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Brad Meltzer, best-selling mystery writer and host of Brad Meltzer’s Decoded on the History Channel, stopped by Murder by the Book bookstore in the Village last month for a reading and book signing. Before the crowd gathered, he talked about the inspiration behind his latest novel, The Inner Circle, and the special research help he received from former president George H.W. Bush.

“A couple of years ago, I got a call from Homeland Security. They were asking ordinary people like me to brainstorm different ways terrorists could attack the United States. Where did they get the idea to hire us, as regular citizens?” Meltzer asked. “I started researching the idea and discovered that it all started with a guy named George Washington.”

Washington’s Culper Ring, comprised of everyday citizens who funneled secret information to then-General George Washington, helped win the Revolutionary War. Meltzer wondered if a citizens’ spy ring, answering directly to the president, could exist today. He turned to his best source — Meltzer mystery book fan and former president George H.W. Bush.

“He responded to me by email, with an attachment,” Meltzer explained. “The attachment was the sealed letter he had left for Bill Clinton, when he was leaving office and Clinton had just been elected.”

There was no code or secret message hidden in the missive. “The true code was that the letter was gracious, amazing and generous,” Meltzer continued. “President Bush was reminding me that presidents, for all the heights we put them on and all the ditches we throw them in, are just people like us, regular people.”

The Inner Circle, Meltzer’s 10th mystery novel, leads an ordinary hero on a desperate path of codes and clues through the National Archives. As part of his research for the book, he was given a guided tour of the Archives, which included underground caves located across the country. Yes, they are real.

“The last 100 pages of the book are set in those underground caves, and they look exactly as I described them in the novel. That’s all I’ll say, because I don’t want to ruin the end of the book.”

Meltzer says his History Channel program, Brad Meltzer’s Decoded, was an easy transition for a writer with a life-long passion for history, secrets and unsung heroes. He hosts the weekly show, which features a team of experts uncovering surprises and unknown facts and raising new questions about the past.

“People think history is a bunch of dates and facts to be memorized. That’s not what history is. History doesn’t just choose some people in rare moments and throw them together. History chooses every single one of us every single day. It’s ordinary people who make this world a better place.”

At that point, his fans began taking their seats for Meltzer’s reading at Murder by the Book. The bookstore offers comfortable chairs and end tables nestled between shelves of new and used books — perfectly cozy for reading thrilling stories. As Meltzer prepared to greet the crowd, we couldn’t resist asking one last question about his Houston visit:

Would he be dining with Bush Senior? “No comment,” he laughed.

By Marsha Carter