One of the many nice things about writing is that I get to go places and do things I could never do in real life. And, I get to live where I want, in the sort of house I like. When Darcy and Flora moved to their new home (Grave Heritage) I designed the house and built the yard to my specifications. Landscaping is fun!
That yard was inspired by one I saw in Minnesota years ago. Let me tell you about it. Bob’s house fit right in with the landscape. It sat in the woods and the deck overlooked a lake. He was an artist and enjoyed nature too and did as little as he could to disturb it. His house looked as much at home in that location as did the trees that grew around it. There wasn’t much grass because native shrubs and bushes and flowers crowded together in a random, joyful explosion of nature. It was summer when I was there and all was green and growing.
That’s the kind of yard I designed for Darcy and Flora, although the setting is Oklahoma, not Minnesota. I put their new home squarely in the middle of the woods, Lee Creek running below it, and a wooden bridge across the shallow water.
Small animals live in the woods and maybe a large one or two. At night, Darcy and Flora hear whippoorwills and owls. 
During the day, they are blessed with cardinals, bluejays and shy little bluebirds.
In each of my cozy mysteries, nature and weather play a part, just as they do in real life. In The Cemetery Club, a storm tears through, disrupting Goshen Cemetery. In Grave Shift, two earthquakes reveal a shocking find; Deep snow puts a chill on an ancient secret in Best Left Buried, and the rainiest July in history threatens the residents of Ventris County in Grave Heritage.
Summer storms can bring unwelcome surprises.
During the rainiest July on record for the people of Ventris County in Oklahoma, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, a stranger is murdered. When a friend becomes the second person to die under suspicious circumstances, local sleuth Darcy Campbell is drawn into the investigation. Evidence points toward someone she cares about, but has loyalty blinded her to the truth? Danger is closer to Darcy and her mother, Flora, than either of them suspect. And if the human threat is not enough, Lee Creek and the Ventris River flood, bringing Mother Nature into the fray.
Has the whole world turned on Darcy and Flora?
Manos Mysteries
I love this post. The reader can tell how much love and detail are put into each story. Our Genealogist patrons are madly in love with this series, and keep asking for more. Thank you!
That’s good to know, Lori. Thanks so much for writing.