Choosing the Setting for the New York's Finest Collection: Manhattan

Setting plays a crucial role in shaping any detective story, especially one centered around the New York Police Department. The right setting not only grounds the narrative, it also adds depth and authenticity to the characters and plot. Although The Christmas Eve Murders is a crime fiction thriller, I wanted it to have enough realism to kickstart a series of stories featuring Detective Ryan, and his cadet Tony Vincenti.

When writing The Christmas Eve Murders, the first book in the New York's Finest Collection, I was aware that for a thriller detective story, choosing the right setting meant more than just picking a city—it involved selecting specific neighborhoods, time of the year, and atmospheres that would enhance the mystery and tension. I wanted the investigations to not only play out in Manhattan, but involve the detective exploring the less trodden paths of upstate New York. The Hudson River offered the perfect connection between the wild expansive wilderness of upstate and the crowded streets of the city, playing a pivotal role behind the murders.

New York City is a vast and varied place with many distinct neighborhoods, each offering unique characteristics that can influence a story’s mood and direction. As such, the investigations of the New York's Finest Collection would take place on Detective Ryan's home turf of the twentieth precinct, situated in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Moreover, the city would offer the iconic landmarks and a fast paced environment, ideal for high-profile cases that I already had in planning.

The precinct office would act as a hub for character interactions and police procedural details, while the local Italian café Valentino's, would serve not only as a great place to get a proper cup of coffee, but as a refuge for Ryan to escape the noise of the NYPD precinct office, helping to further reveal his character and backstory. Valentino's is one of Ryan's favorite haunts, tucked away in a quiet side street around the corner from the precinct office. It offers an oasis of calm for Ryan to do some heavy thinking when a case file proves unwilling to yield its secrets.

The office of the medical examiner situated nearby, plays an important role in forensic analysis, often unlocking hidden details in a homicide investigation. Even when a victim has "shuffled off this mortal coil", their body is able to tell a story of what happened to them in their last moments of life. Although Ryan is embarrassingly reluctant to get too close to dead bodies, he is no stranger to forensics, and the head start that a detailed report can offer to an investigation.

Other locations in Manhattan would be unique to the specific case file, like the harbor master's office on the Hudson River, which appears in The Christmas Eve Murders, providing the spark for the investigation, and an essential link to a quaint little town in the Catskills.

I was convinced that the time of the year and the weather should also play a pivotal part, immersing the reader in the story. For The Christmas Eve Murders, my plan from the beginning was that the investigation should have both, a sense of urgency and season. In the story, with the approaching blizzard, Ryan is only too aware that unless they make immediate sense of the clues they have, the killer will escape to continue his reign of festive killings. The impending storm heightens the urgency for Detective Ryan and Cadet Vincenti to press ahead with their inquiries, before the crime scenes are buried under snow.

Whether it is paying a visit to the medial examiner, harbor master, or grabbing a coffee at Valentino's, this constellation of locations in Manhattan was designed to draw the reader into Ryan's world as the story unfolds.

Reader reviews are truly like gold dust for writers, and receiving a review from a native New Yorker for The Christmas Eve Murders, describing how I "captured the essence" of Manhattan, really made me smile. I could not have asked for a greater compliment. I still revisit this review time and again, especially when I am having a challenging day!