Westport Public Library BOOK blog

Although there is a certain appeal in exotic locales, I truly enjoy a story set in a place that I know well.

There are many mysteries set in popular summer travel destinations.

Martha’s Vineyard is home to Cynthia Riggs’s character Victoria Trumbull, an astute 92-year old Vineyard native and deputy police officer as well as Philip R. Craig’s Jefferson “J. W.” Jackson, a 30-something ex-Boston cop.

Cape Cod’s Barnstable County is the bailiwick of Rose Connor’s character, Assistant D.A. Martha “Marty” Nickerson.

Cape Cod is also the setting for two classics, Margot Arnold’s The Cape Cod Caper and Phoebe Atwood Taylor’s The Mystery of the Cape Cod Tavern.

If Long Island beaches are more to your liking, try Hope McIntyre’s How to Marry a Ghost, Cleo Coyle’s Murder Most Frothy, or Sheryl J. Anderson’s Killer Cocktail. Would that be Long Island Iced Tea?

There’s a mystery. Why do they call it Long Island Tea when it doesn’t have any tea in it?

For a bit of Hampton’s noir, there is Chris Knopf’s ex-boxer and retired engineer Sam Acquillo.

And if you are a lakeside lounger, Anne White’s Lake George mysteries will acquaint you with local history and legends while you figure out whodunit.

There is no such thing as Adirondack Iced Tea, but you can mix just about anything with that Saratoga water fresh from the foothills in those magnificent cobalt blue bottles.

Watch out for the Adirondack Martini, however, unless you like maple syrup drizzled into your drink.

Vacation, vacation, vacation!