a char\u00adac\u00adter out of a Jack Lon\u00addon nov\u00adel. A throng of people\u2014mostly men\u2014surrounded the cen\u00adter table, and were con\u00adcen\u00adtrat\u00aded around one seat in par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar. Although I couldn\u2019t see the per\u00adson, I already knew who it was. Tug\u00adging on Kelsey\u2019s arm, I par\u00addoned my way to the front and stood at the side of the black\u00adjack table with an unob\u00adstruct\u00aded view of the scene.<\/p>\n

Svet\u00adlana Kr\u00fcsh, in a lit\u00adtle black dress, sat fac\u00ading the deal\u00ader, while ele\u00adgant, sour-faced women stood in the back, clutch\u00ading cock\u00adtails and look\u00ading dag\u00adgers at her. On the green baize in front of Svet\u00adlana was a small city of chips, a red drink in a mar\u00adti\u00adni glass, and an iPhone. She was star\u00ading down the deal\u00ader. I didn\u2019t envy him; as a chess grand\u00admas\u00adter with the eyes of a jun\u00adgle preda\u00adtor, she had the most for\u00admi\u00adda\u00adble stare I\u2019d ever seen. One of her cards was face-down, and the sec\u00adond was the Sev\u00aden of Clubs. She tapped the baize with a fire engine red fin\u00adger\u00adnail, the deal\u00ader placed the Sev\u00aden of Dia\u00admonds in front of her, and she made a tiny wav\u00ading motion over her cards. The deal\u00ader con\u00adtin\u00adued past her, and when the cards were all revealed, Svet\u00adlana had three sev\u00adens and won the hand.<\/p>\n

There were two things I knew about black\u00adjack: that the goal was to get to 21, and that Svet\u00adlana Kr\u00fcsh had the game down to an evil art.<\/p>\n

Her hair was down, graz\u00ading her smooth shoul\u00adders. I admired her regal pos\u00adture, her grace\u00adful neck and lis\u00adsome hands\u2014once again mar\u00adveling at how I ever got any\u00adthing done work\u00ading with her. Svet\u00adlana was one of those rare women so stun\u00adning and bril\u00adliant, she excit\u00aded the very air mol\u00ade\u00adcules around her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Where does the title A Truth Stranger Than Fiction<\/em> come from?<\/h1>\n

When you read the nov\u00adel, you\u2019ll see that the moon plays a part in the sto\u00adry<\/a>, so at first I was play\u00ading with titles that had \u201cmoon\u201d in the title. How\u00adev\u00ader, even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly I real\u00adized that I was most inter\u00adest\u00aded in the con\u00adtrast between truth and fic\u00adtion and the believ\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty of events, and I remem\u00adbered a quote by Mark Twain:<\/p>\n

\u201cTruth is stranger than fic\u00adtion, but it is because Fic\u00adtion is oblig\u00aded to stick to pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties. Truth isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What did you do differently in marketing this Dakota Stevens mystery compared to the previous two books?<\/h1>\n

The major dif\u00adfer\u00adence this time around is that I real\u00adly stepped up the pub\u00adlic\u00adi\u00adty, doing about two dozen radio and print inter\u00adviews in a month and a half.<\/p>\n

I also wrote, direct\u00aded and edit\u00aded a book trail\u00ader for A Truth Stranger Than Fic\u00adtion<\/em>:<\/p>\n