The Mysterious Welsh Town of Nant Gwtheyren

 Here's another tale from Wales from one of my Welsh guest bloggers, the extremely talented (and mega intelligent ! Like Stan she's a Professor Doctor Author Etc etc!) Gwenllian.  We are awaiting the publication of the next book, The Wolf's Shadow.  The wee blurb says that  the body of Thomas Seymour is found in a tree, nine years to the day, after he was beheaded on Tower Hill!

Reading this blog, I think you see where the inspiration of this book came from. Or is it true? Will we ever know?  Read on for the spooky history of a cursed village.

PS At some point we should do a wee video blog, just to hear Gwenllian's accent and the Welsh pronunciation...

Mysterious Wales – The cursed village of Nant Gwtheyren

 Situated on the coast of the Llyn Peninsular in in North West Wales you cannot see Nant Gwtheyren from the road – you have to leave the main road, make your way through a forest and then turn a corner to find this.

                                       

Thousands of feet below you will see the ancient village nestled in a ring of mountains. It looks idyllic. But this peaceful hamlet has a very dark past of curses, fairy folk, tragedy, spies and ruin. Today it is still defying a curse made centuries ago.

There is evidence that people have lived in this mountain hollow since the dawn of man. It first entered the literature as the claimed hiding place of Vortigern – a Welsh prince who made the mistake of falling in love with a Saxon princess and, in his attempt to marry her, subjected his men to bloody slaughter. Some legends say he crawled down the winding path to the sea and spent his life in madness, wandering the mountain sides. Others say he leapt from a cliff in the shame of betraying his people. Indeed, the cliff to the North of the village is still called Vortigern’s leap.

Another belief is that the Nant is the land of the Twllwch Teg – the fair people or fairies. I recall my grandmother telling me that you must never shout in the Nant or walk the mountain paths alone at night – for the fairies would be angered and you would not come home.

In the fifth Century, the hollow had become a fishing village, living well of the sea-stock of the Welsh waters. The people were close, suspicious of strangers and had little to do with the outside world. One day, three monks, following the pilgrimage path of North Wales, asked for food and a place to stay. They also asked to build a church.  They were pelted with stones and told to keep walking. In their fury, three curses were cast upon the village and the people – that the village would die and rise three times before falling to ruin forever; that no two young people from the village would marry; and that no villager would be buried in the ground.

It was not long before the curses started to manifest. Soon after the monks had gone, the men went fishing as usual but were struck by a raging storm. Every man drowned, leaving a village of widows and children. Grief-stricken and unable to carry on village economy, every woman left and the village died for the first time.

In the mid-1700s the second curse came true when a young couple, Rhys and Meinir, were engaged. Their love had grown as they walked the hills and sat under an oak watching the sea. The day of the wedding arrived and the young men around Rhys readied themselves for the traditional chase of the bride – where the bride would run away and hide only to be chased by the groom and his men and carried back. When Meinir ran laughing from her father’s house it should have been the start of a joyous day. But hours later she was still not found. The hunt went on for days and weeks. Rhys never stopped looking for his sweetheart. Years later, a great storm cleaved the old oak in half. Inside, they found a skeleton in a wedding dress. 

Some years later Elis Bach (Little Elis)  was born – a child who never grew to the size of a man with legs no longer than the length of a hand, and yet was able to run faster than others, herd sheep and battle against thieves. He was believed a changeling left in this realm by the fairies.

The second rise was in the 1800’s when Hugh Owen realised that the granite of the cliffs was perfect to make sets for the roads being built across Wales and England as the industrial revolution gathered pace. The stone of Nant Gwtheyren paved and cobbled the roads of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and other developing cities. Soon there were three working quarries. The village seemed to have a long future. The population grew and a chapel was built – just as the monks had requested. But within a few decades, engineering moved on and discovered tarmacadam. Granite steps were no longer wanted. The curse came true again. In the early 1900s the last quarry closed, the quarry families left, and the village slowly died again. It was a place chosen by people who wanted life away from others – like mysterious Margaret Fisher who was believed a spy and died, or maybe just disappeared, in a strange house fire. The valley quietened year by year and the last family climbed out of the village in 1959.

                                                   

The village became a place of transient dwellers – the worst of them were the hippy colony calling themselves the New Atlantis Commune. They wrecked the dwellinghouses, burned the woodwork, fouled the village as they had no sewage system and vandalised at will.  Nant Gwtheyren was left in ruins and a third rising seemed impossible. It was considered dead.

Gwenllian Williams

Writing in Hotels part 3

Wendall -- every other Thursday

As I am writing for a deadline, I will leave you this week with a few images of the place where I recently went to hide out.

Perfect noir writer's hideout

 

As most of you know, I work best in hotels and I returned to one of my favorites, in Carpinteria, California. As I’m working on a story about Hollywood, I experimented a bit with black and white and a filter or two.

 

I do a lot of my writing here on the balcony. Here are a few views from there.

Coffee required.

There's a reason why this is the room I always ask for.

If I go early enough for breakfast, I can even get the outer dining room to myself.

 

Here are a few photos from my "thinking" walks.

