I’ve always enjoyed reading books in the season when they are set. I’ve done this most often with the work of Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels because that writer, whose real name is actually Barbara Mertz, does such a fabulous job of bringing in the season as well as the physical setting. So I can’t help thinking about what might be going on in Augusta, Missouri with Jen and her fellow characters even though I’m up here in the slightly cooler state of Michigan. Much like in my mystery novel, we have storms rumbling through that are bringing cooler air and lower humidity.
By my book’s timeline, this upcoming weekend would probably be the one when Grandma Kay’s mystery weekend would take place. Today would be when Jen and Bri are putting the final touches on the Schoenhaus. And tomorrow bad things begin to happen. I wonder whether I’d be able to read my own book for its early summer atmosphere. A lot of novelists can’t go back because all they can see are the things that they would have done differently.
Kristin Wolden Nitz 