Although set on a golf course in Georgia, Susan Mucha drew from her Mt. Lebanon roots to write “Deadly Deception.” “She got information from all of us for the book,” said Mucha’s sister, Ann Heckel of Brighton Heights. “My dog, Blue, is even in the book.” Mucha’s family moved to Mt. Lebanon about 1952 and she attended St. Bernard’s grade school Elizabeth Seton High School, now Seton LaSalle High School in Mt. Lebanon. “Deadly Deception,” originally written as Mucha’s theses for a master’s degree at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, is about a murder at the Augusta National Golf Club. The fictional story is based on an actual event — a stampede in a soccer stadium in Lima, Peru, in which 300 spectators were crushed to death. “My husband is from Lima and was a medical student there at the time and remembers the tragedy vividly,” said Mucha, 61. “When he told me about it, I tucked the idea away to use some day in a story.” Mucha, who is also a registered nurse, met her husband, Edgardo Mucha, while a student nurse in the emergency room at West Jefferson Hospital, where he was a resident physician. Dr. Mucha’s career took the couple from Pittsburgh to New Orleans, Syracuse and, in 1986, to Augusta — home of the Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Golf Tournament– where they currently reside. While in her 50s, Susan Mucha returned to school and earned a bachelor’s degree to teach English and Spanish at Augusta State University. In addition, she teaches English at the university and runs a mentoring program at a local inner-city school. She completed her master’s degree at Seton Hill University in a program that allowed her to return to the Pittsburgh area for two weeks at a time. An avid reader of mysteries, she said that’s what she wanted to write. “I wanted to write a good book, not just churn out a tale,” Mucha said. “What I did was take my notebook with me when we made trips to Peru. I wrote down everything I saw. I asked questions about everything.” Former New York City cop turned author and Mon Valley native Patrick Picciarelli served as Mucha’s mentor at Seton Hill, where is an adjunct professor. “I couldn’t improve her writing skill, she was skilled,” Picciarelli said. “I helped her with the proper way an investigation would be conducted.” Picciarelli said Mucha’s book is unique. “Susan’s book takes place on a golf course in Augusta during the Masters and leads to Peru where the case originated. That was the hook that hooked the publishers,” Picciarelli said. “It hadn’t been done before. I can’t recall a mystery taking place in Peru.” Mucha will return to the Pittsburgh area for a television appearance on Pittsburgh Live at 9 a.m. on June 23. She will also be at Barnes and Noble in Greensburg on June 24 and the Homestead site on June 25 for signings of her book, which was published in March by Harbor House.

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