I love to travel and I love a mystery! That's why, whenever I go on vacation and visit a city that I've never been to before, I search for a local bookstore where I scan the shelves, looking for mystery/suspense novels by local authors. I do this for two reasons. First, I think it's important to support writers everywhere (maybe someday, someone will return the favor) and secondly, because, when I come home and return to my daily life, I can open the pages and escape to the place I've just been. It's a way to hang on to the "vacation" mode, I guess.
Two examples come immediately to mind. In 2004, I visited Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, my favorite of the three. I found a bookstore on Martha's Vineyard and purchased a mystery novel, Murder on Martha's Vineyard, by David Osborn, a local writer. Back at home, I read the book and really liked it so, eager to see if I could find more of his novels, I went to the library and was thrilled to see that they were available. I read them all and was able to stay on Martha's Vineyard a lot longer than my one week vacation allowed.
Another example, in 2009, a friend and I went to Wilmington, North Carolina where I bought two mystery novels by Wanda Canada. I found Island Murders and Cape Fear Murders to be very enjoyable reading. When I got home, I read both novels and felt as if I were still sitting on a pier, gazing out at the Cape Fear river, watching the boats go by. Delightful!
