Murder, Hotels, and Roadside Attractions
by Kathleen Kaska
One of the great joys of writing my Sydney Lockhart Hotel Mysteries is stepping back into the early 1950s—a world balanced between postwar recovery and renewed optimism. The American dream felt tangible then, within reach. For Sydney, that dream meant breaking free from the prescribed role of wife and mother and forging her own path in a man’s world—first as a newspaper reporter, then as a private detective. The only complication was the man she met along the way. But that’s another story.
Back to the hotels.
While the murder plots are born entirely from my imagination, the settings are not. Each mystery unfolds within an actual historic hotel. For me, these grand dames are more than elegant backdrops—they have stories of their own. Their architecture, guest registers, and whispered legends carry me into a true-to-life past, lending each novel an authentic texture.
Beyond the hotels, I explore the surrounding businesses that thrived in their heyday—speakeasies, illegal casinos, and especially roadside attractions. These quirky landmarks still dot America’s highways and byways. Many sprang up between the 1940s and 1960s, when newly built interstates rerouted traffic away from small towns, threatening local economies. The solution? Create something so unforgettable that travelers would have to pull off the road. Curiosity would do the rest.
During my husband’s and my retirement adventure—our two-year, 47,000-mile journey we call “The Big Trip”—we encountered more than a few of these curiosities. In West Texas, the half-buried, graffiti-splashed cars of Cadillac Ranch rose from the prairie like a modern Stonehenge. In South Texas, we searched for the mysterious glow of the Marfa Lights. In Houston, we wandered through the aluminum-clad marvel of the Beer Can House.
Then there were the corn-themed delights: South Dakota’s Corn Palace; Iowa’s Field of Dreams baseball field carved from a cornfield (I entered—and thankfully found my way out); and the humble memorial marking Buddy Holly’s crash site outside Clear Lake, Iowa, hidden among rustling stalks. It was too much fun not to weave these Americana treasures into my stories.
In Murder at the Arlington, set at the historic Arlington Hotel and Spa, Bathhouse Row plays a key role. I also mention the Arkansas Alligator Farm & Petting Zoo and Tiny Town, both of which still delight visitors today.
In Murder at the Galvez, Sydney finds herself stranded on Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pierwhen a blinding fog rolls in—and a bullet slices through the mist.
For Murder at the Menger, research took me deep into Louisiana’s swamps with Cajun Encounters Tour Company at Honey Island Swamp, home to the legendary Whiskey Tree and the ghostly moonshiner said to guard it still.
But my favorite roadside attraction lies just outside New Braunfels, Texas: Aquarena Springs. My parents took my sisters and me there when I was young. The crystal-clear lake featured glass-bottom boats and the world’s only submarine theater, where aquamaids—women dressed as mermaids—performed underwater ballet. There was even an underwater wedding, with lead weights sewn into the bride’s gown to keep it from drifting upward.
In Murder at the Faust, Sydney tracks suspects to Aquarena Springs, where an aquamaid makes a startling discovery that helps her solve the case.
Aquarena Springs closed in 1996 and is now the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment—but in the 1950s, it was pure magic. And as any mystery writer knows, magic often hides something darker beneath the surface.
Welcome to Sydney’s world. Check in. Settle in. And watch closely as Sydney brings every secret to light.
Giveaway
Kathleen is giving away an autographed copy of Murder at the Faust to the person who can tell her where this photo was taken.
Murder at the Faust
Welcome to the historic Faust Hotel, where the year is 1953, the carpet is plush, and the crime scenes are unfortunately plentiful. A bloody hotel room, a dead body on the bank of the Guadalupe River, and a suspiciously well-informed police chief land Sydney in the interrogation hot seat.
With Dixon still recovering from a gunshot wound, help arrives—whether Sydney wants it or not—in the form of plucky Lydia LaBeau and the irrepressible Cousin Ruth Echland. Lydia promptly delves into birdwatching escapades with a mysterious new friend, while Ruth, disguised as a Miss Texas contestant, seems more focused on evening gowns than evidence.
Then another dead body turns up in Sydney’s apartment. Lydia disappears. And the case takes a turn for the bizarre with the arrival of a mermaid and a Bible-thumping zealot—just the sort of chaos Sydney has come to expect.
In a whirlwind of duplicity, deception, and pageant drama, one question looms:
Will the real Sydney Lockhart please stand up?
Look for Murder at the Faust in bookstores and on Amazon on September 8, 2026.
Buy Links:
Pre-order today: https://anamcara-press.com/product/murder-at-the-faust/
Kathleen Kaska writes the award-winning Sydney Lockhart Mystery Series, the Kate Caraway Animal-Rights Mystery Series, and the Mystery Trivia series, which includes The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book, published by Lyons Press. Her Holmes short story, “The Adventure at Old Basingstoke,” appears in Sherlock Holmes of BAKING Street, a Belanger Books anthology. She founded The Dogs in the Nighttime Sherlock Holmes Society, a scion of The Baker Street Irregulars. Her latest Sydney Lockhart mystery, Murder at the Pontchartrain, winner of the PenCraft Award for best mystery series, is set in New Orleans at the Pontchartrain Hotel. Kathleen is the winner of the Amity Literary Award for her novel, Death Without Dignity, scheduled for release in January 2027. A Texan at heart, she remains a Texan, even though she now lives in a small coastal town in the Pacific Northwest, where it’s cooler, and there is no traffic.
Social Media Links
http://www.facebook.com/kathleenkaska
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