 

A few views from Linden and Carpinteria Avenues.

Of course, everything doesn't have to be black and white.

Working happy hour cocktail.

A bit of a filter looking down from the balcony.

And my attempts, usually futile to capture a full moon. It never looks as big in the photos as it does in the sky.

I was very lucky to be able to go away to write. The proof of whether the inspiration and focus worked or not, I guess, will be in the story.

--- Wendall

QUARTEY’S TOP TEN

Wed--Quartey

If you follow my Insta account (@kweiquarteyauthor) you might know I sometimes post “Quartey’s Top Ten Lists” a la David Letterman. So, just for fun (since life seems so grim these days), I’ve included a couple here for mindless enjoyment.

That’s all I got!

An Avian Invasion

 Sujata Massey

When I'm on deadline for a book, I describe it as living with my head down. The work is plodding and challenging and seems never-ending. If I leave it for a day or two, it's that much harder to get back to it. I remind myself constantly that making something that exists better is preferable to doing a first draft, but it's still not easy.  

Life goes on around me, which means meals must be cooked, gardens weeded and gas tanks filled. And I still do laundry. But suddenly, that became an adventure. 

It all started with animal noises and a shaking movement of the dryer's exhaust tube. At first I was fearful that the squirrels who like living under the porch floorboards had somehow fallen into the laundry room. How would I ever get them out? For days, I avoided the laundry and kept the door closed. But I had to go in sometimes; I needed clean clothing. And then one day, as I was rising up with a wet load to put into the washer, I saw.

A flash of feathers streaked from the end of the vent out to a neighboring tree. I had been wrong to think squirrels had taken up in the clothes dryer. My guest or guests were avians. And in springtime in Maryland, birds who are sticking straw into a high-up hole in a house are only up to one thing: building a place to protect eggs and raise babies.

I really don't want a nest in my laundry exhaust. I believe that blocking it could be hazardous in terms of causing a fire; and for me to be running a hot dryer could cause eggs to cook a little too fast. But in the first weeks, I made noise in the laundry room and ran the dryer quite a bit to scare the bird parents off.

Guess what? It didn't work. The bird nest has got bigger and bigger, and it was increasingly hard for the clothes to dry.  I went away to Minnesota for a week, and when I came back, I unloaded my clothes and heard the sweetest baby chirp. My heart melted. And since then, I have not used the dryer. Instead, I listen for the racket of early morning parenting, late afternoon parenting, and I see many parental forays from the dryer vent to the neighboring crepe myrtle.

What kind of birds are they? I wish I could tell you.  I only see the small grayish-black bird daddy with a sheen on the wings when he is flying fast. The bird call is not especially pretty--it's basically a caaaw. My guess is "blackbird," but that is hardly exact.

I also wish I had photograph of the nest to share, but they have buried it very cleverly so it can't even be seen anymore.

All good things come to an end. I believe that by August, they will all fly away and I can have a technician come to clean out the flexible tube. I could ask for a new tube with mesh on the outward side that would discourage future entry. In the meantime, I've ordered a clothesline so I can start drying our sheets and clothes in the proper, old-fashioned manner. 

In their own way, the birds  are keeping their heads down as they go about their duties. And I wouldn't be surprised if the babies beat me by flying out of their nest like professionals before my book is done. 

Capital Crimes and an interview with a fresh voice in Antipodean Noir

Debut crime writer Tom Baragwanath at his London launch in February

Craig every second Tuesday

Kia ora and gidday everyone,

So the big crime fiction news of this week, for those in the UK in particular but also many visiting authors, is the latest edition of the Capital Crime festival being held near St Paul's Cathedral in the heart of the city later this week (Thurs 30 May-Sat 1 June). When I first moved to London nearly a decade ago, for family reasons and with no idea how long I'd stay, I enjoyed the fact there were several terrific crime fiction festivals all around the country to enjoy. I'd been once before to the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, when over in 2012 for a friend's wedding, and my first weekend in the UK in 2014 I spontaneously hopped on a train up to Stirling to attend one of the early Bloody Scotland festivals. In the years to come I also went to Crimefest in Bristol a few times, Noireland in Belfast, Chiltern Kills, and appeared onstage at Deal Noir on the coast, Granite Noir in Aberdeen, Bute Noir in Rothesay, Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, and many Bloody Scotlands. 

In my early years in the UK, I commented on how there were so many cool crime festivals all around the country, big and more intimate, with new ones popping up regularly (Noirwich, Morecambe & Vice, Hull Noir, etc). Some were long-lasting, others came and went. But although there were plenty of crime fiction launches and bookshop author chats and the occasional event at the likes of the British Library, there wasn't a big crime festival in London itself. 

I was told by those in the know that it had been tried before, but never really worked. London wasn't suited to creating that collegial, booklovers all hanging out together atmosphere of other UK crime fiction festivals. 

