The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Main Sleuth on Vacation…

Just yesterday, Mary Joy wrote a comment with this question:

Mary Joy:

“Does anyone find they do not enjoy the books in series that go “off site” for that particular story? In all the series I read, I never enjoy the ones that take place on vacation or in a foreign country, etc. Instead of being more interesting for me, I usually end up skimming lots of pages. I think I enjoy the familiar surroundings and reading about their everyday routines. I sound dull, don’t I? Is it just me – do others out there enjoy the change of venue?”

Mary Joy, I will say, “No, No” to the two questions you posed (you don’t sound dull and it isn’t just you), and “Yes, Yes, Yes” in agreement with her sentiment. (Obviously, this doesn’t apply to series that feature touring/traveling of some sort.)

I do NOT like it when my main sleuth leaves her town to go on holiday. Yes, I know that everyone deserves a little vacation now and then, but I’d rather my main sleuths take their vacations while “on hiatus” (between books). I want my main sleuths back in their familiar town/village (which has become “my” familiar town/village) – with their familiar friends and the eccentric busybodies.

I would much prefer hearing about their vacation in the past tense, perhaps when my main sleuth is having her/his morning cup of coffee (or cuppa) while telling her/his friends about all the fun things (i.e. murders, no doubt!) she/he encountered while on vacation. (And, by this, I don’t mean an “I-remember-when” retro mystery book that takes place in another location.)

So, I guess I should pose a new question: Is it just us (Mary Joy and me) – do others out there enjoy the change of venue?”

PS>>> I just remembered I wrote an entry about this very same thing about a year ago. (I searched for it, and found it: Cozy Mystery Sleuths Who Leave Their Cozy Towns, Villages, “Worlds”…)

Comments

  1. I think it depends on the author’s skill of not making us miss the familiar setting we are used to and how dependent the series is on the supporting characters. I can think of many examples of some of my favorites where the main sleuth has gone on a trip and it’s been a wonderful addition to the series. For an example of one I liked, GA Mckevett had Savannah go back home to GA in one book where we met more of her family and when the mystery occurred two of the series regulars showed up to help her solve it. So I still had my favorite characters there but I also got to know more about the background of the main sleuth and see some other background characters in action.
    I think in a book where the supporting characters aren’t as big a part of the series a change in location doesn’t bother me cause the main sleuth is the main focus anyway. Poirot never had a home base, he was always in different places.
    I can also think of examples where traveling did take something away from the story because of the different setting. A few of the Aunt Dimity series have taken place outside of the village of Finch and while the stories were still enjoyable I did find myself missing the antics of the village characters and the main sleuth’s family.
    So basically my answer to the original question is that…it depends, lol! How’s that for a solid answer? 🙂

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    • Angela, you make a good point about Poirot being able to move around in location. You’re right, he is the main focus of Christie’s Poirot mysteries.

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  2. That’s an interesting question, ladies! After thinking about it, I tend to agree with y’all. The only exception is Miss Marple and Poirot – I enjoy those stories just as much whether they are at home or elsewhere but have no idea why.

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    • Donna, I agree with both you and Angela. Miss Marple and Poirot could have traveled anywhere, as long as Christie stayed true to who the two of them were.

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  3. I am very much with both of you. The reason I choose a series is because I do love the setting and to travel away from that setting is not what I want. I may want to read books that take place in Alaska, but that doesn’t mean I want the main sleuth in the Cleo Coyle Coffee House mystery to leave her quaint little coffee house to travel to Alaska. I think the attraction to a particular author is not only the main character, but the setting as well. I’m completely in agreement with you.

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    • Nancy, one of the author’s who I follow is Monica Ferris. I like all of the needle work shop regulars so much, that I am not very happy with the times Betsy takes a trip with just, let’s say, Jill with her. I don’t know if that’s because Jill is my least favorite character in the Needlecraft Mystery Series, or if I simply miss Godwin so much (who happens to be my favorite character in the series.) And, I miss the camaraderie of the shop, as well.

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  4. I TOTALLY agree with both of you. One exception is Katherine Hall Page. She sets some of her novels in Maine, while vacationing. Her neighbors in MA are also her neighbors in ME, so she’s utilizing many of the same characters. She does it often enough, that the reader is familiar with it. The one set in Norway was a bit weird, though. However, my favorite Faith Fairchild stories are those set in Aleford, with ALL the familiar characters.

