Eat, Drink, and Be Wary

 

Setting a book in your home area is common for authors. It's easy, because we know a lot about it already. In addition, we can showcase what we love about the place. I live in northern Lower Michigan, so for the Sleuth Sisters, I invented and inserted a county along the Lake Huron shoreline, between Alpena and Presque Isle Counties. In this book, the sisters go west to visit the Leelanau Peninsula, noted for charm, vineyards, and tourists.

Michigan has two very different coastlines in the top half of the "mitten," the Lower Peninsula. On the east side (where I live), the land is flat and the coastline fairly regular. On the west, Lake Michigan side, one finds dramatic rises, inlets, and other interesting geographic features like steep sand dunes and long, narrow peninsulas. Over the last few decades, growers have begun vineyards along the western shores, and that combined with the visual beauty brings in visitors with lots of money to spend.

One of the things I notice looking back on my work is that some of my themes have become more controversial over time. I thought the "Love-Able Ladies" retreat was just a funny bit, but we are seeing more and more pressure on women to become "trad-wives," even though the women who push that idea are making tons of money by doing the opposite of what they preach. 

In Eat, Drink, and Be Wary, Retta and Faye attend a retreat at a fancy inn/vineyard. Soon trouble erupts, and they're separated and in danger. Barb shows up and finds herself in danger as well. This book is available here for $2.99.