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| Wellington Harbor, the inspiration for Drizzle Bay |
Kris Pearson is the author of eighteen romances and two cozy mysteries. If it's fine, she gardens. If it's wet, she writes.
And if the writing's going well, the garden can look after itself. Learn more about Kris and her books at
her website.
Where Is Drizzle Bay?
The Merry Summerfield cozy mysteries
have taken over my writing life. I’m enjoying myself SO MUCH and I think it
shows in the books. My ‘series bible’ for them is growing constantly because
new people are always being added to the cast. The books are set in Drizzle
Bay, New Zealand. Does it exist? Not by that name! If you drive north from
Wellington along our wild coastline you’ll come to several places who’ve each
added their own features to Drizzle Bay, though.
Why is it called that? Because of
Jim Drizzle’s old family farm. He’s now Lord Drizzle because he unexpectedly
inherited an English title. (This is fiction – I can do that!) In fact we did
have a similar thing happen here many years ago, so maybe it’s not entirely
fiction.
I thought you might enjoy some
photos of where I’m from, and the inspirations for Drizzle Bay. For many years
I’ve lived in Wellington, which is the capital city of New Zealand but not its
largest city. We have an almost circular harbor, protected by quite steep
hills. The first shot (above) is one I took a few weeks ago while we were at a house overhanging
the water. It had been foggy, and the fog was just rolling away to reveal the
business district on the other side. It was a magic morning.
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| Wellington Control Tower |
It’s not always this still, though!
We have the reputation of being windy. Entirely true. As Vicar Paul tells his
sister when he and Merry collect her at Wellington airport in Xmas Marks the Spot, Wellington sits in
a gap between two steep islands. The wind whistles though that gap at a fair
old speed sometimes. To celebrate this, our new airport control tower has been
built to lean into the prevailing wind by a jokey twelve degrees. Definitely an
icon. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is only four degrees. ‘Ours’ has good
foundations though, and we’re not expecting it to fall right over.
As you leave the city you drive
north past Porirua – home of world-famous Whittaker’s chocolate – then along
the grandly named Centennial Highway. This skirts the water for miles with
views of Plimmerton, Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki (often naughtily shortened to
‘Pie-cock’). They’re all Drizzle
Bay, and yet they’re not.
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| Kapiti Beach Highway |
I took this last shot from the
Paekakariki Hill Road. It’s so steep that long vehicles are banned from using
it. Far below you can see the railway line on the right, the main highway next
it, and then the Tasman Sea – next stop Australia.
The third in the series will be Dead and Disorderly, and this time Merry
will be looking after a collection of cats.
Xmas Marks the Spot
A Merry Summerfield Cozy Mystery, Book 2
OMG!
Who hid a quarter of a cow in the trunk of my brother’s beloved Mercedes? And what’s with that spooky big X marking the
spot on the beach where a man lies dead? Can my quarter-cow and the corpse
possibly be connected?
Detective
Bruce Carver doesn’t think the body is any of my business, but someone’s up to
no good amid the twinkling Christmas decorations in drowsy Drizzle Bay.
I’m
sure I can help, but maybe I’m too curious for my own good. Who’s going to
rescue me now a smelly rustler has roped me up far too close to that big white
X? Not my brother Graham and his two goofy spaniels. Not old Margaret and
little Pierre the poodle. Not my ex-husband, the unfaithful Duncan Skene. I
need a super-resourceful man with … umm…muscles.
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