Where Do Your Sleuths Live?

I write where I know. I’m a Virginia girl, and all of my stories and books are set in the Commonwealth. We have mountains, beaches, lakes, and urban and rural areas.

My sassy private eye, Delanie Fitzgerald, lives in a Yates Model of a Sears Catalog House. Back in the day, folks would order the home from the catalog, and it would arrive by rail to be assembled on your lot. Many of the boards and parts had the model numbers stamped on it. There are quite a few that have been restored across the country. The Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries are set in Chesterfield and Richmond, Virgina, and she sleuths in the nearby towns and counties.

In the Jules Keene Glamping Mysteries, I made up the small town of Fern Valley which is located near Charlottesville, Virginia. Jules restores vintage trailers to create glamping (glamorous camping) experiences for her guests. She owns a campground full of vintage trailers and tiny houses. Jules lives in one of the restored cabins on the back of the property.

In the Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mysteries, Jade Hicks lives in a small beach cottage that she inherited from her grandmother. Her shop and house are in the fictional town of Mermaid Bay. It’s located near the Historical Triangle of Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown. ‘Tis the Season, her shop, is in a converted beach cottage with a large front porch. The town prides itself on preserving the traditions of the quaint beach towns of the past without McMansions and big box stores.

In the Pearly Girls Mysteries (March 2025), Cassidy Jamison is an event planner who lives on her property. Her apartment is the top floor of the converted farmhouse which is also her office. The event site boasts a refurbished barn, a serenity garden, an amphitheater, and a cave. Cassidy lives in Ivy Springs, Virginia, which is in the Blue Ridge Mountains along the I-81 corridor.

In my cozy mysteries, I created fictional towns near real places in Virginia. Each amateur sleuth has the type of job that brings her into contact with a lot of people (many of whom turn out to be suspects).

It’s fun to create worlds for the characters and places for them to live and work and solve crimes.

It's Fall Y'all!

You all know that I’m a beach girl. I grew up in Virginia Beach, and Labor Day was always bittersweet. It was the end of the season. The tourists headed home, and many of the businesses boarded up until May. And the temperatures dropped. For me, it meant time to go back to school and schedules. Fall always meant the end.

We live in Central Virginia now, and fall has become one of my favorite seasons. I love boots, comfy sweaters, and fluffy socks. And don’t forget the bonfires, caramel apples, and trips to the pumpkin patch. There are so many seasonal traditions that I look forward to. I love the show that the leaves put on each autumn. The cooler temperatures and football season are the highlights.

I also love to go to the apple orchards in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The mountains are gorgeous this season. Apple-picking is so much fun. Plus, they have apple cider, fresh honey, apple cider doughnuts, and did I mention the caramel apples? And don’t forget the amazing fall speciality drinks.

Fall also has some amazing holidays — Halloween and Thanksgiving roll right into Christmas and New Years.

And I’m soooo looking forward to my new Jules Keene Glamping mystery, Christmas Lights and Cat Fights. It drops October 17.

What are your favorite fall events?