"... an intriguing story of cult worship in San Francisco ... a taut, cleverly concealed tale" - Mike Gillespie, Ottawa Citizen
Mystery by e-mailThe Ottawa Citizen
By Mike Gillespie
For mystery lovers, here's one of the most unusual whodunits on the market.
But you won't find it in any bookstore. It's only available in cyberspace.
Unveiled at BoucherCon, last summer's gathering of international crime
writers in Toronto, The Daughters of Freya tells an intriguing story of cult
worship in San Francisco.
The web-based thriller by Toronto writer and filmmaker Michael Betcherman
and California journalist David Diamond, stars Samantha Dempsey, a Toronto
journalist who is asked by friends to investigate a Marin County sex cult
that has lured away their daughter. The cult claims sex can cure the world's
woes.
The mystery, e-mailed to readers randomly in 97 episodes over a three-week
period, tells how Samantha sells the story to a San Francisco magazine. It
follows her investigation through a series of e-mails that criss-cross
between her, the magazine, her family in Toronto and various other players,
including the wayward girl's parents.
Interactive add-ons woven into the story and linked to a series of websites,
add a convincing edge to Daughters of Freya, a taut, cleverly conceived tale
that allows readers to eavesdrop on the lives of almost a dozen characters,
including Sam's and her own disintegrating marriage.
The world's first real-time, e-mail mystery, Daughters of Freya is available
on the web: emailmystery.com For $9.99, it comes complete with access
passwords. The first three episodes of the story can be viewed free on the
website.
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