    Daheim sets the locales for almost all her B&B books offsite now. It gets very confusing, because the sleuth’s cousin is the only ‘constant’. The interesting/eccentric cast of the ‘mother’, next door neighbors’, ‘cleaning lady’ and most important – ‘husband’, are always written out.

    Jeanne Dams is an author from South Bend, IN. Her stories are set in England. But, she set one of the stories in Indiana. In my humble opinion, it lacked the usual ‘English’ flair and wasn’t nearly as interesting.

    Susan Wittig Albert has set a couple of books offsite. When ‘China’ brings several of the other characters along, everything is pretty familiar. So I still find those stories enjoyable. As I’ve stated before, my objection with her stories is when she writes her husband out of the storyline. Albert did one story where ‘China’ was the only known character, set in another state. I didn’t like that story at all.

    Margaret Maron’s last book was set in NYC. I was sure I wouldn’t enjoy it, but pleasantly surprised I really did. It helped that ‘Deborah’ brought husband ‘Dwight’ to NYC with her. These are just a few examples I could think of at the spur of the moment.

    I’d venture to guess that authors do this because they feel the need to change the ‘venue’ to add some creativity to their writing. Perhaps they experience some ‘burn-out’ with the ‘same-o, same-o’ – especially those authors with long series. They may not realize their readers don’t like it.

    Since this is the second time it’s been discussed on this blog, I would find it very interesting if some of the authors would ENLIGHTEN US ALL and respond to this blog posting as to why they change locales for their stories and leave some of the interesting characters ‘at home’!!

    Authors?

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    • MJ, you are probably right about authors wanting a change of pace. Unfortunately, they may think their Cozy setting is old-hat, but most of us (the readers) don’t.

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    • Hi MJ. I totally agree with you about the Katherine Hall Page books. I do enjoy the stories at the vacation home, but the family is there so much, there is a sense of continuity plus sometimes they go back and forth from there to Aleford in the same book. I also thought the book in Norway was strange and didn’t get the point of basing the story there. She has a couple of other books that take us away from the familiar but I still look forward to all of her books.

      Angela, I agree with you on the GA McKevett books where Savannah goes to Georgia. I actually looked forward to that because she speaks so often of her “Gran” and her siblings. I am way behind on her books, probably at least 5 or 6, which makes me wonder if her grandmother is still with with us. I’d better catch up.

      There are totally valid points in saying the authors feel they need to give us something fresh or that it is implausible that so many murders could take place in such small towns. Haha – so true, but we accept so many over the top happenings in our cozies. I think that’s why we enjoy them so much!

      Danna, sorry I was redundant with this topic. I sure enjoyed the discussion anyway and am now off to read Sleuths Who Leave Their Cozy Towns, Villages, etc. Thank you so much – this site is something I look forward to in my emails with much anticipation!

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      • Mary Joy, you sound like you are about as behind on your authors as I am! No matter how much I enjoy an author, I am usually “probably at least 5 or 6” – unless they have finished writing their series.

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    • MJ, I wonder if just maybe the writer wants to test his/her readership by having the main sleuth go on vacation or to some other place. If the readers enjoy that maybe he/she will try it again. If the readers don’t, then the writers won’t give that another try!! Just a thought.

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  5. Yes. It does tend to detract from the book when the sleuth (and possibly the author) is ‘out of their comfort-zone’, as it were.
    The comfortableness and familiarity of the usual setting just makes things flow better.

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    • And, *Susan, the Cozy setting is one of the major things that attract a lot of us to our favorite authors’ mystery series…

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  6. I agree.So much of why we love a series is the particular setting. It depends on where they go and if we relate to that location. I love the English country homes settings so Poirot in England is better than in Egypt. Ms Marple in the Carribean just seems wrong. London, Cornwall sure but tweed on the beach is just not right.

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    • Nikki, I hear what you’re saying about Miss Marple wearing her tweed outfits in the Caribbean, but I still enjoyed imagining her knitting in the sweltering heat. Maybe it was all those shading tropical trees I envisioned her sitting under…

      (Can you tell I believe Agatha Christie could do no wrong?)

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  7. In all the books I have read I think (mind you it is early in the morning and I just woke up) that the main sleuth went on vacation. .. there were only two series I can think of and I did not mind since all her “crew” was with her. So in this instance I did not mind it. (I am sure there might be others but like I said ….)

