Local Corpses are Best

When I go somewhere I’ve never been, I like to find a bookstore and ask if they have any murder mysteries set there. It is a bonus if the author is also local, but it is how local the murder and associated events are that matters most to me. I tried this first in Alaska in 2004. That is the way I got reconnected with grad school friend Sue Henry and her first book, Murder on the Iditarod Trail, became my introduction to Alaska.


And I’ve been doing it ever since. Last week, Bette and I were in the San Juan Islands, in Washington. We hit a bookstore the first day and got the name Sharon Duncan. The next day we found a copy of Death on a Casual Friday at a used bookstore.

This is a really easy way to get accustomed to local landmarks, customs, attitudes, and institutions. It is particularly easy if the book is a good book in its own right. I think Sue Henry might have spoiled me in that regard. Sharon Duncan is no Sue Henry. If is not a particularly good book, it still might be an excellent introduction to the area, but now it requires a more focused treatment.

I call it “strategic reading,” but by that term, I only mean reading the book in the way that best meets my needs, rather than in the way it was written to be read. The whole middle section of Duncan’s book, for instance, takes place in California. That is necessary for the plot to develop as she wants it to develop, but it doesn’t do anything for my interest in the geography and local cuisine of Friday Harbor. So I paged through it fast enough to make sure I knew where the plot was headed. I think the designation on my VCR would have been about 4X fast forward. Probably.

She comes back home to San Juan Island for a final showdown with the bad guy(s). At that point, I slow down again. She is dodging around the island on roads Bette and I drove on with somewhat less speed and a good deal less urgency. All turns out well for Scotia MacKinnon, the tough but feminine but haphazard but insightful heroine.

It turned out well for me, too. With about an hour and a half invested in finishing the book, I had time left over to go out and explore a little of Friday Harbor. Beautiful place, Friday Harbor. Except that the whole downtown area gets to hear the partying at Herb’s Tavern (10 Front Street) from about midnight until about 2:00 a.m.

Ms. Duncan might have mentioned that, but she didn’t. And Scotia MacKinnon never went there either, so how were we to know?