Guest Post, Mysteries

Armchair Travel? Yes, Please

We Chicks are delighted to welcome back MA Monnin, travel mystery author extraordinaire, as our guest today. Whether you’ re tuning in from tundra or tropics during this lovely month of January, you’ll want to join the characters of her Intrepid Traveler Mysteries on their breathtaking international adventures. Visit Greece, Venice, Bermuda–and an upcoming dream locale. Take it away, Mary!

It’s so nice to be back visiting with the Chicks! Thank you Lisa and Chicks for inviting me.

If you’re familiar with my Intrepid Traveler Mysteries, you know I love foreign locations, and love to travel. I’m curious about other cultures, excited to see how other people live and to sample their way of life, their food and drink, to see the way they dress and live. That’s why my traditional mysteries are set in Greece, Venice and Bermuda. And soon–2026–in Egypt!

I come by this love naturally. As an Army brat, I spent my entire childhood moving every few years between Army posts in Germany and the US. That lifestyle left an indelible mark on my soul. And it wasn’t only my parents who loved to travel. After my dear Aunt Janie passed away, I discovered a collection of her leather luggage tags—mementos of a lifetime of travel. They speak to the traveler in me, and I can’t bear to throw them away.

As I write this, thanks to Winter Storm Blair, I’m looking at nine inches of snow outside my window. It’s beautiful, and blinding, and cold. As in -2 degrees when the sun came up cold. So what’s a girl who loves to travel gonna do? Certainly not head down icy roads for the airport and a flight to warmer climes. This ice-and-snow storm stretches from western Kansas clear to the East Coast. Who wants to travel when they might get stuck? Not me.

So I turn to the next best thing:

Armchair travel! Getting lost in a good book while I’m curled up in my armchair, sipping General Foods International’s Café Francais is my perfect way to spend cold winter afternoons and evenings. Okay, maybe a glass of wine or cocktail at night. I love to immerse myself in the day-to-day life of the sleuths. Whether I’m in England or beyond with Agatha Christie, or with the Chicks in California, Colorado, Dixie, New Orleans or Shamrock, Massachusetts, I immerse myself in that book’s culture while I work to separate the clues from the red herrings. I feel like I am in the story myself and I couldn’t be happier.

If you like armchair travel, too, check out Curators of Crime, where I’ve joined with three other mystery authors who write about locations around the globe: Connie Berry, whose Kate Hamilton Mysteries take place in England, Lane Stone, whose Big Picture Series takes Emma Kelly around the globe–travel she needs to juggle two husbands—and Nina Wachsman’s Venice Beauties series, which not only go to Venice and the Caribbean, but back in time to the world of pirates and poisons.

To be the first to see my new cover, sign up for our newsletters here: https://www.curatorsofcrime.com/

To learn more about my Intrepid Traveler Mysteries and see which conventions I’ll be attending this year, check out my website: https://www.mamonnin.com .

For Mary, armchair travel is the perfect escape. What about you, dear reader? Where do you like to escape to as you sift through clues and red herrings in mystery novels? Share with us in the comments!

ABOUT THE INTREPID TRAVELER MYSTERIES:

Stefanie Adams is a 35-year-old former private banker who discovers her bank security training has given her a knack for investigation. After falling for his charms, she agrees to help the head of Interpol’s Artifact Retrieval Team, and so travels the world with Thomas Burkhardt, finding and recovering priceless stolen artifacts.

Stefanie Adams is a 35-year-old former private banker who discovers her bank security training has given her a knack for investigation. After falling for his charms, she agrees to help the head of Interpol’s Artifact Retrieval Team, and so travels the world with Thomas Burkhardt, finding and recovering priceless stolen artifacts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Agatha Best First Novel nominee M. A. Monnin writes the Intrepid Traveler Mysteries, including her latest, DEATH IN ST. GEORGE’S. Her short stories appear in Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, and numerous anthologies. An avocational archaeologist and USAF veteran, Mary is a member of ITW, MWA, SinC, and SMFS. An avocational archaeologist and USAF veteran, Mary lives in Kansas City, MO. Visit her website at: https://www.mamonnin.com

32 thoughts on “Armchair Travel? Yes, Please”

    2. Thanks Grant! It’s funny you mention that visa stamp. I made a visa stamp graphic for Death in the Aegean, just for fun. It’s time I made the same for the other destinations.

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  2. Mary, welcome to Chicks today, and thanks for being our guest. We’re so happy to have you–and can’t think of a colder day in many parts of the country to enjoy your sunny photos (and your books!). The car temp was -13 when my hubby left for work this am. I’ll follow Stefanie and Thomas on their adventures anywhere–so much fun!

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    1. PS: Forgot to reply re: where I like to armchair travel. Just about anywhere right now, ha. But I go back and forth between places very sunny and very drizzly.

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  3. Thanks for being our guest, Mary! Armchair travel is the best since it’s free, and I can go anywhere. I love any sleuthing location, whether it’s a small town, urban area, or far-flung destination.

    P.S. Curators of Crime sounds like an amazing group!

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    2. Mary! I love your stories and want to go to all of those locations, especially since it’s all of 2 degrees outside. At this point, I wanna go where it’s warm. St. George’s, perhaps? Where my flamingo shirt? 🦩

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  5. I’ve been an arm-chair traveler for many years. Every time I know I’ll be going to a new country I buy books set there and start my journey beforehand with those stories. And when I can’t travel in person? I let myself go there through reading!

    Thanks so much for visiting the Chicks today, and so glad you’ll be writing about Egypt next, one place I still long to visit (especially Alexandria, for which I’ve held a fascination for many years).

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  6. Hi, Mary! As a former travel writer and author of the destination wedding series, I love far-flung locales — which, since I was dictating, got transcribed as “local cows.” 😂 So great to have you on the blog today! Maybe our heroines can meet up on the road someday!

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  8. Your books sound like fun! I do a lot more armchair traveling than real traveling, which is definitely much more affordable. I like traveling anywhere via book, whether it is to slightly fictionalized versions of Pike Place Market and Ashland Oregon, or far flung destinations that Cotton Malone travels to. I am adding your books to my TBR. Stay warm everyone. It is up to 12° in Akron now so the temperature is heading in the right direction!

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  10. Mary, sitting here in the U.P. at -2 degrees I’m drinking coffee and fantasizing about your inked settings of Venice and Greece — and looking forward to Egypt! (I’m a little superstitious about the Bermuda Triangle!) Thanks for hanging out today with the Chicks!!

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    1. Much cheaper! Death in Luxor will come out in 2026, and last summer we went to Rhodes, Greece, a new place for us. I see a book that takes place there, if the stars align.

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