    But I do think that if there is a setting for the books then that should be where all the action is. Of course if the writer is skilled enough they can keep our interest.

    However as I mentioned since the main character and all her “crew” went along for the ride/trip I did not mind in these particular cases.

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    • Shawn, you make a lot more sense when you just wake up than I do! Good point about all of the “crew” joining the main sleuth on her/his adventures outside of the Cozy world we have come to expect.

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      • But can you imagine going on a vacation in order to get away from it all and having your whole village of characters showing up!! EEE Gads!!

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        • Linda, I hadn’t thought of it this way, but you’re right… You go on vacation to get away from “it all”!

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  8. I think it depends on how much of the feel of the main setting the character or characters take with them when they go. True, the writer must accomplish this with skill, but it can be done. Elizabeth George has done it quite effectively in her Inspector Lynley series. The man is the story.

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    • Susan, I wonder if Elizabeth George is able to pull it off because the Inspector Lynley Mystery Series isn’t a Cozy…

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  9. I guess I’m in the minority here a bit. I do like it when the main sleuth goes on vacation or to a professional meeting, especially if the character lives in a small town. I think part of me sometimes thinks, “If Agatha Raisin lives in such a tiny village in the Cotswolds, how in the world can there be so many murders and why don’t people leave? What a dangerous place!” On the other hand, if the character lives in NYC (Cleo Coyle), or near Los Angeles (?) (San Marcos – Benni Harper) why, then, it’s understandable that murders occur frequently and s/he doesn’t need to leave, or travels a short way by car or subway!

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    • Penny, I haven’t read the last few Agatha Raisin mysteries, but she did have a lot in common with Jessica Fletcher. People were dying by the droves…

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      • Danna, The Agatha Raisin series was getting to be a little repetitious. I think when she, Agatha, started her detective agency is when the series started going downhill. I hope eventually Agatha will drop the detective agancy and get back to being Agatha.

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        • Linda, I stopped reading those a little while back. It was very difficult to stop, since I was a devoted fan of the series. I continued for several books after she had opened her detective agency, so I feel like I gave the series more than enough times to “get back to normal” – but felt it didn’t.

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      • Yes, I was beginning to believe Stephen King might move from Bangor to Cabot Cove. It seemed just tailor-made for him! 🙂

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        • Penny, now that would be an interesting premise: Stephen King setting a book of his in Cabot Cove… population 1 >>> Jessica Fletcher.

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  10. The setting is one of the deciding factors for me when I choose a series to read. I don’t mind the occasional jaunt to another nearby town to search for clues or to investigate others, but I usually prefer my main character to stay local.

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  11. One of the characteristics of a COZY mystery is that the mystery takes place in the same village or surroundings. It adds some of the folkore. So I would love them to stay at home. However it might become unbelievable after a zillion murders in the same area… so I can imagine an author wanting another scenery ;-). For me a changing of scenery is no problem as long as it has the same charm as the usual scenery and we don’t have to miss the main characters.

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  12. I too enjoy reading the series’ books that travel around. It seems to me a few of Earlene Fowler’s Benni Harper series has Benni going to her families’ origin somewhere in the South. I can’t remember which state. Then didn’t Benni and Gabe go one time to a state where Gabe’s family lived so Benni could get to know his family? I loved those. It has been a while now since I have read her books and I tend to forget some parts of the series. This is what I get for reading the books too darn fast!
    I have tried to find the earlier books at the libraries so that I could start reading them over but can’t seem to be able to find the older books. This series is the series that was the cause for me to get interested in reading the quilting and other series that have handcrafts as themes.
    I love this series. I am so sorry that new books from this series don’t seem to be coming along for all of Earlene Fowler’s fans. I certainly hope there will be more. If there are, I can assure EVERYONE that I will not try critizing any of her books EVER AGAIN!! I just want to read more books about Benni and Gabe.
    Jessica Fletcher seems to travel quite a bit. Whereas some of our main sleuths travel with other characters in the series Jessica seems to travel alone quite a bit. I like it when at least one or two other main characters travel with our sleuth.
    I don’t mind when our sleuth travels around here and there as long as our sleuth is back home where he/she belongs in the next books.

