Populating a Mystery Novel with Place Names by Susan Van Kirk

 

One of the questions I’m often asked is “How do you come up with the names of places in your writing?” I’ve been popping back and forth between two mystery series, and currently I’m working on a fifth book in my Endurance series. So, I thought I’d go back and see how I populated that series with place names. It all started with Three May Keep a Secret.

My first name is obviously the name of the small town where my first cozy mystery series takes place. The town is Endurance, Illinois. Because I’ve lived in the Midwest—specifically Illinois—most of my life, I wanted to write about a place with which I’m familiar. I realize people on the east and west coasts feel like nothing exists in the middle of the country, but I find a great deal of pleasure living in this part of America. I love the local history, and much of it ends up in my books.

 

I chose the name “Endurance” because I wanted to acknowledge both the past and present of my little town. Hardy Presbyterian stock settled this small town by traveling through all kinds of hazards and difficult terrain. More settlers arrived and endured harsh winters and the usual difficulties with starting a new life in the wilderness in the 1830s.

 

“Endurance” also describes the strong heroine of my novel. Grace Kimball has survived some terrible life experiences that have only made her stronger. A fire in college killed her roommates and left a scar on her hand, but she survived. Her husband died in his thirties of an unexpected heart attack, leaving her to raise three children alone. But she survived and endured. Now, in my novels in this series, she is often in danger from someone who has committed one murder and isn’t upset by the thought of killing Grace when she gets to close to his or her secret.

 

The town has institutions that—typical of the Midwest—arise from its name. These names include the Endurance Historical Society, Endurance High School, the Endurance Public Library, Endurance College, the First National Bank of Endurance, and the town’s newspaper, the Endurance Register. Obviously, the residents need a bit more imagination, but often small towns have these institutions bearing the name of the town.

 

Next, it is important to populate the town with various stores and places well known to Endurance’s

residents. I chose several street names because of their sounds. Grace and Roger’s home is on Sweetbriar Court. Another street name I heard on the news and liked is Tanglefoot Road. That is on my “must” list, along with Main Street.

 

I imagined various names for businesses in Endurance. Many scenes take place at a local sports bar named “Tully’s.” In the first book, Bill Tully owns the restaurant/bar and named it for himself for a reason that becomes obvious in the plot. Other names I chose because of their sounds. These would include Patsy’s Pub and Dirty Dave’s (a bar where one of the main characters works.) Downtown you’ll visit the Café on the Square, Little People’s Day Care Center, Gimble’s Paint and Wallpaper Store, the Coffee Bean, and Harlow’s Book Store.

 

I did have a bit of fun with the last stop for most people: The Homestretch Funeral Home.

The cemetery outside of town, where many of the early founders are buried, is called the Shady Meadows Cemetery. It needed to have a welcoming name.

 

At one point in Three May Keep a Secret, I needed to create place names for Indianapolis, Indiana. Grace Kimball grew up there and went to college in her hometown. I needed a name for the college and the street Grace lived on. So, I researched the history of Indianapolis and discovered Benjamin Harrison, grandson of William Henry Harrison, became president in 1889. Grace’s college became Benjamin Harrison College (BHC). During Indiana’s territorial days, General Anthony Wayne was an Indian fighter. So, I named Grace’s street Wayne Avenue. I also found the name of a small town in Indiana and a small town in Illinois that were the homes of Grace’s roommates in college. I envisioned them coming from small towns.

 

Endurance is a small town (population 15,000) but I created other towns in the surrounding area. The largest town is Woodbury and many of Endurance’s inhabitants go there for additional shopping and services they can’t find in Endurance. Other small towns in the area include Charlotte and Lexington, towns with fire departments who have reciprocal agreements with Endurance. And it’s a good thing since a house goes up in flames in the first book of the series.

 

All these places exist only in my imagination, but their names are important to the characters, setting, and atmosphere of my little town.