A Glimpse Inside Chelsea Cain’s Portland

On Monday, I introduced you all to the thrilling & bone-chilling world of Chelsea Cain.  As I mentioned, setting in Cain’s novels are like a character in and of themselves, so I thought it would be perfect to get a real glimpse inside the world of Chelsea Cain’s Portland. Following are just a few of the Portland, OR-area sites mentioned in Evil at Heart:

Pittock Mansion was the home of Portland pioneers Henry and Georgiana Pittock from 1914 to 1919. The mansion serves as a monument to all the contributions the family made to Portland. The home was equipped with progressive features including a central vacuum system, intercoms, and indirect lighting. The mansion was opened to the public in 1965.  In Chelsea Cain’s Portland, the Pittock Mansion is one of Gretchen Lowe’s many crime scenes.

Portland’s Rose Gardens was created in as a place for Georgiana Burton Pittock to exhibit her roses for her friends and family.  It’s renowned for it’s tens of thousands of rose varieties.  Unfortunately, this beautiful, scenic garden was yet another on of Gretchen Lowe’s crime scenes.

The Columbia River Gorge, an 80-mile geologic wonder that forms the border between northern Oregon and southern Washington, is proof of Nature’s unbridled strength. Glacial floods thousands of years ago carved this 1,200-mile-long river, which is the only sea-level passage to cross the Cascade Mountains.  And..you’ve guessed it correctly, it’s another crime scene.

Following is a video of Chelsea Cain herself, touring through Portland.  She also describes how she was inspired to write about a female serial killer.  She starts at the beginning, with  scenes from Heartsick. Be careful, there are some spoilers!

I hope this glimpse inside Chelsea Cain’s Portland hasn’t tainted your feelings about this great city!

Don’t forget, you can still enter to win the entire Chelsea Cain “Beauty Killer” library! Contest ends on 4/26!

I’d be remiss not to thank Jen from Jen’s Book Thoughts for arranging Detectives Around the World! She did an outstanding job!  I discovered several new blogs and authors, so THANK YOU JEN!!