When crime reporter Rita Locke discovers a prominent funeral director who was murdered is accused of burying empty coffins, she decides to dig a little deeper.
Even if that includes putting her life in danger.
That’s always been her modus operandi — her way of approaching a newspaper story — which comes alive in the book “Empty Boxes,” written by former Tribune-Review journalist Robin Acton.
Although the book is fiction, Acton drew upon her experiences as a journalist when telling the story.
“I have always been intrigued by criminal cases, and I watch ‘Forensic Files’ and ‘True Crime,’ ” said Acton, who spent more than three decades as a newspaper journalist and an award-winning courts and crime reporter.
The job took her from crime scenes and courtrooms in Western Pennsylvania to the mountains of Idaho, the Arizona desert, New York City and the marbled halls of Congress in Washington, D.C.
A thriller
In the book, Locke convinces her editor and publisher to allow her to travel to a medical school in the Caribbean, where she uncovers a sinister plot of international proportions. Locke’s curiosity about the crime shows across the 286 pages of this thriller.
The level of suspense in “Empty Boxes” caught the attention of literary agent Dean Krystek. A retired Army veteran from Mechanicsburg, Krystek, who grew up in Penn Hills, is president and managing director of WordLink Inc.
He and Acton met at the Killer Nashville International Writers Conference in 2022.
“What drew me to her book is its authenticity and that it is based around her background,” Krystek said. “Robin draws a direct parallel with what you read on the pages from what she’s experienced. It’s not sensationalized. She combines her hometown look behind the scenes with an international flair.”
Amphorae Publishing Group published the book through its Blank Slate Press imprint.
“Robin has an amazing ability to provide just the right amount of detail and description to put you in the moment,” said Lisa Miller, publisher and managing editor of Amphorae, via email. “She spices that with pacing which keeps you on the edge of your seat. ‘Empty Boxes’ is perfect escapism filled with fully developed characters who draw you into every suspenseful moment. It’s a great story, with amped up characters.”
“Empty Boxes” is Acton’s second book. Her self-published debut novel “The Taker,” won an international impact award for 2025 in the mystery category and was a finalist for the 2022 Silver Falchion Award in the mystery category in a competition sponsored by the Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference.
A third book is coming — “The Last Obituary” — in 2027. Acton is researching a fourth book, with the working title of “They’re All Dead Now.”
Inspired by dad
A Mt. Pleasant Township resident, Acton dedicated “The Taker” to her daughter Amy Studer. “Empty Boxes” is dedicated to Acton’s 88-year-old father, Bob Acton of Windham, N.H.
Bob Acton introduced his daughter to newspapers at a young age. She recalled Saturday mornings at the Herald-Standard in Uniontown with her father, who was the advertising director. She started working part time in the advertising department in 1977 when her daughter was a baby.
When Acton moved from the advertising department to the news department part time, she would often listen to the police scanner. That is when she fell in love with the news. She started night school at California University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her journalism degree.
As a Herald-Standard reporter, Acton covered general news assignments prior to specializing in criminal court coverage.
In 1997, she joined the investigative reporting team at the Tribune-Review in Greensburg.
Acton said she’s often been told to “write about what you know.” In her books, readers might recognize familiar locations. Her research includes reaching out to expert professional contacts she’s made through her extensive journalism career — state police and prosecutors and public defenders and judges.
“My career was as a journalist, and this is my second act in retirement,” she said. “I’m fine with being a big fish or a medium-sized fish, or even a minnow, in a small pond, because I’ve had a blast with these books. The books have given me the opportunity to meet so many readers and other authors, both local and bestsellers. I’m grateful anytime a reader chooses to spend money on something I’ve created.”
“Empty Boxes” is $18.95 and is available through Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Bookshop and at Second Chapter Books in Ligonier and The Plot Twist in Connellsville.
Details:robinactonbooks.com