by Kathleen Kaska

I love the ocean; the sea; the coast at any time of year. I don’t care if it is hot, humid, or blustery as long as it is a large body of salt water where I can look out toward that illusive, mystical horizon. I first dug my toes into the sand on the Gulf Coast in Galveston, Texas when I was six. It was on a family summer vacation; my bathing suit was navy blue with tiny white polka dots; my hair was in pigtails, and my little sister sat on a mound of sand surrounded by my handmade mote I was filling with salt water from my bucket. Even at six, I knew that life didn’t get any better. I was wrong; it did. Twenty-seven years later I met my husband, a true born and bred Galvestonian. So when it was time to begin my third Sydney Lockhart historic-hotel mystery, I knew without a doubt the setting would be Galveston, Texas and the hotel would be the Hotel Galvez.

Murder at the Galvez (LL-Publications) was released on December 7. I wish I could say that Sydney was as happy as me to be on this wild and crazy island, but with her parents living in the old Lockhart home just a few blocks from the hotel and their infamous anniversary celebration only a few days away, Sydney would rather be on that dirt road in Palacios, Texas, running from that pack of bird dogs (Murder at the Luther). But I don’t usually make life easy for her so she will have to deal with the difficulties and distractions while she attends the Pelican Island Development Conference at the hotel. I, on the other hand, had a great time in Galveston doing my research. The Galvez celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011, along with the completion of the seawall (built after the Great Storm of 1900) and the opening of Gaido’s Restaurant where the shrimp consider it an honor to ended up in the gumbo. Exploring the historic district, reading through old newspaper articles, flipping through vintage postcards, took me back to the fifties when I began my love affair with the ocean and this island.

So, not only am I promoting my mystery, but also the glorious Galvez and the best island on the Texas coast. If you find yourself in the area with my book, what better place to read it than in the Galvez lounge with a martini in hand and the Gulf of Mexico just across the street.

Leave me a comment about mysteries, fabulous vacation destinations, summer vacations, or historic hotels. You may win a copy of Murder at the Galvez.

Book blurb:

Reporter Sydney Lockhart checks into the Hotel Galvez to report on the controversial Pelican Island Development Project conference, an assignment she’s not looking forward to. The last time she entered the hotel’s foyer was eighteen years earlier when she discovered her grandfather’s murdered body. She plans to get her story and get out. But soon after arriving, the conference is cancelled; the keynote speaker is missing. When his body turns up in the trunk of Sydney’s car, she finds herself embroiled in another murder, one that forces her to reevaluate the integrity of two men she loved and trusted: her grandfather and her father.

To enter to win a copy of Murder At The Galvez, simply email KRL at life@kingsriverlife[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Galvez”, or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen December 15, 2012. U.S. residents only.

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Murder at the Galvez: A Sydney Lockhart Mystery

Kathleen Kaska is the author the Classic Triviography Mystery Series, which includes The Alfred Hitchcock Triviography and Quiz Book, The Sherlock Holmes Triviography and Quiz Book, and The Agatha Christie Triviography and Quiz Book. All three have just been reissued in by LL-Publications. Kathleen also writes the award-winning Sydney Lockhart mystery series set in the 1950s. Her first two mysteries, Murder at the Arlington and Murder at the Luther, were selected as bonus-books for the Pulpwood Queen Book Group, the largest book group in the country. Her nonfiction book, The Man Who Saved the Whooping Crane: The Robert Porter Allen Story, was released on September 16 and has been nominated for the George Perkins Marsh award for environmental history.
Learn more on her website.