Ian Rankin and Don Winslow onstage at first Capital Crime
in September 2019 (cr Ali Karim) 

All that changed in recent years thanks to Goldsboro bookseller and literary agent David Headley, author Adam Hamdy, event whiz Lizzie Curle, and their Capital Crime team. The first Capital Crime was held in September 2019, having been conceived in the back of a New York City cab while Headley and Hamdy were at Thrillerfest the year before (as reported by Karin Salvalaggio). It was a great success, but then 2020 hit, and like so many other events Capital Crime was walloped by the pandemic (incidentally, we held our first-ever New Zealand international crime writing festivals, Rotorua Noir, in January 2019, and plans for a second in January 2021 were similarly squashed by COVID. We hope to return in future). 

After a hiatus, Capital Crime did return however, evolving and growing each year. I was fortunate enough to be part of the onstage activities for Capital Crime 2022, which was held in Battersea Park in London. I loved that festival, chairing a couple of early panels on the Thursday afternoon, meeting SA Cosby that evening (Capital Crime was the first British festival to bring the breakout crime writing star of the pandemic across the pond), and hanging out with some cool authors before I had to fly to New Zealand on the Friday. Apparently it did rain a bit over the weekend though, which may be why Capital Crime switched back to a hotel venue in 2023 rather than staying in the park. 

Capital Crime 2022: Waterstones bookseller Andreas Alambritis, me, authors BP Walter, AA Chaudhuri, SA Cosby, critic Ayo Onatade, author Tariq Ashkanani

This year's Capital Crime festival includes another fabulous line-up of authors, ranging from legendary figures and well-established bestsellers and award-winners, to some of the freshest and most fascinating new voices. Personally, I'm particularly stoked to see the likes of Crime Writers of Color co-founder Kellye Garrett, who I've had the pleasure of interviewing before via Zoom but never met in person, and terrific Kiwi debut crime writer Tom Baragwanath, onstage. It's a festival full of highlights and must-see panels and events, far too many for me to list here, so I'd just say check out the full Capital Crime programme here, and if you're in/near London, head along if you can. I have a few clashes that weekend, but will be trying to get along for at least a few events/one day.

Speaking of Tom Baragwanath, whose debut novel PAPER CAGE was a finalist (ie shortlisted) for our Ngaio Marsh Awards in New Zealand last year, and has been published in UK hardcover and US hardcover this year - and recently listed by Kirkus Reviews as one of the most addictive reads of the year so far - I had the pleasure of first meeting Tom at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. Then earlier this year I managed to make it along to his UK launch at Waterstones Covent Garden (pictures atop this column, and right). 

PAPER CAGE launch in London

And yes, the eagle-eyed may spy that Waterstones bookseller Andreas Alambritis makes another appearance, this time alongside Aussie crime writer Emma Styles. I love how book events bring great people together.

Some of you who may have read my blog, Crime Watch - which has been running since 2009 but has been in a bit of a hiatus in the past couple of years - may be aware of my long-running 9mm author interview series (225+ interviews with a huge range of crime writers from many countries between 2010-2021). I'd been toying with the idea of bringing back that regular author interview series, so thought I'd now announce its return here on Murder is Everywhere by sharing a new 9mm interview with Tom Baragwanath, a fresh new voice in Antipodean Noir. 

9MM INTERVIEW: TOM BARAGWANATH

Tom Baragwanath is originally from Masterton, New Zealand, and now lives in Paris. His debut PAPER CAGE won the 2021 Michael Gifkins prize for unpublished manuscripts, and was released in Australia and New Zealand by Text Publishing. It was a finalist for the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, and longlisted for Best Novel. It was also shortlisted for the 2023 Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Fiction, and has now been published in hardcover in the UK and USA in 2024. Between pastries, Tom is working on his next novel.

Who is your favourite recurring crime fiction hero/detective?

It's not exactly classic crime fiction, but the unnamed narrator of Haruki Murakami's 'Trilogy of the Rat' series (Hear the Wind Sing, A Wild Sheep Chase, and Dance Dance Dance) is a personal favourite of mine. He's cool and detached in typical hard-boiled fashion, but slightly bungling and remote in that special Murakami kind of way – and just resourceful enough to get to the bottom of things (even the more existential or philosophical mysteries). 

What was the very first book you remember reading and really loving, and why?

The first book I remember truly loving was a book about space shuttles my grandmother used to read to me before I could read for myself. I loved that book so much it disintegrated. As for novels, a friend put a copy of Catch-22 in my hands when I was around thirteen, and I just couldn't believe what I was reading: the gallows humour, the bleak yet oddly uplifting tone, and the incredible inventiveness of the language. Just an incredible book for a teenager to discover.

Before your debut crime novel, what else had you written (if anything) unpublished manuscripts, short stories, articles?

I had a bunch of short stories published in my twenties and early thirties, mostly presenting thinly-veiled versions of myself in situations taken loosely from my own life. I still like some of them – but some of them I'm pretty happy to forget. 

Outside of writing and writing-related activities (book events, publicity), what do you really like to do, leisure and activity-wise?

I live in Paris, so I'm morally obligated to see a lot of films – it's pretty much part of the application for residency there. This habit has been curtailed a bit by the presence of a toddler in my life, but it's still my favourite thing. Besides that, I try to run in Buttes-Chaumont as much as I can. 