    Reply

    • Linda,

      Benni’s origins are in the South, but I don’t think she has ‘traveled’ there in any of her stories. However, in one of the books, she and Gabe went to Kansas (I believe) to visit his mother. Of course, they solved a ‘mystery’ while there. The mystery was good, but I missed all the fantastic characters that are in her other stories.

      If you are looking for earlier books in a series and your library doesn’t have them, try their Inter Library Loan (ILL) program. My library system has a fantastic one, but I don’t know about other libraries.

      Linda, If you can’t get a book through ILL, I have found a website (betterworldbooks.com) that sells used books for very reasonable prices and shipping is free. They donate their profits to libraries around the country.

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        • MJ, I just now got online to 2 of the area libraries to see if I could request all of the Benni Harper books . I did find all of the books. I had to go to both libraries to be able to get all of the books but that’s okay. I live in between both, so that won’t be no problem. Sometimes when I pick up all the books in a series I hurry while I am reading so that I can get to the next book. But maybe since I have already read these books I can slow down, take my time and really read the books. Here’s hoping.
          I just hope that I can get all of the books at the same time so that I can read them in order.

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          • Fowler also took Benni back to Arkansas in one book to visit her Aunt Garnett and her cousin, before he moves to CA. She’s also had her stay at a ranch near her hometown, I think that’s the first book with Det. Hudson in it. I love this series too and hope to see more of them.

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            • Angela, I hope Earlene Fowler’s Benni Harper Mystery Series is as good as a lot of you say it is.

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              • ut-oh the pressure! hehe I do like that series very much and it isn’t really very themed based. Benni is a curator of a textile museum so you get a lot of facts about the history of quilts and the different styles and not a whole lot of sitting around quilting in most of the books. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked the relationship between Benni and her husband Gabe but it’s turned into a very interesting relationship to follow and I now find myself rooting for them to make it for the long haul. I liken it to Susan W. Albert’s writing style for anyone familiar with her series.

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                • Angela,

                  Originally Fowler set this series in ‘real time’. However, she found her characters aging faster than she wanted. So now the characters remain ‘younger’, which is fine with me (and I assume most readers).

                  She wrote a novel (not mystery) five or so years ago titled, ‘Saddlemaker’s Wife’. It is set in the same California area, but has a set of different characters. Strangely Fowler includes some of the main characters of the Benni Harper series in this story, and it is set in ‘real time’. They are ‘mentioned’, but don’t really have an ‘active’ role in the story. In this novel Gabe & Benni are still happily married, and Gabe is retired.

                  When Fowler was asked why she ‘included’ them in this new novel, she responded it was so readers would know that Benni and Gabe live a long happy life, even if her publisher would cancel the Benni Harper series. What a classy thing to do for her fans!

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                  • MJ,
                    I am familiar with her pacing of the stories and I like that approach. A lot of authors ignore the aging process of their characters and sometimes I think, boy so and so has been in her mid-thirties for a long time lol. I have the Saddlemaker’s Wife and Love Mercy in my TBR pile but haven’t gotten around to them yet. I did read a review that mentioned the cameos in those books but I didn’t realize they took place “in the future” I agree that is a classy move on Ms. Fowler’s part. Talking about this series is making me wish for a new installment even more! 🙂

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                  • MJ, thanks for telling us the story about Gabe & Benni in Saddlemaker’s Wife. I know a lot of fans are unhappy when publishers decide to discontinue a series before the author has had a chance to wrap the story lines up. I am hoping that authors use e-books >>> by self-publishing the ends of their series.

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                • No pressure here, Angela! Susan Wittig Albert is a great author to be likened to. (Now that is pressure!)

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          • Linda, I remember getting an inter-library loan years ago. I think the book actually came from Houston, which isn’t all that close to us. I tried to do it again, but was told our library did not do inter-library loans. I guess I just lucked out getting a great librarian the first time I tried.

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      • MJ, all of this talk about Earlene Fowler‘s Benni Harper has me wanting to read the book I have in my TBR queue. Since I don’t quilt, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy this particular theme. But, you all have me convinced that I should try it!

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        • I don’t quilt either, Danna. And, ‘quilting’ has very little to do with the stories. After seeing some of your past comments, the only thing you may ‘object to’ in the series is that Benni (main sleuth) sometimes (not always) gets herself into ‘harrowing’ situations — which in some cases are just plain dumb.

