1. What is your name? Do you have a nickname?

I’m Dr. Annie Hunter. I never did take my ex-husband’s name, fortunately. My childhood best friend, who was abducted when she was 13, called me Cordelia, referring to the highly imaginative Anne of Green Gables. But my true nickname was offered as a secret, to be revealed only to intimate confidantes. If I reveal it, you’ll know you’re my friend.

2. Who is your best friend? What kinds of things do you do when you’re together?

Hailey Harper was my best friend as a kid. She was abducted and never came back. It happened right in front of me, and that helped to propel my career as a psychologist-investigator. Currently, my best friend is Natra Gawoni, who’s also my assistant, info-miner, and confidante. (She knows my secret name.) She resides on the other side of the beach mansion my father left to me, with her Doberdor human remains specialist dog, Mika. When we’re not on a case, we might be at a forensic training.

3. If you have a family, how do you get along with them? If you don’t, are there people in your life that you consider family?

My mother mostly belittled me, so I rarely speak with her. She didn’t think I’d amount to much, and after I failed Hailey Harper on the day she was abducted, I tended to agree. But now I own a practice as a forensic psychologist and a private investigation agency. My father, with whom I was close, is gone. He left a note, so some people think he killed himself, but I believe it was pseudocide. I’ve been looking for him in “thin” places, because he’d studied areas around the world where people have mysteriously vanished. It’s no surprise that I specialize in disappearances, myself, especially missing kids. My daughter, Kamryn, is nine. She’s highly creative and neurodiverse. In addition, my core investigative team is my family. I’ve mentioned Natra, and I also have Ayden Scott, my freelance PI who also does search-and-rescue, handyman repairs, and surfing on Outer Banks beaches. They all bring a lot to my life.

4. When you’re angry, what do you do? Where do you go? How do you deal with your anger?

Admittedly, I’m intense, and some people read that as anger, but I do hate cruelty and injustice. It motivates me to act on someone’s behalf, especially kids. I usually dive deep into my cases to avoid taking my anger out on others. Natra’s always there to remind me to rein it in, and her dog, Mika, calms me. Since I live on the Outer Banks, I go chase ghost crabs on the beach. A good sunrise or sunset helps me to work through my issues. Often, the energy from anger stimulates new ideas.

5. If you had to make me a meal right now, without going to the store, what would you find in your refrigerator to feed us?

I keep the fridge stocked with the makings of Southwestern fare. First, tortillas are easy to make and store. Second, I love a good guacamole. I invite visitors to help cut up tomatoes, chilies and cheese, and the cooking aroma, paired with wine or margaritas, stimulates conversation. I tend to host people who are involved in crime investigation, and this kind of food is easy to make while I participate.

6. What’s the one thing you’re afraid of losing?

Some people say I’m abnormally lacking in fear. I’ll admit I tend to take risks. But I do fear losing my daughter, Kamryn, and I almost did when the I Scream Men abducted her to force me to drop a case. But she’s scrappy, with a bit of MacGyver in her make-up, so she’s likely to be okay. She’s an expert on knots and she thrives on escape rooms.

7. What makes you laugh out loud?

I laugh at the things my daughter conjures up to challenge me. We have a riddle game that I invented to help her to curb her attention issues and improve her focus. She’s competitive, so she comes up with some real challenges, and she usually wins. This means I have to perform some physically demanding chore. But even those can make me laugh, like when she set up an obstacle course made entirely of knots. My work is often so grim that it’s wonderful to have this outlet.

8. Has anyone broken your heart? Who was he?

My ex-husband, Wayne Worth, cheated on me several times and broke my heart. He’s in law enforcement and we share a daughter, so I still see him. He gets annoyed when I enter his territory for a case, but he helps. I also help him. Still, he doesn’t respect my profession, which breaks my heart in a deeper way.

9. What’s the one thing you want out of life that you don’t think you can have? Why can’t you have it?

I don’t think I’ll ever achieve a sense of contentment. I want to keep learning and growing, and that requires a certain degree of restless curiosity. That’s due to the sense of deep mystery my father imparted to me, and the thing that I believe lured him away. I sometimes think I’ll never find him, but as I chase down leads, I’m always learning something new – and often something extraordinary. Like when I went to the Stranger’s Room in William Butler Yeats’ tower, Thoor Ballylee, in Ireland. That was set up for spirit communication! I might end up as mentally tormented as my father, but he paved the way for adventure.

Meet Author Katherine Ramsland…