Castlepoint Scenic Reserve on the Wairarapa Coast

What is one thing that visitors to your hometown should do, that isn't in the tourist brochures, or perhaps they wouldn’t initially consider?

Take a walk up Castle Rock at Castlepoint on the east coast past Masterton, and walk over to Christmas Bay for good measure. Bonus points if you manage to find the one day in a hundred when it isn't blowing a gale. 

If your life was a movie, which actor could you see playing you?

Mark Ruffalo. Looks nothing like me, but he's my guy. 

Of your writings, which is your favourite or a bit special to you for any particular reason, and why?

The final chapter in Paper Cage is probably my favourite. I won't say too much about why, but I was working on the version that ended up going to print when my wife and I were expecting our son, and I was reaching for a sense of care and protectiveness I couldn't quite describe at that moment – but I think I managed it. A big thanks to my publisher at Knopf, Caitlin Landuyt – she really pushed me to reflect on the kind of tone we wanted to end on in the final section of the book. 

What was your initial reaction, and how did you celebrate, when you were first accepted for publication? Or when you first saw your debut novel in book form on a bookseller’s shelf?

I had a call with Michael Heyward and Mandy Brett of Text Publishing to let me know I'd won the Gifkins Prize at about 9am one summer morning in Paris. I was exploding with excitement, but I had to wait until I finished work to go out and celebrate.

What is the strangest or most unusual experience you have had at a book signing, author event, or literary festival?

On the train from London to Harrogate for the crime festival in 2023, I was having a delightful chat with the writer SA Cosby about Don Delillo, Cormac McCarthy, and all the rest, when some chap's laptop bag fell off the rack and beaned me in the head. He was so apologetic he pre-ordered Paper Cage right then and there. A few more head injuries and I'll be a best-seller.

Thanks, Tom, we appreciate you having a chat with us. 

If you're in or near London this week, you can catch Tom Baragwanath, among many other fantastic crime writers -  legendary, well-established, and fresh new voices - at the Capital Crime festival near St Paul's Cathedral. 

Tom will be appearing on Thursday as part of the 'Whose Crime Is It Anyway?' event, where two teams of crime writers battle game-show style.

Until next time. Ka kite anō.

Whakataukī of the fortnight: 

Inspired by Zoe and her 'word of the week', I'll be ending my fortnightly posts by sharing a whakataukī (Māori proverb), a pithy and poetic thought to mull on as we go through life.

Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi

(With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive)

God's Pronouns

 Annamaria (she, her, hers) on Monday

I am potentially going to get myself into a lot of trouble with this.  My thinking about the subject is serious and heartfelt.  An inquiry into an important topic that might, on the page, come across as flippant.  Or blasphemous (more about which later).

I went to Catholic school for seventeen years.  In fact, except for a couple of  graduate courses at Columbia University in statistics, all of my formal education was under the auspices of the Church.  At college level, the nuns gave me a full scholarship, for which I am profoundly (not - under these circumstances - to say "eternally") grateful.  Theology and comparative religion courses were required.  I got A's. I tell you this to reassure myself that I have spent a lot of time learning about and thinking about an all-powerful, omniscient, eternal deity.

Of late, though, I have been wondering how the Supreme Being got to be male in gender.  I ask this, I swear to you, not out of envy, though it does mean that human men get to be the same gender as God.  There is not a cell in my body that wishes it were male.

But, for Earth's three dominant religions, God is male.  The Lord.  God, the Father.  So in English, God's pronouns are he, him, his.  I don't know of a language in which this is not the case. Perhaps in Aramaic or Ancient Hebrew, there were pronouns that applied only to God.  Or perhaps those languages don't have pronouns at all.  The only nonEuropean language that I know at all is Mandarin.  And it has pronouns.

Considering that God is not a person, in the normal meaning of that word, wouldn't it make more sense to refer to that powerful, but in a lot of ways unknowable being as "It."  Shouldn't God's pronouns be It, It, Its?  Christians believe in the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the son, and the Holy Spirit.  Two of those parts of God have the masculine gender (father and son, not mother and daughter).  But collectively couldn't they be spoken of as They, Them, Their? Or perhaps, shouldn't the Supreme Being have pronouns that apply only to God?

 

How do we know that God is masculine?  Is it because men have dominated so much a human history for so long that they endowed God with their masculinity.  In the Old Testament recounting, God speaks, gives voice to requests and admonitions.  As far as I recall, God had spoken only to men.  (When God had a message for Mary, he sent the Angel Gabriel.)  When God spoke to Abraham, Moses, and Elija, did they hear a man's voice and therefore conclude that God was a man.  Or were God's pronouns already masculine.

I should stop here, before I stray into even more dangerous musings about how God got to be masculine.  I might be accused of blasphemy.

But now I am going to do something really cheeky, that also might be considered offensive.  I am going to stray into a plug for a book.  As many of you know, my Africa series follows the Ten Commandments.  Each plot revolves around the sin that is forbidden by the commandment. But the central crime also involves a sin that has no Commandment, that I think should have one.  June 1st is the launch date for a beautiful new edition of Vera and Tolliver #3: The Blasphemers.

