SILVERDALE — Peter Stockwell taught middle school in Kitsap County for over 30 years.

Now his life revolves around murder.

He doesn’t kill people, his characters kill people. Some of them do, anyway.

Stockwell, 65, writes mystery novels. He started six years ago after he retired from teaching at Central Kitsap Junior High.

He spent six years there after teaching in the Bremerton School District for 26 years.

“I had fun doing that,” Stockwell said. “It was a great life.”

But with retirement came free time and he had to find something to do.

“I knew retirement was coming up and I’m not one to sit around and do nothing,” Stockwell said.

Stockwell said teaching for three decades prepared him for the publishing world, although somewhat indirectly.

“I taught middle school — I fear nothing,” he said.

Stockwell’s published two novelss since then, “Motive” and “Motivations.”

“Motive” is “the story of the death of Mary Waite and how her husband, Roger, is involved. Can Detective Marcus Jefferson solve the case and keep his marriage intact?”

“Motivation” is actually a prequel to “Motive.” It follows Roger Waite’s initial romance with Mary. They begin their life together “only to have her sanity unravel. Realizing Mary’s sister, Victoria, has been a stabilizing influence, he enlists the teenager’s assistance. The adolescent develops into a virtual twin of her older sister, reminding Roger of the woman he met in college. Can Roger and Mary save their romance or will he succumb to a young teenage twin?”

His third novel, “Jerry’s Motive” is expected to be finished this fall. It follows Jefferson as he seeks to find the true cause of his uncle’s death. The official cause was suicide, but Jefferson suspects it happened during a failed drug operation.

Stockwell will be at Lisa Stirrett’s Glass Art Studio in Silverdale on May 7 for the monthly First Thursday Event. It’s located at 9536 Silverdale Way NW.