Bellwood-Antis senior, Vincent Cacciotti, is officially a published author. In December of 2023, Vincent completed his mystery book, titled “Memoirs of Ceaseless Suspicion: A Tell-Tale Funeral”.
The plot follows the timeline of a memorial service for critic Tristan Holiday, a character in Vincent’s murder mystery that took place on November 4, 2023.
Ultimately, I wanted to create something for the kids who were present so that when they have kids one day, they’ll be able to dust this book off and show them that they were a character in a book in high school.
— Vincent Cacciotti
“The book itself is twenty accounts of the events that occurred at the service. Each chapter is a new perspective,” Vincent quoted.
He spent his November weekends writing and editing, and found it to be a seamless process. Less than three weeks after he began, Vincent wrapped up the 162-page story on December 3.
“If you know what the characters are supposed to do, it is much easier to progress the plot than in a real-life murder mystery where you have to prepare for every scenario … The story is fictional, but for me it was nonfiction,” he said.
Certain fast-paced parts of the book stuck out as favorites for Vincent to write, such as a few of the character death scenes, the “lie detector scene”, and the final chapter. Thus, he struggled with having to get through some of the “more boring sections” that were necessary for the reader to understand.
Vincent’s purpose for “Memoirs of Ceaseless Suspicion: A Tell-Tale Funeral” was to be a souvenir for those involved in his murder mystery. However, the storyline is readable and enjoyable for anyone.
Writing more in the future is not out of the question for Vincent, as he “left the door intentionally open to the possibility” of another project. He likes to document, in some way, all of the games and mysteries he’s created throughout high school.
“Ultimately, I wanted to create something for the kids who were present so that when they have kids one day, they’ll be able to dust this book off and show them that they were a character in a book in high school … certainly something that few people will be able to do,” commented Vincent.
For interested readers, “Memoirs of Ceaseless Suspicion: A Tell-Tale Funeral” is available for purchase on Amazon!
