Serially bestselling Old Lyme author Luanne Rice has a well-established writing process she’s honed over the course of almost 40 novels. She sits down at her keyboard with a main character in mind and no idea of a plot — and takes off.

In the case of her latest Young Adult mystery, “If Anything Should Happen to Me,” all Rice knew when she started writing was that her protagonist was a high school senior named Oli Parrish, and that the book would open with the young woman hiking toward … well, somewhere or something in in the woods.

Two hours of typing later, Chapter One was finished and Rice found out what Oli was looking for and what she WASN’T looking for — and both will definitely get readers’ attention.

In fact, Rice surprised herself.

“Well, I always try to embrace my New England heritage and there’s a lot of creepy history — ghosts and darkness and haunted houses, visits to Salem and corn mazes, that sort of thing,” Rice said in a phone interview last week. “So I found out Oli was leading me to her sister Eloise’s grave — and that wasn’t even the biggest shock.” She laughed. “It was kind of fun.”

“If Anything Should Happen to Me” is out Sept. 17, and Rice celebrates with a discussion and signing at the Grand Opening of the new location of Bank Square Books on Stonington Road. Rice also appears Sept. 19 at New London’s Garde Arts Center as the featured writer at the CT Authors Trail series finale event.

A complex mystery

In “If Anything Should Happen to Me,” there is indeed a gothic quality although the time frame is contemporaneous. The action takes place in and around Black Hall, Connecticut — Rice’s go-to and fictional equivalent of Old Lyme — and it’s also fun that the characters spend quality time in New London. Or maybe not so quality, depending on which character you’re talking about.

In the story — no spoilers! — Eloise was a murder victim and now, eight months after her body was discovered, investigators haven’t identified any suspects. Then Oli runs across a young woman, Iris, who survived a similar attack but is suffering from blocks of lost memory. Iris doesn’t know where she is or how she got there, but she DOES remember that she and her sister, Hayley, were kidnapped. There are overlaps with what is known about Eloise’s situation, but Iris fears bringing in police might endanger Hayley, so, with Oli’s help, the two start to investigate.

Clues point to the Miramar, an old Victorian hotel famous for apocryphal visitations from three white-clad specters. (Local trivia: Can you figure out what building was Rice’s inspiration for the Miramar?) And of course, Rice throws in a loyal boyfriend and helpful school pals. Or ARE they loyal/trustworthy?

A fusion of elements

It’s a multi-layered mystery that Rice orchestrates with virtuosity, and her ability to tap into the emotions and complexities eternally indigenous to Young People makes “If Anything Should Happen” an enjoyably disturbing read as we enter the Halloween season.

Longtime Rice fans will also enjoy that she brings her love of wildlife — particularly birds — and coastal New England into the proceedings as many of the students are connected through a school birding club.

“I’ve always loved nature since I was young, when it became such a big part of my life,” Rice said. “I relied on nature — walking on the beach, studying tide pools, hiking in the woods and watching birds — as a release because I was struggling with so many things that were happening in the world and at home. Years later, living in Manhattan, I’d go birding in Central Park every day. And I wanted my characters to know the enjoyment of nature.”

Another recurrent theme in all of Rice’s work — which includes four YA titles and 35 novels for adults — is her fascination with the dynamics of family, and particularly the relationships between sisters. While these elements might fit neatly into the lucrative genre of “family” or “women’s” fiction, the idea of writing about such things because of commercial appeal was never Rice’s motivation.

“I think all along I was looking for answers,” Rice said. “Even at the start of my career I thought there was nothing more fascinating to write about than family. But over time I’ve come up with more questions than answers. How is it possible to lose someone we love? Death? Circumstances? A misunderstanding that separates us? But through it all I’m comforted by the idea that there’s also an endless power of love that goes beyond everything.

“We can’t force or contrive a happy ending in life, but at least my characters are always reaching for that. Maybe that’s a glass-half-full approach.” She laughed. “I want my characters to turn out well and safe, and by extension that will extend to my family and the people I love and my cats. We all get through it all holding each other up.”

A new genre in recent years

In recent years, Rice has segued into writing mystery/thriller fiction, which, as many authors have postulated, might be viewed as the most accurate way to best reflect the stark realities of culture and society.

Within those parameters, Rice said, in an email subsequent to the interview, that writing the new book reminded her that “crime fiction can be a prism — light passes through its planes and angles and is refracted, smashed apart, separated into colors that shimmer around the room. Everything is broken, but there is still this extraordinary light. I believe that as much as something as dark as murder can exist along something as bright as love, the opposite is also true: we can see the beauty in life in juxtaposition to what is evil. What IS evil? Is someone born with darkness or is it a question of suffering and environment?”

Addressing these overlapping extremes in teen fiction is something Rice thinks about a lot. Stylistically, she’s never gratuitous in violence regardless of grim elements like murder or kidnapping. In fact, she has a remarkable ability to infuse the timeless charms of Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys-type mysteries — and the attendant innocence of an earlier slice of America — with all the trappings and convenience of up-to-the-moment culture.

Presented with that compliment, she pauses, thinking. “As a kid I was always drawn to Nancy Drew because (the books) weren’t just good, scary stories that worked out OK. They also taught me to figure out the mysteries of real life: trying to figure out who we are and who to trust. You’re at an age when so much is thrown at you.

“Some of it’s universal, but some of it’s distinct to the times we live in. I like keeping up with technology and music and social media. It’s intriguing and I enjoy it. And it helps that I know plenty of wonderful young people who talk to me openly about their lives. That’s invaluable.”

r.koster@theday.com

Who: Luanne Rice

What: Discusses and signs “If Anything Happens to Me”

When: 6 p.m. Sept. 17

Where: Grand opening of new Bank Square Books location, 80 Stonington Road, Mystic

How much: Free, RSVP requested

For more information: banksquarebooks.com, (860) 536-3795

What: Speaking and signing at CT Author Trail Finale

When: 6:30 p.m. Sept. 19

Where: Garde Arts Center, 325 State St., New London

How much: Free but limit of four tickets per online order

For more information: gardearts.com or your local library