Why the Luther?
I’m often asked why I set my Sydney Lockhart series in historic hotels. The answer is easy. What better place to stage a crime? Historic hotels have a mystique all their own. Think about all the people who’ve stayed there over the years. Were they on their honeymoon? Were they weary travelers who needed a place to sleep after hours on the road? Were they involved in a little tete-a-tete, a secret rendezvous?
Hotels often have their own stories to tell, which I weave into the stories in my books. Al Capone lived in a room in the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the setting of my first Sydney mystery, Murder at the Arlington. The gangster was involved in illegal gambling and hung out at the Ohio Club across the street. Without giving too much away, I used this as a segue into the murder that occurred in the room where Sydney was staying. This is also the room where my husband and I stay when we visit Hot Springs. I think we’ve spent a total of four months in that room. As a result, I know every inch of that hotel and what lurks nearby.
Murder at the Luther takes place in Palacios, a small coastal town in Texas. Reading their guest books, which cover the shelves in the breakfast room, I was amazed at all the…
