Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden, both Emeritus Professors of English and former administrators at University of Wisconsin-Madison, co-wrote the mystery Murder in Lascaux (2011), set in southwest France, and A Castle in the Backyard: The Dream of a House in France (2002), both from University of Wisconsin Press. They also translated and edited The Walnut Cookbook (Ten Speed Press, 1998). These works were inspired by their 20 summers in the Dordogne, a river valley inland from Bordeaux, France. Their next joint project is a mystery, The Body in Bodega Bay, set on the Sonoma Coast above San Francisco. It stars Nora and Toby, the amateur detectives introduced in Murder in Lascaux.
Betsy is just starting a fictionalized biography of her mother, who died last year.
Tuesdays with Story 
Hello Betsy & Michael, I’m a UW alumna (Ph.D. in Social Psych.) and now a fan of A Castle in the Backyard. For my 70th b-day,my husband rented a house for a week in St. Cirq La Popie. Your book is a wonderful intro. to the area, the people, the culture. Any suggestions for “must do’s?” Many thanks.
Circa 1960 (before Hitchcock) I spent a few days sailing on Bodega Bay (which at the time was filled with jellyfish) and staying in a motel near the Russian River ($3.00 per night!). It was a delightful experience, and I’ve always thought it would be fun to revisit the place, but that never worked out. Now, thanks to your recent novel, I am doing so vicariously. Many Thanks!
Sincerely,
Michael West
p.s. The first page of your novel identifies the old boat as “a decrepit nineteen-footer with a single mast.” Couldn’t stockphoto have found a more accurate photo for the cover?