          I put this on my favorites list in the last blog posting because the characters are so well developed and interesting (characters really drive this series). I find the mysteries compelling. Some have commented on this blog they don’t like the character of Gabe (husband, police chief) because he is a chauvinist. I agree, BUT he is a product of his upbringing/background. Fowler does a good job of keeping this character (Gabe) evolving and growing throughout the series. And, no one is perfect. Besides, Benni handles this very well — she is a very strong female character, which is important to me in a story. I don’t like ‘wimpy’.

          Having said all that – we all know there are some books several will like and others won’t. But give it a try! I must add that I didn’t like the first couple of chapters of the first book. I had to read most of the story to get ‘hooked’.

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          • Oh, MJ, I really dislike those “harrowing” situations some of our sleuths put themselves into – pretty much on purpose! I knew about the chauvinistic husband from all of the comments, so am expecting that. But, that comes with a lot of men – even now, in an equal-opportunity world.

            Since I have my 50 page rule, I’m glad you mentioned that it took you most of the book to finally decide you wanted to continue with the series. “Sew” I’ll try to be patient.

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          • I have loved every book in this Benni Harper series from cover to cover. In some of the storylines of some of the books Benni’s husband is portrayed as a chauvinist. I suppose the fact that Gabe has been in law enforcement for much of his adult life just might be a factor in this. But Benni has learned her way around this and she does love her husband very much in spite of that.. This is what I try to make clear to my granddaughters as they are just now experiencing their first serious relationships. We all have faults. But we have to discover if the faults their intendeds have are faults that each one can learn to live with and still have a good life.

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        • Danna, As I told MJ , I did go online and tried to order the Benni Harper books from the interlibrary loan program. I just received email notice today that I can go pick the books up. Neat, huh!!

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        • Danna, I don’t know how to quilt either, but I sure would love to learn how. The quilt shop here in my home town doesn’t offer quitling lessons. I would have to go to a town about a half hour away. Reading books like the Benni Harper series is what has gotten me interested in trying to learn these handcrafts.

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  13. Oh I don’t mind if the character moves around. Elizabeth Peters had her Vicky Bliss character in multiple locations. Amelia Peabody was mostly in Egypt but also on a boat and in London and on trains. Of course it always depends on how the author handles it!

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  14. M.C. Beaton’s character, Agatha Raisin, travels a bit in her mysteries. I enjoy the descriptions of Cyprus and Istanbul and other places Agatha vacations. I think M.C. Beaton is excellent at setting the scene around the main character.

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    • Christine, it’s great when an author can take her sleuth out of the setting we have loved so much, isn’t it?

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      • To me Danna, That is just what makes good writers, good writers. When the writer can interest his/her readership in any setting takes a lot of talent. To me that writer is an artist.

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  15. I am so glad I found your website!! So many books and authors I would not have discovered otherwise.

    I have recently watched the Hatfields & McCoys on the History Channel and was wondering if there are any cozies written about the period after the Civil War to 1900?

    Thanks so much for this amazing website!
    Diane

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  16. Danna, I agree with MJ very much. Her list of authors reflect my own favorites. Some authors can handle their chief characters leaving town with panache, but others just can not. I myself enjoy it when the author takes a “trip” with the people in her/his book. Then and again I like mystery stories with varied settings as I learn about other locales. When I read Anne George, her books taught me about Birmingham and Florida. Change can be good.

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    • Regina, I have Maddy Hunter‘s first Passport to Peril (Alpine for You) in my queue – ready to read. I thought the premise of having the main sleuth work as a tour guide sounded like fun. (Also, some of you have talked about how much you like her books in your comments.)

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  17. I too prefer the character to stay home and sleuth in the town. I remember reading Crewel Yule by Monica Ferris where they went to a Needlpoint Convention and it was harder to get into and read. There were alot of new people that you didn’t care about and wished that you where with your own friends in the story instead. But I finished it and still enjoy the series.

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    • Alfred, the Monica Ferris Unraveled Sleeve had Betsy and Jill going away to a lodge, and the next book (Unraveled Thread) had Betsy doing the antique car show with Jill. I missed Godwin!

