Murmurs in the Walls: Behind the Scenes
A debrief of Judith's third mystery
For anyone who needs to catch up:
Murmurs in the Walls is complete! For the past two seasons of Judith’s mysteries, life has started hurling curveballs in my family’s direction shortly after the first episode drops. With Beasts of the Field, I had expected to have a calm late autumn/early winter in which to write. What happened instead, in addition to the normal happy chaos of homeschooling littles, was a very joyful but unexpected pregnancy. My calm writing time turned into unplanned naptimes and constant nausea, but Beasts of the Field happened anyway and was an absolute blast to write!
With Murmurs in the Walls, the curveballs unfortunately were not so joyful. Shortly after the first few episodes released, my husband lost his grandmother and his father within nine days of each other, which obviously moved writing far, far lower on the priority list. Both deaths were expected to some extent, but the loss of a loved one always seems to have a way of coming by surprise.
At the time, while my husband and his family were busy planning two funerals, I didn’t think it was the right time to share details about why some episodes came late, but this is the explanation behind my vague mentions of family emergencies. As crazy as those weeks were, I’m very thankful to have had a project to work on in spare moments. So thank you for your grace and continued reading in the midst of some belated episodes! Having lovely readers and kind comments to look forward to was a much-needed source of light and dopamine this Spring.
But, on that upbeat note, in this post I’ll dive into some of the background details, inspiration, and fun facts about the writing of Murmurs in the Walls!
***SPOILER ALERT***
The following contains spoilers for Murmurs in the Walls. If you have not yet read it, now’s your chance!
Background
I’ve been fascinated by poltergeist cases for much of my life, but it has only been within the past few years that I’ve learned about the current theory within the parapsychological community, which is the explanation of recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK) that Judith provides to Brian and Kortney in Episode V: The Diagnosis. Several readers1 figured out where the case was going before the poltergeist aspect was revealed, which was so fun to see in the comments and restacks!
Resources
Here are two episodes of the podcast Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World which deal specifically with poltergeists:
Ep. 195: Poltergeists
Ep. 260: 21st Century Poltergeist
Twists and Turns
Judith + Tim
Many aspects of Murmurs in the Walls related to Judith’s need to process the events of Beasts of the Field, from her car accident and traumatic brain injury to the home intruder and her brush with death. Back when I was originally outlining Beasts of the Field, I had planned on Judith and Tim getting together in the last episode, but the further I got through the season, the more sure I became that Judith wasn’t ready yet. Her second season was both dramatic and traumatic for Judith, and trying to shoehorn her into a relationship when she was still dealing with a head injury, broken ribs, and stab wounds felt both unfair and unrealistic.
But once I knew that it would take Judith some time to be ready, her arc of starting to move past her trauma and become open to a new relationship began to weave its way through another full season.
Long story short: Judith needed some extra time, and I knew that Tim wasn’t the kind of guy to rush her!
Moving their get-together to this season did have a drawback, though: I had to wait several more months before I could use Tim’s tongue-in-cheek dinner invitation from Episode I: The Call.
Tim shrugged. “People do dinner together all the time. I’m a pretty decent cook; when you come down to McFerrin sometime, I can make some food.” He smirked in the way he always did before saying or doing something that launched Judith into a puzzling cocktail of exasperation and amusement. “I’ll make something with sauce, because that’s what movies tell you to do, and, naturally, at some point it will splatter all over my shirt. Of course, then, I’ll have no choice but to take off my shirt, and it will take me a little bit to find a new one. So I’ll have to walk around shirtless for a minute, as is tradition –”
While in the brainstorming/outlining stage of Beasts of the Field, way back in Summer/Autumn of 2024, I had been stumped on what Tim would say to Judith when asking her to dinner, and I had asked my husband for advice. This was his response almost verbatim, and it made me laugh so hard that I knew I had to use it.
The Meatloaf Episode
I’ve had a scene snippet involving a (M/m)eatloaf joke floating around in my mind since before Judith’s creation, so I was pumped when I realized this was finally my chance to use it.
Did I build an entire episode around a meatloaf pun? Debatable.
Will there be more scenes of meatloaf prep while listening to Meatloaf in Judith and Tim’s future? If I can find an excuse to work it in, then definitely yes.
Problematic Old Gerald
Gerald Murray was supposed to have a deathbed conversion. He was supposed to finally give in to the guilt under which he’d been living for decades and decide to spend his last days making it right in whatever way he could.
But when I actually went to write the scene, he wouldn’t do it. He blatantly refused. Sometimes characters take the scene in a different direction than expected, but I’ve never before had a character jump the tracks and throw away their own redemption arc.
I’m an optimist at heart, and I love a good redemption story. But as I wrote his scene, it became clear that, even if he would manage a tiny bit of contrition at the end of his selfish, violent, crime-riddled life, it would not be during one short conversation with Judith. I hope, for his sake, that the process of confessing his crimes leads to some remorse and some margin of redemption for him, but he was far too stubborn to let it happen on-screen!
Have you ever had a character jump ship on your plans for them? Share in the comments!
A (Very Early) Sneak Peek
There will be a longer break between Murmurs in the Walls and Judith’s fourth season than there have been between previous seasons, but Judith, Tim, and Orwell will be back for more!
The mystery isn’t solid enough yet for me to feel comfortable sharing a blurb, but I do have a setting and title ready to go…
So, without further ado, here is the cover art for season 4 of Case Files of a Psychic Detective:
My husband is a lake kid through and through, and in our years of marriage I’ve developed a love for the people, the scenery, and the lore you can find around lake communities. So if you’re into summer lake vibes with a healthy dose of otherworldly creepiness, this next season will be for you!
With Baby Riley #4’s arrival imminent, I’m not quite sure how long of a break there will be before I start posting weekly short fiction again, but I expect that it will be at least September before my brain and body will be recovered enough to start easing back into posting regularly. You won’t be hearing much from me here for a couple months, other than possibly an announcement of Baby’s arrival or the opening of the Judith Temple Etsy shop (fingers crossed that I can get it up and running soon!), but I’ll be making the rounds of my TBR list and the great Substack fiction that I haven’t been able to read during a busy pregnancy!
Thank you so much for reading and loving Judith and Tim and Orwell and their colorful supporting cast! Getting to write these stories is a dream come true, and I’m so grateful to have such gracious readers!
Last but not least, one more plug…
Get your copy of Down in the Holler, Judith Temple’s first mystery!
If you have read Down in the Holler and enjoyed it, I would be eternally grateful if you would consider leaving a rating or review!
Also, with proof of a paperback purchase (this can include a photo on Substack Notes or even a message to me with a photo of your receipt), I’m excited to offer a free 6-month paid subscription to Naptime Novelist and a discount code for the soon-to-open Judith Temple-themed Etsy shop!
Thank you again, and have a wonderful summer!
I wish you nothing but joy and an easy delivery for your next baby! You and Judith Temple are certainly worth waiting on!
Enjoy the next baby and we will wait patiently!