Deleen Wills

Deleen Wills loves to travel and was bitten by the travel bug at an early age. She enjoys sharing stories about her adventures and the people she has encountered. Serendipity is an often-used word for her.

Obsessed with colorful doors in foreign countries, she found herself wanting to know what was behind those colorful doors resulting in many fortunate happenstances. That curiosity resulted in publishing three nonfiction books, Behind Colorful Doors, Because of Colorful Doors and Through Colorful Doors, gallivanting through England, Scotland, Ireland, Peru, Ecuador and Cuba.

Then she woke one morning (during the Covid era) and told her husband she had murder on her mind. He wasn't too concerned; she has a vivid imagination. How to tie in her true travel adventures, helpful travel tips and hints, and a clean murder mystery? Oh, and add a few cherished recipes. She'd call her books Travel Bug Mysteries.

She published her first fiction travel-with-twist-mystery called Murder on the Metolius. It's based on her childhood in the late sixties growing up in the Willamette Valley and camping adventures in Central Oregon. Deleen became Anne in the Travel Bug Mysteries. Deleen decided that her books would not have excessive blood, guts and gore and no swearing. And Anne will never see the murder happen but the discoverer of the body.

Spring 2022, her second Travel Bug Mystery called Murder on Mendenhall Glacier was published. This story combines numerous Alaska cruises starting in Vancouver, BC, and ending in Fairbanks. You'll feel like you're right there with her running around Vancouver, cruising the Inside Passage, and riding the train from the coast inland to Denali National Park. You'll get up close and personal with whales, bears and moose, stunning sceneries and high seas fun. Anne makes a shocking discovery on Mendenhall Glacier outside of Juneau.

Deleen's third Travel Bug Mystery was released fall 2022. Murder at Machu Picchu takes readers to South America. In Ecuador, specifically The Galapagos Islands, Anne is communing with Blue-Foot Boobies and one-hundred-year-old tortoises. Then off she goes to Peru from coastal Lima to 10,000 peaks of the Andes and Machu Picchu. Anne encounters a couple in Quito at the beginning of her trip and collides with them at Machu Picchu.

But what should be next? How about a river cruise? Death on the Danube finds Anne gallivanting around Europe beginning in Budapest. Anne and friends board a Viking longship for a 7-day cruise on the historic Danube. At the hotel check-in, she encounters a man and woman who pique her curiosity all the way to Prague.

Deleen has Irish roots so it only makes sense she travel to the Emerald Isle. Murder at Malin Head will be available fall 2024.

Deleen's books are filled with likable characters, humor, culinary-eye-openers, sometimes cultural faux pas, fascinating history, and yummy food descriptions but yet a mysterious side story involves. