Author Bob Liter, a retired copyeditor with the Peoria Journal Star, passed away in 2008. Daughter Martie Ogburn is re-releasing his Bancroft Mystery Series and hosting a book launch at Landmark Lanes in Peoria on Saturday, December 14. 

The series is set in Centrel City, Illinois, a fictitious community that is strikingly similar to Peoria. Detective Nick Bancroft, the main character, has a love/hate relationship with bowling, so Ogburn thought it appropriate to hold the launch event at the bowling alley. Delving into her father’s books again, she has discovered the similarities between the author and his character. “I think my dad developed the Bancroft character as a way to express his alter ego,” she explains. “It’s given me a better understanding of [him].” 

Not only is Ogburn reissuing her dad’s books, she’s writing sequels to them, challenging herself to expand on the characters he created—including Bancroft’s love interest, Maggie Atley, modeled after her mother Lillian. “I hope the books I write will have as much meaning to my children as Dad’s books have meant to me,” she adds. “This is an exciting way to leave a legacy and have some fun.” 

Two Nick Bancroft mysteries—Murder By the Book and August is Murder—were recently released in paperback for the first time on Amazon.com, and will be available for sale at the event. In addition, Ogburn wrote a new introduction for the series that offers a glimpse into her dad’s early life and how he became a journalist. bancroftmysteries.com PM