Hope everyone had a great week. Today I’m pleased to bring back my friend Annette Dashofy to Help From My Friends Friday. Why? Because she’s here to talk about her brand new mystery series! Now don’t be jealous but I read a draft, and what can I say, it was great back then! Please welcome Author Annette Dashofy to my blog as she tells us more. ~ Donnell
Location, Location, Location
by Annette Dashofy
Author Annette Dashofy
I’ve always believed settings are as important to a story as characters. Maybe it’s because, as a reader, I love series with such a vivid setting that I feel like I’m coming home each time I pick up the latest book. Some are fictional, such as Julia Spencer-Fleming’s Miller’s Kill, New York, and Craig Johnson’s Absaroka County, Wyoming. And I couldn’t very well touch on this topic without mentioning Louise Penny’s Three Pines.
Other locations are real, such as Anne Hillerman’s (and her father Tony’s, before her) Shiprock, New Mexico. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell. Is it real or is it Memorex (remember those commercials)? I know Shiprock is real because I’ve been there. But Miller’s Kill and Absaroka feel so authentic, the only reason I know they’re fictional is because the authors have told me so.
There’s also Painters Mill in the Ohio Amish Country where Linda Castillo’s series is set. I’ve frequented that area. Her depiction is spot on, so much so that I spent several hours one afternoon searching maps, trying to locate it.
I know it’s fictional, but darn it, I’m still not convinced.
But just because it’s fictional, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Now, I have a new book and new series out. The Detective Honeywell Mysteries are set in Erie, Pennsylvania, one hundred and fifty miles north of where I (and Zoe) call home. Unlike Monongahela County, Erie is real. Presque Isle State Park is real. Sara’s Campground where Emma Anderson lives is real. So is the police department. If I get something wrong? It’s wrong.
And I do get stuff wrong, often intentionally. Yes, Sara’s Campground is real (and I am very appreciative that the owners gave me their blessing to use it), but don’t go driving around it, looking for Emma’s site number. I created a whole group of campsites where none exist to protect campers’ privacy. If you follow the directions in the story, you’ll end up looking up at a cliff face.
I did the same for most of the businesses downtown. The streets I mention are real but the yoga studio and publishing office only reside in my imagination.
The police department is real. That one would be hard to make up. I’m ever so grateful to the city detective who took time from his day off to give me a tour. I’m also grateful that he told me only a handful of people in the city would be aware of any inaccuracies. This is good because I don’t have a photographic memory.
Whether a location is real or a fictionalized version of a real place, the setting needs to be authentic. To me, that means it must contain layers. Google Maps, especially the street views, are great. But they can’t give you the sound of gulls squawking overhead or of waves lapping at the shore. They can’t let you feel the wind coming off the lake as it tosses your hair across your face. Nor can it offer the aroma of wood smoke and grilled meat wafting from the camp next door. For these, I have to take research trips to Erie and Presque Isle State Park. I drive the streets to get a sense of the atmosphere. I sit at the edge of Lake Erie, close my eyes, and experience all the sensations.
(And it’s research, so it’s a tax write-off!)
Then there’s the whole point of view issue. Matthias has lived in Erie for a couple of decades. Emma is new to the area. She’s going to notice things that he takes for granted. When we, as writers, set our story close to home, we can fall victim to the same thing. I had to train myself to pay attention to sights, sounds, and smells that readers from far away might appreciate knowing about.
Overall, setting is more than what a place looks like. It needs to have as much depth and soul as our characters.
About Where the Guilty Hide:
On the shore of Lake Erie, Pennsylvania, a body lays half hidden, the waves slowly moving it with the rising tide…
In the early morning mist, freelance photographer Emma Anderson takes pictures of the rocky coastline. She moved to Erie to escape a past that haunts her but the last thing she expects to capture is a dead body.
Erie City Police Detective Matthias Honeywell has been investigating a spate of home invasions but when one of the robbery victims turns up dead, his case evolves into homicide. Emma’s first encounter with Detective Honeywell leaves her shaken when he reminds her of her ex-fiancé-turned-stalker. Matthias misinterprets Emma’s anxiety and suspects she knows more than she’s letting on.
With the threat of another murder and no obvious leads, will Emma and Matthias overcome their mutual distrust and work together to capture a killer?
Erie City Detective Matthias Honeywell has been investigating a spate of home invasions but when one of the robbery victims turns up dead, his case evolves into homicide. The last thing freelance photographer Emma Anderson expects to capture is a dead body. Emma’s first encounter with Detective Honeywell leaves her shaken when he reminds her of her ex-fiancé-turned-stalker. Matthias misinterprets Emma’s anxiety and suspects she knows more than she’s letting on.
With the threat of another murder, Emma and Matthias must overcome their mutual distrust and work together to capture a killer.
About the Author:
USA Today bestseller Annette Dashofy is the author of over a dozen novels including the five-time Agatha Award nominated Zoe Chambers mystery series about a paramedic-turned-coroner in rural Pennsylvania. Her standalone novel, Death By Equine is the 2021 winner of the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award for excellence in thoroughbred racing literature. Where the Guilty Hide (One More Chapter/HarperCollins UK, January 20, 2023) is the first in her new Detective Honeywell series set on the shores of Lake Erie.
Thanks for having me here today, Donnell!
Annette, I love this post, fine examples about setting, including your Zoe Chamber mysteries. You nail why settings are critical to successful books. Thanks for being my guest today.. You paint quite a canvas with words.
Aw, thanks, Donnell!
Everything about both series feel 100% real to me. You make the setting and the characters come so alive that I feel like I should be able to walk down the street and recognize people.
Thanks so much, Jeanie!