In fiction, when does setting become a character? When does location move from background to foreground?
Readers from Pennsylvania to Florida have called out locales they recognize in both the CW McCoy and Brinker series of crime novels. Even with altered geography and names, those places seem to resonate like the voice of a friend.
As they did with me while doing research for Tourist in Paradise, Peak Season and Mr. Mayhem. Here, then, are some of the images that inspired the characters that inhabit those books. As well as the writer.
Sarasota marina, similar to the one where Walter Bishop berths his sailboat in 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
Sarasota Police Dept. inspired Spanish Point’s PD where Cheryl, Oz and Delgado work
Drumming the sun down at Siesta Beach, where CW finds a second body in Peak Season
Key Breeze stands in for the galley of the Mary Beth, where CW finds an unconscious Walter Bishop in Tourist in Paradise
Jeff Widmer 