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  18. This is such a great question! Someone asked from the perspective of an author. I remember when we discussed this before. I think I had mentioned that I had thought about taking my heroine out of London (17th century–when the city was MUCH smaller) for my third book (I’m still writing book 2; book one is coming out in April!), but from the comments I read the first time, I have seriously reconsidered doing that. The funny thing is I don’t have a reader base yet even though I’m working on the third book in the series. So I don’t have reader feedback to tell me if my readers would be unhappy with a move to a new locale. I have had my heroine switch professions instead, to make it more interesting for me as a writer. (the time of the Plague and the Great Fire made for a very socially mobile time!)

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    • Susie, I can imagine it would be very difficult to be writing the second book (while working on the third) in a series, without having any feedback from readers about the previous book(s).

      I am really looking forward to reading A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate it in April!

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      • yes…although I have to admit, in some ways it’s easier to write without the pressure of reader expectations. I’ve heard many writers struggle with the second book, especially when their first book was well received. I’d be so curious to know if readers usually like the FIRST book in the series the best, or do they think it takes a few books for the author to hit his or her stride. (I imagine this varies by author and series). If you ever want to throw that question out to this gang, I’d love to hear everyone’s responses!

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        • Susie, I don’t know about anyone else, but I sometimes an author needs more time than the first book. Unfortunately, I’m a pretty picky reader and don’t ususally give my new-to-me authors more than fifty pages to “prove” (s)he is someone I am willing to follow.

          (Thank goodness I didn’t grow up in the 1920s! Agatha Christie wrote The Mysterious Affair at Styles in 1920, before The Secret Adversary in 1922. If I had read that Tommy and Tuppence mystery first, I might not have continued with Christie!)

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          • Susie, Normally I don’t give a writer a second chance to woo me over. Once in a while if a writer has out more than one book in a series and the first doesn’t grab me, I will wait to read later books just to see if the writing has improved. But it’s like I will give a restaurant 2 times to give me a good meal. After that I’m done!! There are just too many really good authors out there so it’s hard for me to want to give the ones that I don’t like too many chances. Just as there are too many really good restaurants out there for me to continue going to a bad one. If I see that a writer is trying hard to come up with something new or a different angle, I might be inclined to give that writer more chances.

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  19. Hi,
    Let’s see– what I look for first in any series is the characters — can I really see, feel, them, etc.? Often they seem more “real” in their own settings — for example, the Karin Slaughter Grant County, GA, series. And the Kate Flora Thea Kozak series, set in New England. But I agree with the writers who said that Poirot and Miss Marple could be anywhere and still be themselves. Guess Christie just was able to create such strong individuals….

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    • Thank you, Sandra, for telling us about Kate Flora’s Thea Kozak Mystery Series, as well as Karin Slaughter.

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  20. Danna just curious when you first started this website do you remember how many authors there where on it then????

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    • Alfred, I honestly wish I could tell you! I am guessing it was several hundred. They were all authors who I had read and enjoyed, and could vouch for. When I belonged to my reading groups, I was more adventurous about trying new authors. We would all nominate authors, and then vote on them. Even though I didn’t think I would like an author, I read him/her. So, I was introduced to a lot of authors who I consequently didn’t continue reading. But, at least I tried them.

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  21. I have to say that while it doesn’t really bother me, provided the author has the skill to make other locations feel as alive as the home location, I probably do prefer the sleuth to stay local. But a big part of that though I think comes from the fact that I tend to love series with good “supporting cast” and the quirkiness of the neighbors or whomever really make the story a lot more fun. So if they get lost or fitted in in some cheesy, improbable way – oh, look, Miss Smith from down the road just happens to be in the Swiss Alps when I do! – it bugs me.

    Having said that, my favorite series of the moment – Rhys Bowen’s Royal Spyness – set the last two books in new locales/countries and they were probably my favorite two books so far. As long as the author can keep the charm and appeal that drew you in, I think it works.

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    • Joshua, I agree about the supporting cast and quirky neighbors making a series more enjoyable, and totally agree with the “cheesy, improbably way” some authors bring those beloved characters to the off-site locations. But, your comment reminds me of something which truly happened to me:

      Years ago, my mother took my siblings and me on an Alaskan cruise. We were visiting a dog sledding camp when my mother stopped to talk with one of her dear friends she hadn’t seen in a while, who was on another Alaskan cruise. What were the chances!?!

