A Bonafide Detective

A teenage boy climbs a church roof at dusk to retrieve a kite tangled near the cross

What’s It About?

It’s 1960. The world is spinning. Doc has work to do.

The Russians have nuclear missiles off the coast of Florida. The Sexual Revolution is about to send the world spinning. Intellectuals are predicting the death of God.

All that aside, fifteen-year-old Dewey “Doc” Ruggles has real challenges to deal with. He needs to find a babysitter for his little sister, Snowball, so he’ll have time to solve his hometown’s most chilling cold-case murder. It’s his chance to be a local hero and attract evil’s opposite: true love.

A chance sighting from atop a Catholic church is the break he needs. Knowing what he knows now, there’s no turning back. If he wants to become a bonafide detective, he’ll need to outwit Junior Mentz, the town psychotic bully, stop Cuban communists out to assassinate a future US president, and solve the riddle of a mysterious nun who’s out to pull off a con of Biblical proportion.

Then again, maybe he’s imagining the whole thing. Sister Theresa doesn’t think so. The problem is she may not be the best expert on reality. According to a local legend, she may already be dead.

Series Information

One week in Orange County that changes everything.

It’s September, 1960. Kennedy’s on the campaign trail. The Russians are threatening to put missiles off the coast of Cuba. Young women are curled up with Kinsey’s “sex” books and whispering about the new birth control pill. Absurdist plays like Waiting for Godot are starting to make sense.

Fifteen-year-old Dewey “Doc” Ruggles doesn’t give a rat’s rump about world affairs, shifting mores or existentialism. All he wants is to be in a band called “Jimmy and the Gigolos.” For that to happen he needs to find some wide-eyed girl he can bamboozle into babysitting his little sister Snowball. He wants to Rock-maninoff, be popular, be cool. He just wants a girl to love him for the man he’s pretending to be.

But there are obstacles, complications, down-right dangers. He finds himself at war with communists who plan to kill the future President, the psychotic bully Junior Mentz, a ghost who masquerades as the legendary “Girl in the Pink Formal,” and the unforgettable, irrepressible, two-grades-ahead-of-him Margaret Ann. She’s Detective Quinn’s annoying daughter and she won’t stop pestering ’til Doc solves the cold case murder of his best friend’s sister.

A Bonafide Detective is a 100,000 word comedic romp, romance and mystery with comic book inserts. It’s a hard-edged adventure, frosted in magical realism — an improbable journey that never would have begun if Doc, in his search for true love, hadn’t gone “skyfishing,” hadn’t climbed to the top of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church to retrieve Lancelot his runaway kite.

But he did climb up. By the time he’d made it back down the whole world had changed.

Through stained glass at dusk, a figure in a pink formal dress appears beyond the window

The Word Is Out

The critics have spoken.

“Extremely well crafted and thoroughly engaging; the mystery is compelling, complex, and develops with precision.”

— Amazon Editor Review

“The magical realism or surrealism of the story accentuates the mystery and adds a fantastic dimension to the story… well done.”

— Amazon Editor Review

“One of the most engaging novels I have edited.”

— Amazon Editor Review

“Tim Twombly’s debut novel sizzles with wit and charm… Readers of The Catcher in the Rye, Harry Potter, and Huckleberry Finn will love this book. An instant classic.”

— Louella Nelson, best-selling author

“A bonafide classic… simultaneously a love letter to the past and an intriguing mystery deftly drawn with a brush dipped in magical realism.”

— Herb Williams-Dalgart, author

“Timothy Twombly is my favorite kind of writer: the kind who makes me laugh and cry on the same page… every single page!”

— Deborah Gaal, author

“A satisfyingly different book that is worth the work for fans of mystery, folkloric elements, and young-adult-driven stories.”

— Sarah Stewart, Clarion Review

About the Author

Tim Twombly

Vintage photograph related to the runaway dog story — Years before they were destined to meet and separated by 1500 miles, the author’s parents came into possession of the same runaway dog. It is said the dog predicted the author’s birth and the novel he would later write. Reportedly, the dog required humans to bow and pet him using only the left hand.

Rare photograph of the young author with an owl — This recently discovered rare photograph of the author was reportedly taken the morning the author declared himself an emancipated minor.

The author's mother with a frosted cake — Encouraging his belief in “the impossible,” here we see the author’s mother demonstrate her ability to bake a cake already frosted.

The author's father in a gas mask — The author’s father, like many “dads” of the day, was often remote.

Young author at an all-girl party — Possibly due to his propensity to quote French Symbolist poets, the author was frequently invited to all-girl parties.

Author as a young bandit character — Despite repeated acts of civil disobedience, President Lyndon Johnson insisted authorities refer to the young author as “a wonderful boy.”

The author's band, author at center — Signed by Capitol Records in the months following the book’s conclusion, the band’s name (author, center) was changed at the request of an unnamed federal agency.

Redacted Freedom of Information Act document — This redacted document accessed through the Freedom of Information Act was written two months before the novel begins.

Author Interview

What’s the book about?

It’s about a boy’s grand adventure. It’s a generational history. It’s about who we pretend to be or wish we were while we fumble our way down the path to discovering who we really are. It’s about experiencing a life lived beyond the ordinary, realities that are there for the taking, worlds rich in magic, mystery and romance.

Why did you write it?

I began the project with a desire to write a tall tale, a “Big Fish” story, a sort of memoir. I hoped the book would be something my children’s children would read to their children. I wanted to be remembered as more than a face in an old photograph album. I wanted to express my gratitude for the life I’ve been given and the opportunity to share that life with those who have traveled with me along the way. I completed the novel because, before she died, the girl I will always love made me promise I’d finish it.

What’s in it for the reader?

I think the reader will enjoy the twisty mystery, the cameos by iconic characters of the period, the mix of the real and the unreal. I think the antics and mishaps of the characters will provide a chuckle or two. In the end, what I hope the reader will do is step back and wonder if, maybe, it’s possible that “coming of age” is something each of us has the opportunity to do in every decade of our lives, that it just might be worth it, no matter how old you are, no matter what the circumstances, to dig deep and “take it to the limit one more time.”

I wanted to propose a concept, a point of view that might carry the reader through the highs and lows of life, namely, from moment to moment, life seems to constantly flip-flop on itself: It’s all about “now you see it, now you don’t.” It’s good, it’s bad. It’s common, it’s sublime, hilarious then tragic. Slapstick then sacred.

A bit of verse: A Dewey “Doc” Ruggles poem, 1960.

Don’t leave the theater.
Stay one more moment.
You’ll witness,
be able to pet,
the sable-soft pelt,
the notorious ears
of the impossibly pink rabbit that pops out,
(all smiles for you)
from the magician’s empty hat.

Artwork