The idea for the Destination Murder series of travel mysteries came out of my years as a working travel writer. As the editor of a travel-industry magazine, I would take about 10-12 trips a year to cover hotels and destinations. As explained to the lead character, Samantha “Sam” Powers, in the first book in the series, these are called “press” or “familiarization” (aka “fam”) trips and are often done in a group with other writers.
One of the things I enjoyed doing when traveling was to find a book set in the place I was visiting at a local bookstore. This way I could read the book on my trip home as a way of revisiting the sites I had just seen. I particularly enjoyed finding mysteries, both because of a life-long love of mysteries and because mysteries tend to be about place, with detectives (both amateur and professional) visiting locales to glean clues to help solve the mystery. I discovered a number of authors writing series set in great places: from C.J. Box in Wyoming and Todd Borg in Lake Tahoe to Ian Rankin in Edinburgh and Sue Grafton in Santa Barbara (even if she called it Santa Teresa).
Then, about 10 years ago, I had a trip that solidified my idea of a mystery-solving travel writer. That particular press trip started at The Algonquin Hotel in New York City before traveling on a newly launched railroad created with antique cars up to Montreal and over to Portland, Maine. To begin the trip, the invited writers gathered for dinner at the Algonquin’s famous Round Table. Perfect setting for a group of writers headed out on a vintage train trip, right? As I sat at the table that opening night, it quickly became apparent that one of the writers—one of the 10 people I was going to spend the next four days with—was (and I don’t say this lightly) the most obnoxious person I had ever met.
After dinner, I went up to my room and called my husband and told him. His response — “If there’s a murder on the train, I know who it will be!” — triggered the idea for the books. The first book in the series, “Destination Maui,” recreates a bit of that same scenario of being trapped on a press trip with an obnoxious person everyone wants to kill. The differences being that the person then dies in a mysterious fashion and it’s set at a luxury resort on Maui instead of on a train.
“Destination Maui” also sets up the overall setting for the series. We learn that Sam Powers, an investigative reporter in Los Angeles, has returned home to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, (one of my favorite places in the world) to help care for her ailing father, Carmel’s former police chief. When long-time family friend Mona Reynolds, the editor-in-chief of Carmel Today magazine, asks Sam to come to work for her as the part-time travel columnist, Sam is launched into the travel industry and its various characters. On that first trip, she also meets a handsome Maui detective named Roger Kai, and romance ensues (in addition to her solving the murder, of course).
In the second book in the series, “Destination Monterey,” Sam is assigned to write about her hometown, which can be challenging for a travel writer. Sent on a solo press trip to scenic locales around the Monterey Peninsula, Sam learns to see the area in a new light — in addition to uncovering a cold case involving the strange disappearance of the previous editor of Carmel Today.
With “Destination Lake Tahoe,” Sam is invited to cover the opening of a newly restored lodge in Lake Tahoe. Like a lot of ski-related press trips, Sam is allowed to bring a guest. While briefly wondering if she should invite Roger Kai, the Maui detective she’s still seeing (as well as one can long-distance), Sam decides to bring her best friend, Lizzy, a former professional tennis player turned owner of a dog-friendly cafe in Carmel. As a blizzard hits the area, press trip participants keep disappearing and one is found dead. Sam and Lizzy — and the Scooby gang she creates with her fellow press trip attendees — have to work together to figure out whodunnit.
The upcoming “Destination New York City” will, as its name suggests, take Sam to New York City. In addition to highlighting the hustle and bustle of the city, the book will feature a luxury hotel modeled after New York’s many fabulous (and history-filled) hotels — including, of course, the one where it all began: The Algonquin.
