Randy is confronted more than once in Fire Trap with bullying. When should you give in to bullying and when should you resist? Randy also experienced bullying in school. What can schools do to control bullying? How would you respond if bullied?
Randy uses Western Insurance money to fly to Los Angeles during his investigation. Was the time and money for the flight to interrogate Simon’s mother necessary in an age of Skype and every other type of electronic communication? Discuss how face-time matches up to phone-time. What are the advantages of…
Randy lies when he thinks it will keep the situation off balance and allow him to gauge people’s reactions. He finds this fibbing useful for solving cases, but is he letting the “ends justify the means”? Is “truthfulness” an absolute? When is a white lie white? When is it gray?…
Randy lets Sally help in his insurance investigation business by doing data entry work and he pays her. If you had a business and kids old enough to help in it, would you let them? Would you pay them or treat it as a necessary chore? Randy also insists Sally…
Randy and Arnie have different ideas about dating. Do you think they’re both honorable? Why? Or why not? If you are, or could imagine yourself to be a dating single parent, what are a couple of ideas about balancing interactions between dates and family that you would try to follow.…
Randy inherited a theater from his parents. He likes the theater a lot, but not more than being an investigator, yet he wants to honor his parent’s passion by keeping it alive. If the Vic was your legacy, would you sell it, keep it, or transform it? Why? Think of…
Randy Justice has ten personal commandments that he tries to follow to lessen the chaos in his life. Discuss the ones revealed in this story and whether you agree with them. If you could add your own 11th commandment to his list, what would it be?
After meeting Kathy L. Murphy .@pulpwoodqueen at the Chanticleer Author Conference #CAC16 in Bellingham, WA, I was inspired to add a Reading Group Guide to my Mystery/Thriller Fire Trap. The next two posts are the first two questions I’ve thought up after reading The Pulpwood Queen’s Tiara-Wearing, Book-Sharing Guide to…