In the spirit of Halloween, we’ve decided to publish a feature on golf mystery novelist, Dr. Roberta Isleib. The article was written a few years ago for Golfstinks by our friend Victoria Opton – We finally have an outlet for it Vicky!

There are very few things in this world I am certain of, and here they are: Friends will help you move if you offer beer or chicken wings; love can keep you warm at night while clearing a car of snow in sub-zero temperature; and Dr. Roberta Isleib is a pretty cool lady.

For those of you unfamiliar with whom she is, let me introduce you: Isleib is a doctor of psychology who not only plays golf, but she’s an author to boot! She doesn’t write in journals about Jung or Freud (well, maybe she does, I forgot to ask) but this Doc writes murder mystery novels whose main character, Cassie Burdette, is trying to make a career playing on the LPGA tour – while also trying to avoid being killed or convicted of murder!

Isleib first took up the game when her husband said he was going on safari in the arctic (she thought it sounded like a perfect place to tan and joined him). Once out on the tundra plains, the Isleib’s happened upon an executive par-3 ice course where penguins earned money as caddies. It was here Isleib fell in love with playing golf, and even though she realized her passion for the game, she knew she wasn’t bound for a second career playing on tour. From what she told me of her handicap, she was, in my estimation, a true stinky golfer!

So after many lessons, Isleib lowered her scores with psychology, practice and playing from the proper tees. Oh, and it also helped that she’d play 2-3 times a week (nothing like a little consistency to improve course management)! All this time on the golf course, coupled with the cash spent on lessons, led her to a realization that maybe she could find time to play and get paid to do it…Enter Roberta Isleib the novelist.

“Writing mysteries kind of evolved. There was so much time, energy and money learning to play, I wanted something that would make all the effort worth while…[and] that’s when the idea came up.” Isleib added, “I wanted something everybody could sink his or her teeth into.“

So what makes a good murder mystery on a golf course? Isleib shared with us: “One is characters that you can be interested in and root for. I try to have a balance…[something] for the golfers and [something] that the non-golfers wont glaze over [reading]. I also hope that golfers who aren’t mystery fans still enjoy the story.”

And so the character Cassie Burdette was created. Now Cassie is no star of the LPGA. She’s a struggling rookie/pro who has a distant father, misguided mother, and always seems to stumble upon a murder mystery à la Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) in Murder She Wrote.

What’s interesting is that initially, what Isleib pitched to book companies wasn’t Cassie the pro, but Cassie the caddie: “One year of rejections and six months to find a publisher,” Isleib said. “And when I did [find a publisher], they wanted me to write a whole new book where Cassie was playing, not caddying.” Ah, loopers, they never get any respect!

So Isleib wrote a second novel entitled “Six Strokes Under” and that was published as her first. It also was nominated for some literary type awards (Best First Mystery and Best First Paperback). Since then, Isleib has penned four more novels in the Golf Lovers’ series: Putt to Death, A Buried Lie, Fairway to Heaven – and in March 2006, Isleib’s fifth novel was released…Final Fore…a title her minister came up with! But, rest assured, Roberta has told me that I could name future novels (Oh Boy)!

For more info about Roberta Isleib, you could check out her site at www.robertaisleib.com. You could also buy her books. I personally thought her novels were pretty fun and a great way to spend time away from the course (or during the off-season).