Milford House Mysteries: How Important Is Setting?

On this episode of Milford House Mysteries, co-hosts Sherry Knowlton and J.M. West explore the importance of settings, especially in suspense fiction. For some books, setting is critical to the story. For, others, less so. When you read reviews, books that offer a distinct connection to the setting are often heralded as having a well-developed “sense of place.” We discuss some authors and books which fall into these two categories when it comes to setting -- those where sense of place is critical and those where it is less important to the story. And, then Joan and Sherry discuss their own use of a place that exists in the real world as a setting for fiction, offering some tips for consideration if authors go that route.

Milford House Mysteries Hosts - Sherry Knowlton is the author of the Alexa Williams series of murder mysteries including Dead of Autumn, Dead of Summer, Dead of Spring, and Dead of Winter. Joan West is the author of the Carlisle Crime Cases series including Dying for Vengeance, Courting Doubt and Darkness, Darkness at First Light, Had a Dying Fall and Things Strangled.