{"id":89,"date":"2011-11-15T15:48:21","date_gmt":"2011-11-15T15:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/?p=89"},"modified":"2021-03-10T03:30:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T03:30:53","slug":"when-mysteries-come-to-life-i-mean-really-come-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/?p=89","title":{"rendered":"When Mysteries Come to Life–(I mean really come to Life)"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a mystery reader, when I can identify with a particular element of a story it\u2019s
\na special treat. However, when I can personally experience something from a book,
\nthat story really comes alive. I had one of these experiences while reading\u00a0Margaret
\nTruman\u2019s, Murder at the Kennedy Center<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The location for Truman\u2019s books is Washington, DC and there was a period in my
\ncareer when I was assigned for several months to a special project in DC. Instead
\nof lodging at one of the large commercial hotels in center city with all of
\nthe traffic and tourists I preferred to stay at one of the smaller neighborhood
\nboutique hotels. My choice was the River Inn located in the residential section
\nof Foggy Bottom.<\/p>\n

After a long day at work, it was my custom to relax with a mystery book before
\ndeciding what to do about dinner. This particular\u00a0evening I was enjoying Truman\u2019s
\nmurder mystery featuring her amateur detective Mac Smith. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I was reading the chapter where Mac is meeting a reporter to discuss the murder that
\nhappened near the Kennedy Center. \u00a0Imagine my surprise when I read the meeting was taking place at the Foggy Bottom Cafe<\/em> located in the River Inn.<\/p>\n

Mac and the reporter find the caf\u00e9 very busy and comment the restaurant must be
\ngiving away their famous onion rings. Since onion rings are a specialty of
\nthe house they add an order to go with their drinks.<\/p>\n

How could I resist? I picked up the phone, dialed room service and placed an order for onion rings. And before you ask, they were absolutely delicious and some of the best onion
\nrings\u00a0I have ever eaten–even to this day.<\/p>\n

This was one of the nice features of Truman\u2019s books. She used actual Washington
\nlocations. Her descriptions were so accurate that you could follow her characters
\nthrough the streets of Washington, enjoy a meal at the character\u2019s favorite restaurant
\nand visit the same museums, hotels\u00a0and tourist\u00a0attractions where events in the book took place.<\/p>\n

I also enjoy visiting and learning about the many fictional towns featured in other mystery books. In my upcoming book I use a fictional town. However, it was truly a fun experience to eat onion rings at the River Inn while reading a good Truman mystery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a mystery reader, when I can identify with a particular element of a story it\u2019s a special treat. However, when I can personally experience something from a book, that story really comes alive. I had one of these experiences … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions\/101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/darkandstormynightmysteries.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}