Michael Barrett’s “Shoshana”

Authors are always told: “Write what you know.”

So why does Michael Barrett‘s 1st novel involve neo-Nazis protecting a Treblinka guard, now resettled in the US; a beautiful Mossad agent, and a professor named Morris?

Because — in one way or another — they’re all part of Barrett’s very intriguing life.

After graduating from Fairfield University as an English major, he spent 23 years with the Westport Police Department. He served as a detective, worked on the auto theft task force, and was a sketch artist who helped colleagues around the state nab rape and homicide suspects.

Barrett retired in 2000. He now owns a security firm, and consults with businesses like Mitchells. He also paints portraits, and plays jazz sax and flute.

The ex-cop was a longtime friend of the late Fairfield philosophy professor Morris Grossman. Barrett has always been interested in the Holocaust, and — though he’s not Jewish — he learned a lot of Jewish history from Grossman.

Including Treblinka. The detective spent years researching that Nazi extermination camp.

His debut novel is Shoshana. Its intricate plot includes — in addition to “Morris” and Treblinka — a cop named Artie. He’s an accomplished portrait painter, who becomes a police composite artist.

The book is set in “Westcove,” Connecticut. Clearly, Michael Barrett has written about what he knows.

The book jacket says, “Artie confronts issues of morality, revenge, and the meaning of Jewish suffering through the ages.”

Just another day in the life of an ex-Westport cop.

(For more information, or to order Shoshana, click here.)