The Third Commandment forbids blasphemy, the sin of misusing God's name, something I have noticed that happens a lot.  Just as I was beginning work on that story, a friend put up a picture on Facebook that was a case in point.  It was at the time when there was a lot of public noise about the legality of gay marriage.  The offensive picture in question was of a storefront in Alabama.  The entire front window was covered with a huge sign that said, "Jesus Hates Gays." Blasphemy, I said.  With all those years in Catholic school, I knew all of Jesus' words.  Never did he say he hated gays.  In fact, he never said anything about gays at all.  And he came out strongest against hate. Jesus preached radical love.  The Third Commandment forbids taking the name of God in vain.  Putting word's in God's mouth is a forbidden sin.

In The Blasphemers, the worst villains give their religion as a reason to murder.  The other sin in this book is the subjugation of women.     

Tales of real estate and murder - Guest post by Dawn M. Barclay (aka D.M. Barr)

Dawn with friends

Dawn M. Barclay is an award-winning author who writes fiction as D.M. Barr and nonfiction under her own name. Her novels involving real estate, which has been her career for the past 25 years, include Expired Listings, Revenge Begins at Home, The Queen of Second Chances, and the soon-to-be-released Deadly When Disturbed, all set in the tumultuous world of Rock Canyon Realty. In 2025, Level Best Books will release the first volumes of her multi-book true crime travel series, Vacations Can Be Murder. She also recently co-edited her second Sisters in Crime - NY/TriState's anthology, New York State of Crime. Dawn is the past president of Hudson Valley Scribes, a former VP of Sisters in Crime-NY, former board member and newsletter editor for MWA-NY, and a member of  ITW.

In today's guest post, Dawn tells us why being a Realtor is a really dangerous profession, and how that can be exploited to write exciting thrillers!

I started writing fiction because as a Realtor, I knew what a dangerous profession it was and wanted to convey that to others.

 As real estate office manager Deborah Lee Decker explains in my first novel, Expired Listings: “Think about it. Most agents are women, usually very attractive women. We post glamour shots on our signs and business cards and then list every possible way to reach us. Then, how’s this for brilliant, we advertise that we’re going to be alone in an empty house for hours on a Sunday afternoon. We have strangers join us in our cars, or we ride in theirs... If we’re not asking for trouble, then I don’t know who is.”

Surprisingly, many reviewers mentioned that before Expired Listings, they’d never read a mystery or thriller set in the world of real estate. Yet, while I was writing the second draft (or was it the third?), stories flooded newspapers about the murder of 49-year-old Arkansas Realtor, Beverly Carter. And she was far from the first: in 2011, an Iowa agent named Ashley Oakland was murdered while showing a home. She was 27. And five years earlier, agent Sarah Ann Walker (40) was stabbed repeatedly in a McKinney, Texas model home.

The truth is that real estate sales—which require agents to go to properties that are often empty, accompanied by “prospective buyers” whom they may never have previously met—embody the very essence of mystery and horror books and films.

I’ve been an associate real estate broker for 25 years, and of the nine books I’ve written or edited since 2015, three involve real estate agents. In the aforementioned Expired Listings, a psychological thriller that’s also satiric, a serial killer is murdering all the unethical agents in the small town of Rock Canyon (meaning all of them), and no one is too concerned. The other agents are happy, believing it means less competition; the townspeople view it as a public service. The only one who’s even slightly perturbed is Dana Black, a kinky agent who uses her empty listings for erotic S&M interludes, and she’s only concerned because someone is trying to pin the murders on her.

And the murders are more ironic than gory—like the agent who’s tied to a hot water heater in an overpriced listing and ends up dying of dehydration because no other agents show the home with its inflated price tag. Or another broker who dies when a pile of boxes collapses on her in a hoarder’s home. The novel overflows messages to sellers, like Price the Home Right! and Declutter!

Unfortunately, while I was writing the book, two New Jersey agents got caught “doing the deed” by an owner who’d installed hidden security cameras in his empty home. Apparently, the agents had overpriced the property to keep it empty, so they’d have a cheap venue for their steamy trysts. I say “unfortunately,” not only because I thought the story further damaged the reputation of Realtors in general (at least my books are fiction), but because it made my novel seem less original. I wrote it before their story hit, I swear!

My other two real estate novels involve crime within the profession but without serial killings. The Queen of Second Chances features Carra Quinn, the stepdaughter of Bea, the mobile home queen. Bea hires Carra, who’s desperate for work, to infiltrate a Rock Canyon senior center as an aide and convince seniors to sell their homes. And in the third novel, Deadly When Disturbed, which will debut in January of 2025, Rock Canyon’s top Realtor, Dara Banks, hires an assistant named Merry Rafter who turns out to be something other than what she originally claims. Along the way, Dara pulls a few unethical stunts, like getting a listing by subtly mentioning to a seller that the agent they had initially chosen is undergoing dialysis and may not be available when they need him to be. They end up choosing to list with her instead. This was actually based on a true story of an agent I knew who refused to let competing agents know oncologists were treating her for breast cancer, lest they use that information to steal away her clients. Sad but true.

