Minotaur Sampler, Volume 9 Titles as Summer Vacation Spots

Summer is here and so is the ninth edition of our Minotaur Sampler! Read the beginnings of six can’t-miss titles to decide what to read—and where to go.

For Act Like A Lady, Think Like a Lord, travel to London 

In this Regency-era historical mystery set in 1815 London, what better vacation destination to where the events are set? Visit Hyde Park, Covent Harden, and Trafalgar Square to get a sense of Lady Petra’s life before she had to put aside the ballroom gossip and her headstrong independence to find her missing friend.

For The Golden Gate, travel to San Francisco

When a presidential candidate is assassinated in his room at the Claremont Hotel, all evidence points back to a murder that happened 10 years prior, in the same hotel. Feel free to visit the titular Golden Gate Bridge or Golden Gate Park, and maybe consider staying at a hotel that isn’t the Claremont.

For The Curse of Penryth Hall, travel to Cornwall

Though the novel brings the Cornish countryside to life, the protagonist Ruby Vaughn finds nothing but death in Penryth Hall. Whether it’s due to a curse or a murderer, Ruby must act fast before there is another victim. Instead of spending time in a foreboding fortress, take some time to visit The Lost Gardens of Heligan, St Michael’s Mount, and The Minack Theatre.

For Perfect Shot, travel to Turkey

This thriller has multiple destinations including London and the underbelly of Paris, as Special Agent Alexandra Martel needs to find many hiding places to escape the killer of an old friend. To blend in with the bustling markets of the city like Alex, visit the Grand Bazaar or the Spice Bazaar in Istanbul.

For Reykjavík, travel to Reykjavík

What better place to travel to than the titular city of this chilling thriller. When the entire city is stuck on a disappearance of a fourteen-year-old girl that happened back in 1956, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation to solve this mystery. Visit the famous Blue Lagoon to shake off the chills of this thriller, or one of Iceland’s oldest streets—Laugavegur.

For A Traitor in Whitehall, travel to Paris

Though taking place in 1940’s London, protagonist Evelyne Redfern is known as the “Parisian Orphan” who finds herself plunged into the world of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s cabinet war rooms. After a murder and their secrets getting out, Evelyne must find both the killer and the source of the leak. For a Parisian like Evelyne, immerse yourself in history by visiting the Louvre or the Palace of Versailles.