Fictional realism inspires a newsman’s second novel

Christopher Mele, a 40-year news reporter and editor who lives in Pike County, has penned a second mystery novel set in the Adirondacks, which was inspired by true-life events.

The novel, “The Truth Is in the Ashes,” is set in the fictional village of Goodwill and tells the story of newsman Alex Provetto, who is drawn into solving a series of suspicious fires at an abandoned, once-grand resort hotel.

However, personal and professional entanglements get in the way of his desires to nail the scoop and uncover the truth. The more that he searches for answers, the greater the threat grows to his reputation, his career — even his life.

The novel, which follows another Adirondacks-based mystery by Mele, “Goodwill’s Secrets” (2024), reflects his brand of “fictional realism.”

“The goal is to keep a novel grounded in realistic outcomes and procedures without taking fantastical leaps of logic while at the same time keeping the reader engaged with vivid settings, lively characters, humor and plot turns,” Mele said.

For Mele, who cut his teeth in newspapers in the Adirondacks, the memories of at least a dozen unsolved fires at the former Lake Placid Club Resort in Lake Placid, N.Y., starting in 1991, stayed with him.

Memorably, Mele’s news bureau for The Plattsburgh Press-Republican was around the corner from the Theanoguen Lodge, the largest lodge on the club property, that went up in a spectacular fire in November 1991.

Mele recalled hearing the call on the police scanner and getting to the scene even before firefighters arrived.

“The flames were so high and the heat so intense that I had to take off my winter coat while I was shooting photos,” he said.

Mele immersed himself in the history of the old Lake Placid Club Resort to create a composite setting for his new novel, as well as deeply researched the hows and whys of fire-setters, which included interviewing arson investigators.

“That no one was ever charged in the Lake Placid Club Resort fires has captivated me all these years later,” Mele said. “Almost assuredly, we’ll never know who was responsible.”

Mele, who worked at The Adirondack Daily Enterprise from 1986-88 and then at the Plattsburgh Press-Republican from 1988-92, now works at The New York Times as a deputy editor on its breaking news team after stints at newsrooms in the Hudson Valley, at The Times Herald-Record and The Journal-News, and as executive editor of The Pocono Record in Stroudsburg, Pa., from 2009-14.

To learn more about Mele and his novels, go to chrismeleauthor.com, where you can also sign up for his newsletter.