I’m not the only one writing real estate mystery fiction. My fellow sister in crime, Nancy Good, will release Killer Condo through Level Best Books this coming June. Emily Page and Patti Benning both have cozy real estate mystery series. New York Times bestselling author Marshall Karp tackles real estate in his inimitable and humorous way in Flipping Out. And Chevy Stevens’ debut novel, Still Missing, involves a Realtor. (Chevy was a Realtor, I still am.)

Now I’m writing nonfiction, specifically a series of true crime travel guides called Vacations Can Be Murder. And what I’ve learned is that real estate agents play a role in true crime, just as they have in fiction.

Sure, you have Realtors murdered on the job, like the aforementioned agents. But don’t forget Edna Therrel Macdonald, who was discovered strangled in the basement of a house on Heritage Road in Barrington, Rhode Island. Her suspected killer was counterfeiter, kidnapper, rapist, and sadist James Mitchell DeBardeleben, though authorities never prosecuted him for that particular crime. Edna was not the only real estate agent he allegedly murdered, either. In 1982, DeBardeleben reportedly kidnapped real estate agent Jean McPhaul, and left her hanging in the attic of a new home, lashed to a rafter. Her heart had two puncture wounds.

In an excellent article in Psychology Today by fellow Level Best Books author Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D., titled, Realtor Murders: Some are Predators and Some are Prey (July 27, 2019 (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shadow-boxing/201807/realtor-murders-some-are-predators-and-some-are-prey), Ramsland details several other real estate-related murders.

One involved Rosalba Contreras, a broker in California. She induced an elderly couple to sell investment properties to her associates for below-market value and then resold them for top dollar. The difference cost the couple around $2 million. In 1998, when confronted, Contreras attacked the husband with a hammer, bludgeoning him to death. She then slashed the bedridden wife with a razor and set their beach house on fire. The couple both perished in the blaze.

When another agent, Ann Nelson, asked a buyer why he was looking at homes he couldn’t afford, he answered by strangling her with a scarf and beating her to death with a fireplace poker. He tried to destroy the evidence by setting the house on fire. And the carnage apparently doesn’t end at the closing table. For example, once in his new home, Robert Johnson was clearly upset that the property he’d purchased through Troy Vanderstelt had lost value. He showed his displeasure by scheduling a meeting with Vanderstelt during which he shot his former broker to death.

So, it’s clear that buyers and sellers can be murderers. But how about the agents themselves? Through my research, I’ve uncovered real estate agents who were killing it—and I don’t mean in a good way.

Todd Kohnhepp of South Carolina hid his sex offender past (and the fact he’d already killed four people) when he applied for a real estate license in 2006. This guy actually had the audacity to review murder weapons like chainsaws on Amazon, albeit not under his own name. And the murders and rapes he committed (that we know of) didn’t involve real estate buyers and sellers, but people he’d hired to clean his home. Some never made it out alive. Authorities ultimately charged him with seven counts of murder plus kidnapping and sexual assault. He pleaded guilty in 2017 and is currently serving seven consecutive life sentences.

 Willy Suarez Maceo of Miami is another suspected Realtor-turned-serial-killer. He’s been charged with first-degree murder in the killings of two homeless men, one in October of 2021, and the other a few months later in December. He’s also been charged for attempted murder for third shooting, also in December. Again, the murders were unrelated to real estate, but they really make you question who’s listing that empty house down the block.

All this real estate-related death makes you wonder why For Sale by Owners go it alone. They’ve got no buffer between themselves and the buyers who come to preview their home. I’d be very wary if I were them. I’d be sure to have a crowd of people in the house whenever any prospective purchaser called for a viewing.

If there’s one thing I’m grateful for, it’s that because all of these murders have been spread out over decades, the general public hasn’t gone sour on real estate and using real estate agents—not yet anyway. If I continue to write about Rock Canyon Realty, I may have to start answering my phone with the disclaimer, “Hi, I’m Dawn Barclay, Associate Broker—I don’t plan to kill you and I certainly suggest you don’t murder me.” The truth is, despite all the books and newspaper stories, real estate is probably 99% safe. But I’ll carry pepper spray in my purse—just in case.

 (Note: The term “Realtor” is really supposed to be written as REALTOR^© but I find that jarring to read so I have compromised by capitalizing the word. I hope NAR doesn’t come after me.)

 

 

 

 

 

An Aid to Finding Your Own Greek Island Paradise

 

Telendos, Southeast Aegean Sea

 

Saturday–Jeff

 

I can tell that Greece's tourist season is well under way from the number of questions I'm getting from friends, fans and frequent flier types seeking information on which Greek islands to visit. It's a daunting question because one person's paradise can be another's purgatory.  That's why any answer I offer is generally accompanied by this observation: If you don't like the island you're on, jump on a ferry and head to another because there so many of them."

 

My life on the recommendation front has become significantly simpler since coming across an article titled, "How Many Greek Islands Are There?" published a year ago by the team at the wonderful "GREECE IS" online magazine. Now, rather than reinventing the wheel, or listing a bibliography of several well regarded in depth sources, I simply refer to that article.

