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Solve a mystery in a Canadian funeral home, see the Hawaiian Islands through the eyes of an Siberian Husky, search for a killer among the coral reefs, aspire to write a romance novel or discover hidden secrets in an old cabin in the Northern Cascades. Travel along with an audacious polar explorer, enjoy a high-paced adventure across the USA, solve a mystery in an old family-run inn in Maine or find a serial killer in Colorado. Discover how fun retirement can be, see how a quiche recipe sparks a feud in Rhode Island, search for a missing daughter in Louisiana, unravel family secrets in the deep South, attend a boarding school for extraordinary children, take a unique road trip to all 50 states, get entangled in the high-profile murder investigation of a skier, or hunt down drug suppliers from Miami.

Travel By Book to North America with mystery, fantasy, romance, travel memoir, historical fiction and thriller authors Melissa Burovac, Karen Ferrand Carroll, Kathi Daley, Lucia N. Davis, Lynda Filler, Penny Goetjen, Rene Hedges, Joanna Kafarowski, Brenda Mohammed, Eva Pasco, Janice J. Richardson, Jude Roy, J. Schlenker, Kristina Stanley and Bobby Underwood!

The complete list of books set in North America can be found here on Facebook.

Travel By Book is a Facebook group dedicated to travel fiction and non-fiction. If you love to read or write books strong in setting, consider joining us!

Sylvie Writes a Romance by Melissa Burovac

Sylvie aspires to write a romance novel, but gives up after several tries because she knows nothing of romance.

With the help of her best friend, she signs up for a popular dating site to find a man to seduce her and teach her about passion – certain this will help her write her book.

While Sylvie dreams of the steamy scenes she thinks are necessary for a good romance novel, her ​unintentionally comical ​dates fall far short of her expectations.

A Husky in Paradise: The Hawaiian Islands by Karen Ferrand Carroll

The Hawaiian Islands are beautiful and exciting. What better way to view them than through the eyes of a fun loving sassy Siberian Husky named Kaia.

Travel with her as she shares her adventures and encounters with local wildlife and the natural beauty of the islands, told with 70 hand-painted “photos” of Kaia and Hawaii. Share walks along black sand beaches, swim with giant sea turtles & surf the waves of the north shore, just to name a few. Kaia loves having her picture taken so she is in more than a few of them.

Murder at Turtle Cove by Kathi Daley

Lani is trapped when a school of sharks gather to feed between her location beyond the breakers and the beach. When she is finally able to come ashore she finds that the meal the sharks were feeding on was a who rather than a what. Based on the evidence provided it looks like the victim was murdered prior to becoming shark food. Luke and Lani set out to find the killer but during the course of the investigation Lani learns a surprising secret about Luke that may change everything she believes to be true.

The Baby on the Back Porch by Lucia N. Davis

An old cabin, hidden in the forests of the Northern Cascades, has been a silent witness to mysterious events long forgotten. But sometimes the past has a way of resurfacing… In search of solace after a personal tragedy, Sara Eriksson exchanges vibrant San Francisco for a small mountain village. Initially, everything at the cabin is just as she imagined: Her new surroundings are breathtaking, and her landlord, David, is kind and helpful. As soon as she’s left alone, however, Sara finds her new home is not quite as peaceful as she’d thought. First she has an unwanted visitor. Then, an unsettling dream… Sara pursues the leads presented to her, but she can’t solve the mystery on her own. It takes both Sara and David to uncover the truth about the past—and discover a connection they never expected.

JET: Exposed by Lynda Filler

The US government is in the throes of cyberwarfare with China. Luke Raven, a high-tech billionaire, is the only man that can save America from the deadly fallout. Jet, a highly trained operative, returns from Kosovo to retrieve two hundred and fifty million dollars in diamonds safely stored in Uruguay. Spotted by a drug cartel, she is chased up the Pacific coast of Mexico where she is saved by ex-Navy Seal Zach, a member of ‘Raven’s Group’. Luke and his team recruit Jet to help execute a dangerous, highly classified special operations mission that is crucial to national security…Jet completes the critical Team Profile. They take their high-paced adventure across the USA and over the ocean to Paris. The action culminates in Shanghai, China where an ultra-wealthy and ruthless business tycoon possesses highly sensitive information that would have catastrophic results in the wrong hands. But will they get there soon enough to secure the information from their enemies?

