What Kind of Town Is Meadesdeal?

Meadesdeal, North Carolina, is the imaginary town we’ve created as the setting for the Dana De Witte Mystery series. Meadesdeal is a town that thrives on tourists, and most of the economy of the town is built around attracting visitors. The main street shopping district was redesigned to resemble a European village with brightly colored half-timbered shops and brick-paved streets.

I found this photo on Pexels, and it looks a little like what we imagine Meadesdeal to be like.

An all-joinery furniture factory, an art gallery, and eclectic rows of shops would make Meadesdeal a fun place to visit. And the tiny town has an interesting history too. During the American Revolution, a young man was shot by firing squad for spying by a local Tory militia. Now, the town celebrates this event each year with a reenactment of the execution played by local townspeople. Unfortunately, there was a terrible accident this year, and the local man playing the part of the young patriot was killed when the replica weapons used for the reenactment were loaded with musket balls. Only it wasn’t an accident. It was murder!

We’re planning book 3 now and, to save the reputation of Meadesdeal, the murder will not happen there. We don’t want to drive away the tourists!