CORRECTED: Jeanne Mathews will be signing books at 6 p.m. May 11 at RTC, not 7 p.m. as previously reported.

I met Renton author Jeanne Mathews at a Starbucks in the Highlands area near her home. I felt immediately as if I had known her for ages. She had brought a few of her murder mystery novels, and we talked about her journey as an author.

Jeanne has just completed the fifth novel in a series about mysterious murders investigated by her heroine, Dinah Pelerin. Each book takes place in a different part of the world and Jeanne has travelled to each of these countries for research, including Australia, Hawaii, Berlin, the Isle of Samoa, and the Norwegian Arctic.

Both Jeanne and her heroine are wanna-be anthropologists so Jeanne does extensive research to portray local customs and historical legends. She is fascinated with the ancient mythologies and superstitions which early civilizations believed to explain natural disasters.

“I love to travel and learn about all the cultural quirks and unusual facts about each place,” she told me, adding, “Just like my character, I have itchy feet!”

You get the impression that her characters are very real to her. She gave me a signed copy of the first book in this series, published in 2010. It’s called “Bones of Contention,” and takes place in the Australian Outback. I was drawn in immediately because the characters were so entrancing and believable.

You could also tell she had a good understanding of the local dialect and traditions of the area.

Jeanne said she has always admired the mysteries by Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers. Born in Atlanta, Georgia she wrote her autobiography at the age of 8.

“It was short on incidents, but I felt compelled to explain everything that had happened to me so far,” she said. “My teacher said it had flair. I didn’t know that word and had to look it up. From then on, I tried to live up to it.”

Jeanne graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Journalism. She spent 20 years working as a paralegal for an office of attorneys.

“The lawyers at the firm were so awful, I wrote my first murder mystery to help me work out my anxieties. There was a dead lawyer on every page! It was never published, and still languishes in a desk drawer at home,” she said.

Jeanne said she is presently working on a historical novel that is set in Chicago after the Civil War. It’s about Irish immigrant, and in her research she learned that Irish immigrants had invaded Canada in 1866.

She said, “I must have fallen asleep during that part of history class! Every place in the world has something unique to write about.”

After her time in Georgia, she lived in Colorado where she met her present husband.

“Wouldn’t you know it?” she said. “He’s a lawyer!”

They moved to Renton in 1999.

“Sometimes I wish we lived in downtown Renton. There’s a there, there!” she said, quoting Gertrude Stein. She spends hours a day writing and said she is never bored. “But sometimes I am exasperated with obligations and life can have a hectic quality. Promotion is the most frustrating thing about it. I’d rather be home writing. I never dreamed I would have to get involved in sales. I couldn’t even sell Girl Scout cookies!”

She loves the writing, the travel and the research. Her husband goes with her on most of her trips. She’s attending the Malice Domestic Mystery Writers Conference in Maryland.

I had admitted to Jeanne that I have read a lot of true crime novels. When she signed her book for me, she said, “I’m afraid my books may be too soft for you.”

But actually, I’m enjoying it very much. I really appreciate Dinah Pelerin’s salty, amusing dialogue and the local color that adds to the enjoyment of this imaginative mystery story.

“My characters are real to me,” she said. “When I create them, I put myself into each one, imagining that I am experiencing what they are – even the villain.”

Jeanne Mathews will be doing a book signing at 6 p.m. May 11 at Renton Technical College. Proceeds will benefit the arts programs of Allied Arts of Renton. for more information, visit www.jeannematthews.com.

Reach Columnist Jaris English at renton.creativeside@gmail.com.