Margaret Mizushima on “Settings and Mysteries”

Margaret Mizushima is the author of the Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. You can find out more about her on her website, www.margaretmizushima.com

I do love a good setting for mysteries, and I’m especially fond of those set in the great outdoors. When my husband and I moved from Colorado to Washington State in 2022, I discovered a new setting for Deputy Mattie Wray and her K-9 partner Robo to experience in their next adventure.

The state’s mossy trees and misty landscapes started me brainstorming about why these two would leave their home in fictional Timber Creek, Colorado, to become fish-out-of-water on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. (And what a lot of water they encounter! Not just in Puget Sound and the Hood Canal, but also falling from the sky in the form of rain and mist.) I wound up deciding that they should be called out on a search and rescue mission.

Before I started writing, my husband and I needed to do some research. We hiked in the ancient growth forest of Old Fort Townsend State Park. By this time my eighth book, STANDING DEAD, had published, so my husband had to pose by a dead tree in the forest acting like he’s dead, one of the scenes from the book. I told him not to quit his day job, but oh dear, he already did! (He’s a retired veterinarian.)

We often see the mist and the marine layer roll in against the mountains from our dining room window, and it’s so impressive. Although we miss the sunshine of Colorado during the winter, we’ve adapted, and there are plenty of sunny days here during spring, summer, and fall. But I decided to set this book in December, so Mattie and Robo would be challenged by the continuous drizzle, fog, and rain. Thus the fictional setting came alive in book nine of the Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries—GATHERING MIST.

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One week before her wedding, Deputy Mattie Wray and her dog Robo accept a mission to search for a celebrity’s missing son on Washington’s rugged Olympic peninsula where they encounter unfamiliar territory, danger lurking in the mist, and deadly secrets. When a search dog is poisoned, Cole Walker joins the team as veterinary support. Soon sinister evidence is discovered, forcing the team into a desperate race to find the child before he disappears forever.

Though this plot focuses on search and rescue rather than the usual police procedural, readers have embraced Mattie and Robo’s new mission. And feedback tells me that readers also like the new setting, although some are happy to learn that this intrepid duo will be back in the Colorado high country for book ten. This next episode in the series has already been written and is now in the editing process. It will publish in autumn of 2025.

As a writer, I enjoy creating outdoor settings that act like a character to challenge my protagonists. But as a reader, I really enjoy immersing myself in places I’ve never been before, including going back in time or forward into the future.

If you’re a writer, what settings do you like to use in your stories? And for all of us who love to read, do you have favorite settings or do you enjoy just about everything?

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Margaret Mizushima is the author of the award-winning Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries, police procedurals featuring a deputy, her K-9 partner, and a veterinarian who live in the Colorado Rockies. You can find out more about her on her website, www.margaretmizushima.com, or follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.