Murder on the Precipice by Penny Goetjen

Set in an old family-run inn on the rocky, tumultuous coast of Maine, Murder on the Precipice engages readers in a captivating escapade.

Elizabeth Pennington, a successful Manhattan interior designer, grew up in the inn and is thrilled to leave behind her tyrannical boss and the big city for a few days, accepting her grandmother’s invitation to return to her childhood home. Upon her arrival, Elizabeth learns a young female guest is missing in a case eerily similar to an unsolved disappearance on the property years earlier. She makes it her mission to find the girl and save the inn. But in her search for answers, Elizabeth uncovers shocking details that challenge everything she thought she knew about herself, her family, and her past.

Retribution by Rene Hedges

Veteran Detective Rex Braden has worked many murder cases in the city of Rock Valley, Colorado, a peaceful city at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, for over ten years. He is a “caffeine addict by day with a few whiskeys at night” sort of guy.

In Rock Valley, a serial killer is a rarity. However, a gruesome series of murders takes place, each seemingly linked to the others. Braden and his partner, Jason Martin, must scramble to make sense of clues that don’t add up.

When a suicide is connected to the current murders, not only will Braden have to stop the darkness taking over the city, but also that which seeks to darken the past.

The Polar Adventures of a Rich American Dame: A Life of Louise Arner Boyd by Joanna Kafarowski

The first comprehensive biography of Louise Arner Boyd ― the intrepid American socialite who reinvented herself as the leading female polar explorer of the twentieth century. Born in the late 1880s to a gritty mining magnate who made his millions in the California gold rush and a well-bred mother descended from one of New York’s distinguished families, society beauty Louise Arner Boyd was raised during a glittering era.  After inheriting a staggering family fortune, she began leading a double life. She fell under the spell of the north in the late 1920s after a sailing excursion to the Arctic Ocean. Over the next three decades, she achieved international notoriety as a rugged and audacious polar explorer while maintaining her flamboyant lifestyle as a leading society woman. Yet despite organizing, financing, and directing seven daring Arctic expeditions between 1926 and 1955, she is virtually unknown today.

Retirement is Fun by Brenda Mohammed

Brenda Mohammed has written a whirlwind account of life after retirement. Life is not always Wine and Roses. When Life throws you a lemon, make Lemonade. When one door closes, another opens. Travel the world, have fun, enjoy life, and grasp opportunities as they fall in your path. In her book Retirement is Fun – A New Chapter, which is a sequel to her autobiography My Life as a Banker – A Life Worth Living, Brenda describes her many wonderful experiences at the end of her banking career. Is your life over when you retire? Brenda dispels that fear. She proves that retirement is a time to enjoy life. Despite facing many challenges such as cancer, deaths of loved ones, and an accident, which made her realize that life is very short, she triumphantly moves on to accomplish more. After her banking career, she landed a new job in an Insurance company and had numerous travel opportunities. She increased her skills in areas she never thought possible. Brenda has surely proven that when she retired from her first job she definitely did not retire from life. For her, Retirement is indeed fun and she has written about her fun experiences in this personal memoir on Retirement.

An Enlighening Quiche by Eva Pasco

An heirloom quiche recipe and baking rivalry turn up the heat in a Rhode Island mill town rife with secrets and scandals! Misconceptions, misdeeds, and maliciousness wreak havoc on those caught in the crossfire of a tragedy.

Casket Cache by Janice J. Richardson

Funeral homes are supposed to be quiet …

Jennifer Spencer inherits her uncle’s funeral home. Her move to the Niagara Region into the apartment above the Home went well, but in the first week alone, someone breaks into the funeral home. Then, Jennifer finds cash in a casket, a lot of cash. Certain it has something to do with the break-in, she’s unable to convince the police and winds up on their list of suspects. But Jennifer has families to serve and funerals to arrange; that is her number-one priority. Someone sinister and dangerous wants the cash back; that’s their number-one priority and Jennifer Spencer, funeral director, is in the way. A cozy mystery with heart, compassion, and humour.