  

Today, I decided to spread the word in a post on Murder is Everywhere so that when asked THE question I can simply point to this post--a convenience that benefits us all.

 

So, here you have it, an unexpurgated copy of Greece Is's May 5, 2023 succinct overview of Greece's eight archipelagos groups comprised of roughly 6000 or so islands and islets, of which approximately 227 are inhabited.

 

The Greek islands are among the world’s most popular tourist destinations, but have you ever wondered how many there are? And how they're grouped?

 

Renowned for their rugged beauty, rich cultural heritage, and laidback way of life, the Greek islands have, in many ways, become synonymous with the country of Greece itself. After all, when people conjure up images of Greece, they often picture one of its many islands set against the sapphire blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. But here’s the question: how many islands are there? And how are they grouped?

 

According to the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), the country includes 6,000 islands and islets scattered across the Aegean and Ionian Seas, comprising a total land area of approximately 20,000 square kilometers. Of these, only around 227 are inhabited, with the rest being either uninhabited or periodically used for agriculture (including herding and grazing), fishing, and tourism.

 

The geography of the islands is varied, ranging from rocky and barren landscapes to lush, green forests and sandy beaches. Some of the islands are volcanic in origin, with Santorini being the most famous example. The majority of islands are relatively small, with only a few exceptions like Crete, which is the largest and most populous island in Greece (over 630,000 year-round inhabitants), and Evia (190,000), which is connected to the mainland via a short bridge.

Oia, Santorini. One of the world's most famous sunsets. ©Perikles Merakos

 

In terms of biomass, the Greek islands are home to a diverse range of flora and fauna. The Mediterranean climate of the islands is ideal for the growth of olives, citrus fruits, and grapevines, which are widely cultivated in the region, and have been for thousands of years. The islands are also home to a number of endemic species, including the Cretan goat (Kri-kri) and the famous mastic trees of Chios.

 

The Greek islands have been inhabited since prehistoric times, with evidence of earliest permanent settlements dating back to the Neolithic period in the 7th millennium BC, when early farmers migrated from the east. The prehistoric settlement of Poliochni, located on the east coast of Limnos in the North Aegean, is widely believed to be the oldest “city” in Europe. The ancient Greeks believed that the islands were home to a number of gods and goddesses, and they played an important role in Greek mythology. According to the late 8th-early 7th century BC poet Hesiod, the goddess of love, Aphrodite, was born from the “sea-foam” off Kythira, the southernmost Ionian island (another version of the myth says she was born off the coast of Paphos, Cyprus).

 

Today, the islands are among the world’s most popular tourist destinations, attracting millions of visitors each year with their picturesque landscapes, historic sites, and vibrant culture. Despite their popularity among tourists, many of the Greek islands retain their traditional way of life, with small fishing villages and farming communities still playing an important role in the local economy. Some of the smaller, less-visited islands offer a glimpse into this traditional way of life, with narrow streets, whitewashed buildings, and local festivals that celebrate the islands’ cultural heritage.

Hydra  ©Shutterstock

 

THE ISLAND GROUPS

 

The Greek islands are traditionally grouped into eight archipelagos, each with their own unique character.

 

ARGOSARONIC

 

Closest to Athens are the seven small islands of the Argolic and Saronic Gulfs, running down the eastern coastline of the Peloponnese. Grouped together as the “Argosaronic islands,” they consist of Salamina, Aegina, Agistri, Dokos, Poros, Hydra, and Spetses.

 

Home to picturesque villages and some wonderful beaches, the islands have become quite cosmopolitan over the years, attracting writers, artists and musicians. They have also become well known in the yachting world, Spetses hosting an annual regatta. Hydra has also famously banned all but a handful of “wheeled vehicles” on the island, including cars, motorbikes, and even bicycles (mules, donkeys, and sea taxis provide the only public transportation).

                Santorini ©Shutterstock

 

CYCLADES

 

The Cyclades, meaning “circular islands,” is arguably the most famous island complex in the Aegean, comprising some of the most beautiful (and romantic!) islands on the planet. The “flagship” of this archipelago, which consists of 220 mostly uninhabited islands and islets, is undoubtedly Santorini, famed for its stunning blue-domed churches, whitewashed buildings, and breathtaking views of the Aegean Sea. Other popular islands include Mykonos, known for its lively nightlife and picturesque windmills, Milos, for its mind-blowingly beautiful beaches, and Tinos, which is fast becoming a top destination for food-lovers.

Check out our A-to-Z Guide to the Cycladic islands here.

                                                    Balos Beach, Crete ©Shutterstock

 

CRETE

 

The largest Greek island by both area and population is Crete, which proudly stands alone in its own category, stretched out in the far south of the Aegean. Over the years, Crete has become a hugely popular destination for families and outdoor enthusiasts, offering everything from hiking trails, cycling and climbing, to swimming, snorkeling and windsurfing. Its rich cultural heritage, including the world famous Palace of Knossos, heart of the mysterious Bronze Age Minoan civilization, makes it the ideal destination for archaeology buffs. Crete is also a fabulous destination for foodies. It’s often said that Crete’s greatest treasure is its cuisine, which includes all kinds of weird and wonderful things like “burbling snails”!

