Today, I'm delighted to welcome Rosie Travers to Armchair Travel, with a fab guest post about the Isle of Wight, the location of her cosy mystery series featuring amateur sleuth, Eiza Kane.
Over to Rosie...
The Isle of Wight
by Rosie Travers
First of all I’d like to thank Lynne for giving me the opportunity to talk about one of my favourite places and the setting for my current cosy mystery series – the Isle of Wight.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve visited this magical little island over the years. For much of my life I’ve lived within a stone’s throw across the Solent, and to be honest, I probably took the island for granted. It was a destination for childhood holidays and teenage day trips. A short ferry ride and we were “overseas” with sand, sea and sunshine, and all the home comforts of traditional entertainment and tacky kiss-me-quick-amusement arcades.
It’s only as I’ve got older, I’ve come to appreciate the island’s real charm – the stunning coastal scenery, lush rolling downs, dramatic cliffs, and isolated creeks. Memories of seaside fish and chips and Hi-di-Hi style holiday camps have now been replaced with boutique B&Bs, quaint country pubs and a diverse range of gastronomic delicacies.
The fast-food kiosks and slot machines are there if you want them, but if you can step away from the sandy beaches at Ryde and Sandown, and travel to the lesser known resorts of Seaview, Steephill Cove and Yarmouth, you’ll find yourself in a very different world.
It was the Victorians who first discovered the joys of the Isle of Wight. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert commissioned the building of Osborne House in the north-east corner of the island as their holiday home. And while most people might now associate the island with the annual music festival or Cowes Week sailing, it is also a mecca for fossil hunting enthusiasts, cyclists and walkers.
It was during a family mini-break with our grown up kids over a damp, cold New Year, that I came up with the idea for my cosy mystery series. The esplanade at Shanklin was bleak in the middle of winter; the only signs of life radiated out of a neon-lit dinosaur themed adventure golf course, which bore little resemblance to the simple humps, bumps and windmill mini golf courses I recalled from my childhood. I immediately pictured a tired, jaded professional golfer returning to his home town, cajoled into rejuvenating the family amusement business which had set him on his road to golfing glory…and then turned the idea on its head. My golfer was going to be female, and she was a going to need a lot more than a crazy golf course to keep her busy.
Eliza Kane, my sassy amateur sleuth was born, and as soon as the opening line “my grandmother had picked the perfect day to get arrested” popped into my head, a vintage mystery began to emerge.
A Crisis at Clifftops launched in July 2021 and The Puzzle of Pine Bay, followed in July 2022. Eliza’s third adventure, Trouble on the Tide, is planned for release next summer.
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Thank you, Rosie, for writing so vividly about the Isle of Wight. It's many years since I visited the island, and I look forward to re-visiting it in your books.
A Crisis at Clifftops
When Lilian Hathaway is named as the chief suspect in a murder enquiry, her granddaughter Eliza drops everything to rush to her side. After a string of crushing defeats, professional golfer Eliza is facing a career crisis of her own. She seizes the opportunity to hide away with Lilian at Clifftops Hotel, the family’s home on the Isle of Wight, determined to defend her beloved nanna’s innocence. But just how innocent is Lilian?
As the evidence starts to mount up, Eliza turns amateur sleuth in a race to uncover the truth. Family loyalty is stretched to the limits when she discovers a series of events in her grandmother’s past which could have far-reaching consequences, not just for Lilian but also for Clifftops, and Eliza’s own future.
If you would like to purchase A Crisis At Clifftops, please click on the link below or copy and paste into your browser: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ebook/dp/B0975WTWPK/
About Rosie Travers
Rosie Travers grew up in Southampton on the south coast of England. She spent many years working in local government before moving to California in 2009 when her husband took an overseas work assignment. Creating a blog about life as an ex-pat wife, rekindled Rosie’s teenage desire to become an author. On her return to the UK she took a course in Creative Writing and the rest, as they say, is history. Rosie’s first book The Theatre of Dreams was published in 2018. She currently lives on the edge of the New Forest with her husband Neil and her cat Ed.
Website: www.rosietravers.com
Twitter: @RosieTravers
Instagram: rosietraversauthor
Amazon page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosie-Travers/e/B07CVZ2CQ5/
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