There was a murder at the 2010 Pittsburgh Marathon.
OK, not the actual Dick’s Sporting Good Pittsburgh Marathon, which is May 3 this year, but the one in J.J. Hensley’s fictional murder-mystery novel “Resolve,” published in 2013.
The book follows a local university professor running the annual event not so much for a personal-record time as for the opportunity to kill someone. Through 26.2 chapters — in honor of a marathon’s mileage — the reader is taken through the course as well as the back story that led to the deadly race.
Although published two years ago, Hensley said the novel still is gaining momentum — especially with renewed interest every marathon season.
“Every year around marathon time, I start getting requests for speaking engagements or people start emailing, asking questions about the book,” he said. “It’s been nice that people still discover it every time they come to Pittsburgh to run the race, or they could have lived here, and it never got to them before. And now they find it.”
Hensley, 40, is a Huntington, W.Va., native who lives in Cranberry after moving to the area in 2006. And, while many authors must do laborious research to ensure the accuracy of their novels, much of Hensley’s information came from his personal experience.
He majored in administration of justice at Penn State and earned a master’s degree in criminal justice administration from Columbia Southern University in Alabama. He also spent three years as a police officer in Virginia before becoming a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service in the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.
He never attempted to write fiction before writing “Resolve,” but, being a fan of thriller novels and having protected presidents proved to be enough to help his first novel earn awards from such organizations as the International Thriller Writers.
Laurie Stephens, owner of Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, has sold Hensley’s books and had him speak at the store. She said she thinks Hensley has many more true stories from his time in the field that would make excellent books — if they weren’t highly confidential.
“I have a feeling he had written a few hundred reports that probably could read as well as any short story you could find,” she said.
While Hensley now works as a training supervisor with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Federal Investigative Services, his criminal justice background isn’t the only aspect of the novel he took from his personal life.
Hensley began running in 2007 and has competed in various half-marathons and other races since — only one marathon, though, where he learned 26.2 miles wasn’t for him.
It was while training for Pittsburgh’s half-marathon in 2010 that the plot of “Resolve” formed.
“During that time when I was out for runs, the concept came to me,” he said. “If I was going to write a book, I could set it against the backdrop of a marathon. I could divide it into 26.2 chapters, make it a murder mystery and use what knowledge I have from the world of law enforcement.”
The novel follows the 2010 marathon course, with the plot often following the terrain — an uphill mile introduces a new complication or a twisty mile means conflict. The writing is fast-paced, but Hensley still took time at the beginning of each chapter to detail what his main character saw of the city.
“I knew I wanted Pittsburgh to really be a character in the book,” Hensley said. “Because it is such an extraordinary city, and it’s not just one setting, but it’s really 20 settings. And the marathon is the best way to put that on display as you run through all the different neighborhoods.”
Pittsburgh Marathon CEO Patrice Matamoros said she has heard of the book. And while it is a little disconcerting to have even a fictional murder associated with the race, she said she is pleased the marathon has become such an icon in the city that it is included in pop culture.
“It is a sign that it is a relevant event in Pittsburgh,” she said. “It would put the Pittsburgh Marathon on [people’s] radar and their map. … The exposure could be a positive thing in participation, as a spectator volunteer or participant.”
A sequel to “Resolve” is due out later this year, and it will feature a main character colliding with the main character from Hensley’s other novel, “Measure Twice.”
But, before then, Hensley will compete in the May 3 marathon as part of a relay group with other federal employees he punnily named “Right Said Fed.”
“Very few people get [that joke] these days,” he said.
Megan Ryan: mryan@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1722 and Twitter @theothermegryan.
First Published: April 21, 2015, 4:00 a.m.