How Monterey Bay Finds Its Way Into My Mysteries

I rarely take a walk around Monterey Bay without finding something that belongs in a mystery.

At Lovers Point, I once found enormous letters drawn in the sand and immediately wondered who they were meant for. Along the shoreline, people hunt for sea glass, shells, driftwood, and smooth rocks while I’m usually looking for the one odd thing everyone else walked past.

Even the towns around the bay offer their own ideas. There’s Moss Landing, with its working harbor, fishing boats, pelicans, and those unmistakable power-plant towers rising behind it all. Santa Cruz has its laid-back surfer vibe. Carmel, its art culture. Salinas, its amazing agricultural history. And in Seaside, you can sometimes hear the distant roar of cars racing at Laguna Seca.

Then there are the sounds: sea lions bark back and forth, masts clink, flags snap, and boat crews’ voices carry across the water. Each place has its own soundtrack.

My archaeology background probably has something to do with my curiosity. I was trained to look at places and objects and ask: Who was here? What happened? What does this small detail tell us?

Mystery writing asks many of the same questions.

That’s how Monterey Bay became part of Ocean Wood, the fictional coastal town in my Amanda Warren Cozy Animal Mysteries.

I borrow the details.

Then I add murder.

So far, Monterey Bay has been very accommodating.