Searching for Lilith by Jude Roy

Searching for Lilith is a mystery/thriller that takes place in multiple cities. Zack Miller, a chemistry professor at a local college, is told he has a tumor, which could be cancerous. He hires John LeGrand to find his daughter, missing for over twenty years. The search takes John to Springfield, Missouri where he finds the girl, now a woman, who could or could not be Zack’s daughter. However, there’s a problem. Someone is trying to kill her, and the only John can keep her alive is to lead the killers back to Louisiana, where he has the advantage.

Sally by J. Schlenker

Michelle, a white woman stumbles upon her grandmother’s journals that have lain dormant in the attic for fifty years. There is a picture of her grandmother alongside an African-American woman. It is inscribed: Sally, born into slavery—my ancestor. The journals relating Sally’s story end abruptly. Michelle makes it her mission to find out more about Sally. The quest brings up more questions than answers. Just when she thinks she has come to a dead end, she uncovers the most startling fact of all. Based on the life of Sally Ann Barnes 1858 to 1969.

Tompkin’s School: For The Extraordinarily Talented by Tabi Slick

Izara Torvik thought her life was over the moment that her father sent her and her twin brother to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma.

She soon discovers that the school is not as ordinary as she thought and finds herself thrown into a battle against her inner demons that only have one desire…the desire to kill.

Miles of Memories by Lori Spangler

Growing up in rural Minnesota, “going on a trip” in Lori Spangler’s childhood meant traveling twenty miles to her grandparents’ house. As she grew older and ventured out of the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” Lori discovered her love of travel. From Hawaii to Maine, Lori has crossed the border of every state. Her debut book, Miles of Memories: One Woman’s Journey to All 50 States, not only takes readers on a unique road trip, it validates that anyone can do anything they set their mind to. Following her travels from state to state in , Lori includes fun tidbits she learned on her journey to join the All Fifty States Club. Each chapter ends with “Lori’s Learning,” where she includes words of wisdom she gleaned from her travels. Having set her own personal goal and succeeded, Lori has advice for others looking to add traveling to all 50 states to their bucket list: do it! Lori encourages readers to have fun and enjoy everything they experience—flat tires and smelly fish included.

Descent by Kristina Stanley

When Kalin Thompson is promoted to Director of Security at Stone Mountain Resort, she soon becomes entangled in the high-profile murder investigation of an up-and-coming Olympic-caliber skier.

There are more suspects with motives than there are gates on the super-G course, and danger mounts with every turn. Kalin’s boss orders her to investigate. Her boyfriend wants her to stay safe and let the cops do their job. Torn between loyalty to friends and professional duty, Kalin must look within her isolated community to unearth the killer’s identity.

The Turquoise Shroud by Bobby Underwood

From the creator of Matt Ransom comes his latest hero, Seth Halliday, a tarnished white knight who metes out justice on his own terms in The Turquoise Shroud. Seth is a former Miami detective who shattered the image he once had of himself as one of the good guys, and has been coming to terms with who he is now. Docking in Cozumel with his old pal, Harry, a drunk who knows more than a little about regret, the island paradise seems the perfect spot. But when a young girl named Nancy walks into their lives only to be cruelly ripped away, Seth puts on the tarnished armor to find out who murdered her, and why. A couple of corrupt Mexican cops, a beautiful blonde reeling from a break-up, two competing drug suppliers from Miami, and a young woman without a future all figure into a tale more twisted than a snake on a bed of hot coals. As Seth Halliday gets deeper and deeper into his quest to avenge Nancy’s death, he begins to wonder if, as the proverb warns, he is digging two graves.

You can find our growing list of Travel By Book fiction and non-fiction titles set in North America here on Facebook.

Be sure to stop back next month to learn about Travel By Book titles set in Africa!

And don’t forget to check out the Travel By Book to Europe (Focus on Fiction), Travel By Book to Asia, Travel By Non-Fiction Book to Europe, Travel By Book to Latin American & the Caribbean posts to find even more great books to read.