Kwei Quartey sets one of the crime scenes in his second D.I. Dawson book in Agbogbloshie, an Accra slum. Ofeibea Quist-Arcton/NPR hide caption
Crime In The City Maybe we'll always have Paris, but these authors have their favorite cities, too. In a series of stories, crime novelists give listeners a tour of the places they and their characters inhabit. They include Randy Wayne White's Sanibel Island, Gabriel Cohen's Brooklyn and David Baldacci's Washington, DC.
Special Series
Crime In The City
A summertime series about fictional detectives and the cities where they live
The Hagia Sophia is one of the city's most well-known Byzantine monuments, but it's also home to a lesser-known memorial: a plaque for the man who encouraged the Fourth Crusade's plundering of the city. Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Mystery Writer Finds Istanbul's Byzantine Past Hiding In Plain Sight
Mary Lou Longworth has set most of her mysteries in Aix-en-Provence, a small city in Southern France. "I liked the idea of this beautiful, beautiful place having a dark side," she says. Ben Bowes via Flickr hide caption
The Empire State Building shines while Greenwich Village remains dark during the 1977 New York City blackout. Carlos Rene Perez/AP hide caption
Mystery Writer Evokes The Sights, Sound And Grime Of 1970s New York
Hall sits in a sunny bay window to write. "My first drafts are always in long hand, on legal pads," she explains. "I love putting pen to paper." Andre Ellis hide caption
Crime Writer Creates A Hero For Her Beloved, Much-Maligned South LA
Black demonstrators run down a Natchez, Miss., street in 1967 after a report that several white youths with a gun were near. The town's civil rights past informs author Greg Iles' crime fiction. AP hide caption
Writer Plumbs 'Nature Of Evil' In Hometown's Violent Civil Rights Past
Ann Cleeves, who sets her mysteries in Shetland, once asked a pathologist friend what the perfect murder would be. "He reckoned pushing somebody over a cliff," she says. "Because how would you know whether they'd fallen or just been pushed?" Infinite Ache/Flickr hide caption
For One Crime Writer, Peaceful Shetland Is A Perfect Place For Murder
Jack Irish makes a living, of sorts, in Melbourne, Australia. Gary M. Prior/Getty Images hide caption
Hard-Boiled Hero Jack Irish Lives, And Drinks, In A Shadowy Melbourne
Julia Keller's crime series about prosecuting attorney Bell Elkins is set in a fictional town inspired by Guyandotte, W. Va., near where she grew up. Melissa Smith-Stanley/Courtesy of The Guyandotte Improvement & Historical Association hide caption
In Mystery Series's W.Va. River Town, There's No Escape From Terror
Jassy Mackenzie was born in Rhodesia and moved to South Africa when she was eight years old. She edits and writes for the annual publication Best of South Africa. Soho Crime hide caption
Humayan's Tomb, a 16th-century Mughal garden tomb that helped inspire the Taj Mahal, is one of several UNESCO World Heritage sites in Delhi. Walwyn/Flickr hide caption
Mystery Series' Portly P.I. Peels Back The Layers Of Delhi Society
The view down Main Street in Concord, N.H., reflects the community's small-town feel. Author Ben Winters doesn't live in Concord, but he sets his mystery novels there — he says the city's peaceful, unpretentious atmosphere makes it an appealing setting. Michel Gagnon/Flickr hide caption
The Santa Barbara County Courthouse, a Spanish-Moorish landmark, was built in 1929. Anna Fox (harshlight)/Flickr hide caption
The Jersey shore's iconic Star Jet roller coaster was inundated after Superstorm Sandy. Mark Wilson/Getty Images hide caption
Richard Crompton sets his novel in 2007 Nairobi, a time when a small elite held power over an impoverished, restless majority. Nigel Pavitt/JAI/Corbis hide caption
Author Joel Goldman has found there's plenty of true crime to write about in the Kansas City metro area. Charlie Riedel/AP hide caption
From the Toronto Islands, one of many real-life Toronto locales in Robert Rotenberg's legal thrillers, visitors have a clear view of the city's skyline. Sean Dawsean/via Flickr hide caption
Little Green opens in 1967 and follows Easy Rawlins' search for a young man who disappeared after visiting the Sunset Strip, seen here in 1966. HF/AP hide caption
Bonfires light up the Belfast skyline on July 12, 1997, as Protestant loyalists commemorate the 17th century victory of a Protestant king over his deposed Catholic predecessor. Known as the Battle of the Boyne, the confrontation is part of a long history of tensions in the region. Paul McErlane/AP hide caption
The Dangerous Streets Of ... Ann Arbor? Harry Dolan sets his David Loogan crime series in the university town of Ann Arbor, Mich., which is also home to Borders' flagship book store (right of mural), a now-empty writers landmark. Jens Wessling/via Flickr hide caption
The canals in LA's Venice neighborhood serve as the scene of a murder in Robert Crais' 2011 novel, The Sentry. David McNew/Getty Images hide caption
For author Victoria Kneubuhl, the lost world of old Hawaii casts a long shadow. But through her writing, she says, readers can see that world again. Getty Images hide caption