Inspiration From A City by Michelle Hillen Klump

Over the course of its 185-year history, the city of Houston has been described in such glowing terms as “a wretched mudhole,” “the most miserable place in the world,” and “a moral desert, a hell on earth.” Even famed gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson managed to get in a few digs during a visit to the city in 2004: “Houston is a cruel, crazy town on a filthy river in East Texas with no zoning laws and a culture of sex, money and violence.” So… the perfect place for a cozy mystery novel, right?

I admit, my adopted hometown is not the most obvious choice for a cozy. The lighter, gentler mysteries are typically set in quaint, charming villages or small seaside towns where everyone knows everyone else’s name and whether they made it to church on Sunday morning. As the fourth largest city in the US, with more than 2.3 million residents, that certainly doesn’t describe Houston.

 

Still, as a budding cozy mystery writer, I draw inspiration from my city. Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the country. It has a thriving arts scene, delicious food from every corner of the world, and most importantly, for any fiction writer—there’s conflict.

My debut novel, A Dash of Death, was partially inspired by one of Houston’s central conflicts—history versus progress. The city prides itself on always moving forward, never looking back. That’s admirable in many respects, and has served the city well. Houston is home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, we’re the nation’s energy hub, and we have one of the finest medical centers in the country. That said, sometimes in Houston, progress barrels straight through interesting, unique or important history, without much consideration as to what is being lost.

 

Houston has torn down so many beautiful and historic buildings in the name of progress. The list is long and depressing, from the old Sam Houston Coliseum, where John F. Kennedy gave a speech on the last night of his life, to the Shamrock Hotel, built in the 1940s by famous wildcatter Glenn McCarthy, the inspiration for Edna Ferber’s GIANT, and the playground of Houston’s high society set in the 1950s. Even the Astrodome, once considered the pinnacle of progress and dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World, is facing an uncertain future after being allowed to fall into disrepair. And the destruction is not limited to civic buildings. Wide swaths of historic homes have also been lost to the wrecking ball over the years.

 

The push-pull between history and progress is an interesting dynamic, and the choices are not always easy. But the feeling that Houston should do more to preserve its history and architecture is one shared by several characters in A Dash of Death. The story revolves around a murder that occurs at a historic association home tour.

 

The location is modeled after an existing Victorian home in Houston’s historic Heights neighborhood. That home, built in 1892 and one of the last remaining homes built by the original developers of the Heights, has fortunately been purchased by a family that is committed to restoring and preserving it. But sadly, that seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Even the 1920s bungalow my husband and I first rented in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood, was carted off to make room for, I’m sure, yet another townhome.

 

I keep hoping Houston will learn its lesson and place some value on its history, but part of being a city that focuses on progress is attracting a population that turns over quickly. New people move here every year who don’t feel any connection to the city’s history, and don’t appreciate the “wretched mudhole” for all it has to offer. For my part, I’ll continue to do what I can to make people aware of Houston’s charms, and preserve them, if not in real life, at least in the pages of a book.

 

Michelle Hillen Klump is a former newspaper reporter who covered government, courts and crime throughout Arkansas and Central Texas. Still a working journalist, she is also a member of Sisters in Crime. Her short fiction has appeared in Crimson Streets and Tales of Texas, volume 2, a Houston short story anthology. Her debut novel, A Dash of Death, was released by Crooked Lane on February 8, 2022.