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    • Joshua, I totally agree about Lady Georgiana. She is delightful. I was thinking about how easy it is to accept travelling European aristocrats. England is so close to the Continent and it was common for royalty to spend extended periods of time with their friends and relatives in other countries. It just makes sense that Georgie would represent the Queen at a wedding in Transylvania or spend time at her mother’s villa in Nice with Coco Chanel when she isn’t staying at the family’s ancestral home, Castle Rannoch, Perthshire, Scotland or Rannoch House in London. Her non-royal Cockney grandfather keeps here out of trouble.
      Recently, I’ve been reading Tasha Alexander’s Lady Emily Mystery Series in Victorian England. Emily while living in London has been to Paris, Vienna, Normandy, Santorini, and Constantinople. She has good friends who travel with her.
      I like the change of scenery.

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      • Danna – That’s such a great story, and too funny. Just like it would happen in a cozy too! Dog sledding of all things. Such a vivid mental image. I love it!

        Kathryn – I really loved Naughty in Nice with Coco Chanel, et al. It was cool to see Georgiana get to bustle about in all the brightness of the setting. When I read the description of the Transylvania story, I admittedly rolled my eyes and expected not to like it at all. But Rhys Bowen pulled it off entirely! And I know she met with a sadness but I hope Lady Middlesex shows up again somewhere; she was a hoot. Georgiana is a family name so I have to admit I initially picked up the first book simply out of curiosity for what I think of as an uncommon name, but I am so glad I did. I’ve got the first of the Lady Emily series so I’ll have to bump her up to the top of my to-read list.

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  22. Danna, I haven’t been reading many mysteries lately as have found a few good biographies. While not a mystery, I just finished “Dearie”, the story of Julia Childs. It was absolutely fabulous. That said I had a couple of long appointments lately and I read on my Nook Lesley Cookman’s 1st book in her series. I liked it and now I am reading the 2nd. I found her thanks to you and your suggestions. Thank you.

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    • Regina, I believe it was Andie who told us how much she liked Lesley Cookman. So, thank you, Andie!

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  23. I can see both side’s of this issue and I suppose in most of my British mysterys I prefer my sleuth to at least stay in the British Isle’s if not in their own village or town. I suppose I’m okay with a week at the shore on vacation. Poirot of course being Belgian is an exception…hard to beat Death on the Nile and Murder on the Orient Express is probably my favorite classic! Still I wouldn’t mind another character like Nero Wolfe…kind of a portly total recluse perhaps with a cute French maid er… I mean chef, secretary, girl about town, to collect just the facts…no I was thinking more like Dame Judy Dench…you know closer to the sleuth’s age so that it’s remotely possible that there may be more than a proper gent would ever mention, even in passing! Of course he’d never leave home or go on vacation…though mayhap the occasional outing for dinner at his private club!

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    • Dave, you are so right about Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. Poirot could go anywhere, any time – although The Big Four was a little far-out for me!

      Hmmmm on the “cute French maid”!!! But, I think your idea about a portly recluse sleuth with Judy Dench as his side-kick would be a winning combination.

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  24. I’m very setting-oriented, so by all rights it should bother me if the main sleuth is, well, not where he or she is supposed to be. I find, however, it only bothers me in mystery series where there is a large cast of recurring characters, who cannot be reasonably transported with the main sleuth.

    For example, I adore the Aunt Dimity series by Nancy Atherton…except for the two mysteries she set outside of Finch. To me, Lorie is not completely Lorie without Bill and the twins and Kit and Nell and Emma and Derek and the Pym sisters and…you get my meaning. The secondary characters play such a huge role in shaping Lorie’s daily life she just seems insubstantial by herself.

    I have no problems with the peregrinations of Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody or Vickie Bliss, though; their circle of intimates is small, and for the most part carried with them. Likewise for Sara Rosett’s Ellie Avery mysteries – her family and closest friend move from one base to another (a little too convenient about the friend, but what are you going to do?) so the settings change but the core cast remains the same so there is continuity.

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    • Julia, you may have just hit on one of the reasons we accept it when our sleuth leaves in some series, whereas in others we aren’t at all happy. Maybe the sleuth being able to take all of the recurring characters we enjoy has a lot to do with it, and of course, that wouldn’t work naturally when you have too many secondary characters. That “core cast” is one of the main things that attracts us to a series, it’s not just the one sleuth…

      Reply

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