Tulsa Police Officer To Release Murder-Mystery Book

A Tulsa Police Officer says his background in law enforcement inspired him to write a book.

Officer Jonathan McCann says he never saw himself as an author, but has always loved to write. He said shortly after he moved into the country, he sat down and started working on his first novel.

“My brain just started working and it kind of kicked into overdrive one day while I was sitting out there listening to nature,” said McCann. “It was just so relaxing and from that moment on, I just started writing.” 

Officer McCann is originally from Northern Ireland but moved to Oklahoma in 1997.

He says shortly after he graduated he decided to pursue a career in law enforcement. McCann says his family also inspired his love for writing.

“I've always wanted to be a writer,” said McCann. “My father published a novel, so of course I had to publish one as well.”

And now that the book is actually in his hands, he can’t stop reading it.

"Even though I know what’s going to happen, I still get excited,” said McCann.

Officer McCann is usually out patrolling the streets or spending time with kids through the Tulsa Police Activity League, but for the past several months, he's been writing a novel.

"Some days I'd pull over and write down some notes then one day I was like wow this is really coming together,” said McCann.

McCann says "A Moral Dilemma" is a murder mystery novel about a male serial killer who targets child molesters.

He says it's up to the reader to decide whether the main character is a hero or a villain.

“It questions the morals behind whether people like that deserve to live or die so he gets some support from the public and others not so much,” said McCann.

McCann says he used his understanding of the law to help write the book, but even though it's a murder mystery, it wasn't his job that inspired the storyline.

"I didn’t want to take personal instances that had happened on my job and use those, I wanted it all to be original,” said McCann.

McCann says he didn't really have a plotline when he started writing and didn't even have names for the characters picked out.

“I’d come up a name and I'd make sure I didn't know anyone who had that name before I put them in my book because there was a good chance they were going to get killed in my book,” said McCann. “I made up the most random names, random towns, everything in the book was made up there’s not an original thought.”

He says even when he only had three chapters left, he still didn't know how the story was going to end.

"I basically winged the entire book,” said McCann. “I just kept writing and then came up with ideas and I'd go with it and if it worked great, if it didn’t, I would hit the delete button and try something else.”

McCann says he never saw himself as an author or as a police officer for that matter, but now he's both and even though his name is finally in print, it may still take him a while to get used to.

"I had seen the cover, I had seen the back cover but until I actually had it in my hands and saw my name written there, that was when I finally realized it was actually happening,” said McCann.

The book will be released next Tuesday and will be available to buy on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble. There will also be a book signing on February 29th at the Barnes and Noble by Woodland Hills Mall.

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