Women’s Murder Club book features Valley man

YOUNGSTOWN — Imagine reading a fast-paced Women’s Murder Club book and there you are, the novel’s arson investigator.

As the jacket of James Patterson’s “7th Heaven” explains, the club pursues two cases — “chasing a deranged killer and searching for a murderer with a taste for fire.”

The seventh book in the popular series set in San Francisco features a homicide detective, medical examiner, assistant district attorney and reporter — all women. It is co-authored by Maxine Paetro.

“Chuck Hanni was an arson investigator, one of the best,” is the introduction readers get in Chapter 17 to a prominent character. In reality, Hanni is a Mahoning Valley resident; in the book, he works in San Francisco.

Hanni’s character has “fine black hair,” so a little dye job will be necessary if he’s asked to play his character in the ABC-TV series “Women’s Murder Club.”

Hanni, a 49-year-old Ohio state fire marshal investigator, told The Vindicator he has “going gray” blond hair.

As a state investigator, Hanni has a territory that skims the Pennsylvania border — Columbiana, Mahoning, Trumbull and Ashtabula counties. He’s investigated more than 60 fatal fires.

His inclusion in the book sprang from a referral Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, Trumbull County forensic pathologist, made more than a year ago to Paetro, who needed to call on the expertise of an arson investigator.

Dr. Germaniuk has served as technical adviser for five Patterson-Paetro novels and appeared in “The Sixth Target” as San Francisco’s deputy chief forensic pathologist.

“Chuck and I have worked numerous arsons. He’s meticulous, thorough, he leaves no stone unturned,” Dr. Germaniuk said. “We have a lot of talent here in the Mahoning Valley, dedicated public servants like Chuck.”

Dr. Germaniuk said he reads the Patterson manuscripts and proofs them.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.