“Why do writers always want to place murders in our little town?”
This was a real question asked to me by the owner of the real bookstore in Bainbridge Island when I went to promote the first in my new series, An Amateur Sleuth’s Guide to Murder, last year.
My only answer is that beautiful and cozy little tourist towns are the perfect backdrop for a murder since it’s an unlikely place for one to happen. Unless you live in Cabot Cove.
I’ve written several different series in the cozy mystery lane, with the Bainbridge Island mystery as my most recent. The series is set on Bainbridge Island near Seattle. The second in the series, Confessions of an Amateur Sleuth releases April 28th. While these books are set in a real place, I’ve taken some liberties with the actual town in my novel.
Like the bookstore that Meg Gates, my amateur sleuth who’s writing a book about being an amateur sleuth, works at, doesn’t exist. Not that there aren’t bookstores in town, even one on that same street, but the one Meg’s mom owns isn’t Eagle Harbor Books, the real bookstore.
I do a lot of research about places that might be there and sometimes reference a restaurant that I’ve gone to when I’m in town, like Proper Fish. My characters meet up for lunch there or get take-out. In Confessions, the mystery was all about the restaurants and the food. So since the restaurants and their chefs were possible murder suspects, I had to fictionalize the ones with a connection to the story.
Even when an author uses a fictional town in a well-known area like my South Cove in the tourist trap series, readers guess what town we based the fictional town on and tell us we got it wrong. I was told there is more than one restaurant in South Cove because she knew I was using a real town of Cambria for the story.
I decided to look at what are other authors doing with their settings? Are they real or fictional?
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First up, Colleen Cambridge sets her American in Paris mystery series, not only in Paris in the late 1940s, early 1950s in Paris, cementing her sleuth as a friend of Juilia Child in Paris. So not only does she have a real setting, she also has to deal with the historical setting. Book 4, In the Spirit of French Murder, releases on April 28th.
After moving to France, Tabitha Knight has a new friend in fellow expat and Cordon Bleu student Julia Child, whose culinary tips can come in quite handy. But something’s cooking in postwar Paris, and it isn’t just cheese soufflé….
Tabitha has enjoyed an entertaining afternoon in Julia’s kitchen, but her return home is a bit jarring. As she arrives at her grandfather’s rue de l’Université mansion, a woman bursts out the door babbling about messages from spirits and a warning Grand-père must heed. Oncle Rafe angrily sends the woman on her way, and neither man will answer Tabitha’s questions.
Tabitha soon finds herself caught up in an investigation that takes her and Inspector Merveille to the seediest, most dangerous parts of the Left Bank—home of strange, fantastical legends, disquieting events, and unusual people. As she and Merveille desperately try to find a killer, they know they don’t have much time before the rest of the Nine Bluets are targeted . . . including Grand-père and Oncle Rafe.
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Darci Hannah just released a new book in her Food and Spirits series called A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle. The real castle (with its bloody history) and Highland setting gives the author some credibility to the claim that ghosts roam the property.
When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases….
Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.
After Bunny serves a feast fit for a seventeenth-century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe…and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free.
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Maddie Day (or Edith Maxwell) returned to her roots in California for her new Wine Country series and the upcoming A Poisonous Pour. The fictional town of Colinas is nestled in the very real Sonoma County wine country, allowing her to create a town and businesses that support her wine focused cozy mystery.
Since moving from L.A. to California’s verdant wine country, widowed single mom Cece Barton has gone from Colinas wine bar manager to wine bar owner—with a chaser of sleuthing….
It’s Memorial Day weekend and Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley is buzzing with activity. For Cece, business at Vino y Vida is going great, as is her romance with new beau, Benjamin. Meanwhile, Cece’s neighbor, Richard Flora, is stirring up controversy with his newest article, an exposé of Regan Greene, power-hungry director of a valley district organization. Also in the mix is the town’s big classic car show, paired with wine tastings….
At the show, Cece spots Regan, who is displaying her restored green ’72 Thunderbird convertible. As Cece pours tastes, she witnesses several heated discussions with Regan—including an argument with wine afficionado and new Colinas hardware store owner Greg Jardis. Otherwise, all goes smoothly—until Sunday brings shocking news. Regan has been murdered….
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So when I used the real Bainbridge Island as a setting, I made it a mix of real and imagined locations. I’ve ridden the ferry and taken a car across to the island (which made me late for an event.) I’ve walked the hills and streets that Meg walks and yes, they have a bit of a tilt which left me winded.
I’ve visited the island a couple of times now and will be back for this month’s release to find more tidbits I can add into future books to make it feel more like Bainbridge, even when I use imagined stores, shops, and restaurants to fill the pages of Meg’s story.
Next up? The flamingo wars of 2025. IYKYK.
Bainbridge Island bookseller, aspiring author, and amateur sleuth Meg (no relation to Bill) Gates investigates the murder of a crabby food critic in New-York-Times-bestselling author Lynn Cahoon’s latest Pacific Northwest-set mystery for fans of Kate Carlisle, Lorna Barrett, Jenn McKinlay, and Ellery Adams.
Twenty-something bookseller and sleuth Meg Gates has a confession: solving crimes may be easier than writing. She’s been working on a guide to becoming a detective—but she’s her own worst critic. She needs a how-to in order to write her how-to!
At the Bainbridge Island writers’ group, she meets freelance food critic Lee Anderson, who invites her to join him for dinner at the Local Crab so he won’t be suspected of reviewing the place. Lee is a bit of a crab himself and intends to do a hatchet job on the eatery.
Instead, someone does a job on the critic—he’s found dead by the marina. Now Bainbridge’s culinary elite are on the suspect list.
With help from her beau, Dalton, and the Mystery Crew at Island Books, Meg dons her sleuthing cap to solve the mystery du jour—before another murder is served cold….
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