Since he is an author, it goes with the territory.

Laurien has released a fourth book of the Mac Morrison Mystery series entitled “The Case of the Chautauqua Orange Shoe Murders.”

“Mac has by now transitioned from ‘just’ a cabon builder, and classic car restorer to his new role as a cold case consultant for the New York State Police, and the Chautauqua County Sheriff. And of course, wherever he and Buddy-dog go, his path is littered with the bodies of bad guys,” Laurien said.

Other books in the series include “Barcelona Harbor Murders,” 2023; “Return to Barcelona Harbor,” 2024; and “The Mayville Murders” 2024.

The cover of “The Case of the Chautauqua Orange Shoe Murders,” by Philip Laurien. Submitted photo

In the previous novels. Laurien was introducing characters that inhabited his early books.

“So by the Mayville Murders this is his (Mac’s) first assigned case, but in all these cases, he’s basically taking the murder file and trying to go back and reconstruct,” Laurien said. “And we don’t, we don’t know who the bad guy is, until you’re well into the novel. You’re trying to figure out who is the bad guy.”

In “Orange Shoe Murders” Laurien does a 180-degree turn. The bad guy is revealed very early in the book.

“I flipped the script in the ‘Orange Shoe Murders,’ in that I introduced the bad guy before I ever introduced Mac Morris,” Laurien said. “And what I can tell you is all the people that are my readers, my proof readers, and some of my friends who read all these books, they have all said, ‘this guy (antagonist) is evil and he’s menacing, and we know that Mac going to have to deal with him.'”

The bad guy’s name is Elmore.

And Laurien is never at a loss for ideas. He said his first scene in “Barcelona Harbor Murders” actually was a scene buried deep inside of what he calls his practice novel. It was 1988, and there was no Amazon, and if an author wantd to get a book published an author had to go through publishers located in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles or London. To get a foot in the door, an author also needed an agent and an editor. Laurien had an agent, but was not picked up by any publisher.

Enter Chautauqua County.

Laurien was born and grew up in Buffalo. He made summer camp trips to Chautauqua County which left an indelible mark in his mind. During those camp excursions he fell in love with the scenery, and knew the county would provide a perfect backdrop in his novels.

“I am frequently asked why I am writing murder mysteries set in Chautauqua County,” Laurien said. “The answer is because it is a beautiful and improbable place with special memories for me. Go see for yourself. You may never leave.”

Many of his ideas initiate from a real place or scene in which he is familiar.

“a scene in Chautauqua County is someplace that I’ve been. … It’s very easy to describe a place if you know the place. If you are making it (the scene) up, I think it’s much harder,” Laurien said.

The author added that his readers know exactly where his characters are and where the action is taking place in his novels. Laurien tells readers that they can log into Google Earth and go to street view and follow Morrison everywhere he goes.

“So I start with a scene. … and then my characters are all based upon people that I’ve known,” Laurien said.

Although schooled as a community planner, Laurien also has been a lifeguard, lumberjack, Luxembourg tour guide, lecturer, town manager, acting police chief, consultant, car restorer, builder, developer, and innkeeper.

For more about Laurien, visit philiplaurien.com. His books are available at Amazon.

Laurien is scheduled to speak at Patterson Library in Westfield Oct. 30.