It is truly Winter here in the Bay – the skies are grey, the streets are drenched. Which means, of course, that it’s the right time of year for a trip to Lake Tahoe.
I love Lake Tahoe, even though I find Winter Tahoe to be strictly worse than its summer sibling. I’ve been up to Tahoe with friends almost every year since I moved to the Bay Area, and it’s the setting of many a fond misadventure. Yet I’ve somehow I’ve never read a book set in the Tahoe area, an oversight I set out to correct.
A little digging turned up two potential crime reads set by the lake. The first was Peril in Paperback, entry #6 in the Bibliophile Mystery series. And the second was Pretty Things, a heist / con novel featuring two women with a shared past, facing off in a modern con. Both were set in opulent estates on the shore of the Lake, a far cry from the cozy A-frames my friends and I usually occupy when there. This was intriguing – but also raised some flags. How well could either enrich my experience of Tahoe when they followed such an exclusive set of residents?
When mystery overtakes the setting
The answer, it turns out, is mixed. I’ll start with the bad news first: Peril in Paperback is, unfortunately, not my cup of tea. There are all my typical complaints about modern cozy mysteries: over-focus on romance, under-focus on puzzle, until the culprit reveals themself. Then there was the Desi character, who kept swearing on various Hindu gods (we don’t do that) and danced a Bollywood number in a sari she pulled out of nowhere (we don’t do that either). Plus, the story took place in an opulent Tahoe mansion featuring holographic walls, because its owner (a pinball mogul) loved applying her technical wizardry to her own home.
I found it exceedingly difficult for me to suspend my disbelief, is the point.
Peril in Paperback was a discordant riot of mystery ideas, fighting for attention. English-style house party! Valuable book library! Love triangle (or quadrangle)! Family infighting! Eccentric, female video-game mogul! Semi-autobiographical manuscript! Trapdoor house! (Plus, some weird misogyny – at one point, a room is described as potentially decorated by “eighteenth-century French whores”. Why?)
As you can imagine, none of this leaves much space for Lake Tahoe to matter. This story could have taken place in any large house, anywhere. And so I gladly closed Peril in Paperback, hoping that my next read would be a little more location-forward…
When place creates meaning
…and Pretty Things, fortunately, delivered somewhat. The story starts in LA, with a con artist named Nina and her Irish partner, Lachlan. When the local constabulary starts to press in on the duo, they leave town in search of a score. Fortunately, Nina’s aware of a potential mark in Tahoe – a rich family with a million dollars in a house safe.
Pretty Things focuses mostly on Nina’s con and the reactions of her mark, Vanessa. Like so many crime novels, it includes flashback scenes that inform and enrich the modern story. And in this case, those flashbacks provide a perspective on the huge wealth gap between those who live in Tahoe mansions and more typical residents of the region.
Nina, it turns out, is aware of Vanessa because she once attended private school (on a scholarship) with her younger brother. The once-illustrious Liebling family opened Nina’s eyes to a world of wealth and glamor – and then spit her back out as unacceptable. Reading Pretty Things allows a reader to fall in love with Tahoe alongside Nina, and imagine the sense of loss when she leaves.
The use of two protagonists as foils expands this class difference. Because the same Tahoe that Nina loves, Vanessa abhors. She dismisses everything from her (huge! beautiful!) mansion by the shore to the local diners and dives. Nina’s love Lake Tahoe, her specific memories of specific locations and with specific people, lay in stark contrast to Vanessa’s apathy. The Tahoe region becomes a symbol for how wealth dulls one’s ability to appreciate the beauty that surrounds them. And, fittingly, the lake becomes a vehicle for regaining financial (Nina) and spiritual (Vanessa) freedom.
Written settings that run parallel to life
As much as I enjoyed Pretty Things, neither it nor Peril in Paperback reflected or expanded my personal experience of Lake Tahoe. Both stories center on the extremely wealthy, taking place in expansive estates on the lakeshore. The casts rarely venture outdoors to experience the gorgeous nature in the area. Nor do they spend much time with each other, instead distributing themselves across large mansions (all the better to be suspicious, I suppose).
While this may reflect a broader perception of Tahoe as a playground for the rich, it doesn’t mirror any of my experiences there. My visits to the lake feature lengthy shoreside walks and swims (in the summer) and extensive board game sessions with friends (in the winter). Research suggests that many people visit to enjoy time with family and friends – Lake Tahoe is a gathering place, not an isolated one. I know only one friend with family property in Tahoe – a modest cabin, in the family for generations. My memories there are of sleeping bags, Twister, homemade cake, and late-night fireside chats. The gap between the written Tahoe and lived Tahoe is as vast as the lake itself.
Perhaps, then, these reads highlight that the broader perception of Lake Tahoe is very different from those who experience it regularly. Instead of uncovering local depth, these books create a parallel setting. That parallel reminds me how grateful I am for “real” Tahoe. And it makes me hope that these books intrigue people enough to come visit for themselves – and make some beautiful, if perhaps unexpected, memories.
Until next time, stay cozy, and stay curious!
Peril in Paperback will count as my book for “author releases more than one book per year”, and Pretty Things will count for “explores social class” for this year’s 52 Book Club Challenge!
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