Guest Post: Introducing the Locations Behind the Books by Jeff Widmer

In fiction, when does setting become character? When does location move from background to foreground?

Readers from New York to Newcastle have called out locales they recognise in my CW McCoy series of crime novels. Even with altered geography and names, those places seem to resonate like the images in a dream...or a nightmare.

They did with me while I was doing research for Tourist in Paradise, the second in the series that kicked off last year with Peak Season, Candace McCoy’s debut novel set in a tony beach town on the sunny southeastern coast of Florida.

Here, then, are some of the images that inspired the characters that inhabit those books. With winter closing on the British Isles, maybe they’ll inspire you, too.

Sarasota Marina, similar to the one where Walter Bishop berths his sailboat in the CW McCoy novels.

Sansara condos in Sarasota, one of the models for the massive DeSoto Park complex in Tourist in Paradise.

Farmers Market in downtown Sarasota, where CW and Tony Delgado meet in Peak Season.

The Sarasota skyline inspired creation of CW McCoy’s Spanish Point.

Drumming the sun down at Siesta Beach, where CW finds a second body in Peak Season.

About Jeff Widmer

Jeff Widmer is the author of four novels and two books of nonfiction. He lives in Florida, not far from where Horace Rumpole hung up his shingle in the John Mortimer novels. Jeff can be reached through his website.

Detective CW McCoy surrenders her gun, her badge, and her confidence after shooting a fellow police officer. Moving to Southwest Florida to recover and care for her ailing grandfather, CW swears off violence until a fugitive kidnaps her family and she’s forced to decide which side of the law she’s on.

Set in the tiny beach town of Spanish Point during the height of the tourist rush, Peak Season marks the debut of an investigator confronting the most dangerous enemy of all...her own fears.

--

Do you recognise any of the locations in the books? Let me know in the comments below!