The Street of Knights in Old Town of Rhodes ©Clairy Moustafellou

 

DODECANESE

 

Nestled in the southeast corner of the Aegean, touted by the GNTO as the “sunniest corner in Greece,” are the Dodecanese islands. This complex includes 15 larger islands (confusingly, the name Dodecanese means “twelve islands”) and 93 smaller, mostly uninhabited islets.

 

Home to some of the best beaches in Greece, as well as some of the country’s most spectacular historical monuments, the most famous island is Rhodes, known for its medieval Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The northernmost island of the group, Patmos, is renowned as the place where St. John wrote the Book of Revelations. Thanks to the venerable presence of the Monastery of St. John, the island has shunned the noisy night-life and madding crowds that have taken over elsewhere.

 

If you can’t decide whether you’d rather go to the mountains or the beach, then Karpathos is just the place for you. One of the most remote islands in the Dodecanese, it’s a place of contrasts, with lush green mountaintops and beaches with crystal-clear waters.

Check out our A-to-Z Guide to the Dodecanese islands here.

 

Lichadonisia, Evia ©Shutterstock

 

EVIA

 

Another stand-alone, Evia (or Euboea), Greece’s second largest island, doesn’t really feel like an island at all. Connected to the mainland by a suspension bridge over the narrow Euripus Strait (40m wide at its narrowest point), the elongated island, which means “land of the well-fed oxen,” nevertheless boasts some amazing beaches, rustic villages, and hiking trails, which meander through spectacular, rugged landscapes.

 

Popular with Athenians wanting to escape the city, one of the island’s chief attractions is its easy accessibility (no ferry required), as well as the fact that it flies under the radar of most foreign visitors. For those willing to explore this island, there are plenty of charming elements, no least its quiet coastal towns, with guesthouses, tavernas and promenades for leisurely walks.

Click here for a local’s guide to Evia.

                                                        Zakynthos  ©Shutterstock

 

IONIAN

 

Scattered off the western coastline of mainland Greece are the Ionian islands, comprising seven main islands (from north to south: Corfu, Paxi, Lefkada, Ithaki (Ithaca), Kefalonia, Zakynthos (Zante), and Kythira), and around 20 smaller, mainly uninhabited islets.

 

As cliché as it sounds, there is something for everyone in the Ionian islands, renowned for their beautiful natural landscapes, beaches, caves, waterfalls, and rich, historical traditions. The most famous is Corfu, the “grande dame” of the Ionian. From the narrow “kantounia” streets to the wide pavements, and from Spianada to the pedestrian street of Liston, reminiscent of San Marco square in Venice, the city of Corfu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offers limitless visual appeal for history buffs and culture lovers.

 

Easy-to-get-to Lefkada, further south, can reached by simply driving across a causeway. Known for its wide sandy beaches and turquoise seas, Lefkada is a great destination for beginner sailors, thanks to its steady and predictable wind patterns. Zakynthos is a beautiful island that is known for its stunning Blue Caves and Shipwreck Beach, which are some of the most photographed spots in Greece. The island is also home to a variety of wildlife, including loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and monk seals (Monachus monachus).

 

Click here for our whistle-stop guide to the Ionian islands.

Molivos, Lesvos   ©Shutterstock

 

NORTH AEGEAN

 

Within touching distance of Turkey, the loose group of islands in the North Aegean include seven principal islands (Samos, Ikaria, Chios, Lesvos, Limnos, Thasos, and Samothrace) and a cluster of smaller ones (including Aghios Efstratios, Psara, Fournoi,  Oinousses, Aghios Minas, Antipsara, Thymaina, and Samiopoula).

 

Famous for its citrus trees (amazing tangerines!) and mastic, Chios is a combination of many islands in one, boasting rustic villages and fragrant orchards that go on for miles. The complex is also home to the island of Ikaria, famed for its unspoiled beauty and traditional way of life of life. The islanders are also known for their longevity, with a staggeringly high percentage of centenarians among them. The large island of Lesvos is interesting for its architecture and exuberant gastronomy (olive oil, sardines, and the home of ouzo).

                                                                Skiathos  ©Shutterstock

 

SPORADES

 

The smallest archipelago of Greek islands is the (Northern) Sporades group, located along the east coast of the mainland and northeast of Evia. The tightly-packed group consists of 24 islands in total, but only four are permanently inhabited: Alonnisos, Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros.

Boasting beautiful sandy beaches, luxury hotels, and protected bays filled with yachts, the Sporades are especially popular for families looking for that fun, hassle-free vacation by the sea. It’s also home to Mediterranean’s largest marine park – the National Marine Park of Alonissos Northern Sporades, established for the protection and conservation of the region’s many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, including the reclusive Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus).

 

Click here for our bumper guide to the Sporades.

 

I hope this helps you to find your own bit of paradise in Greece.

 

––Jeff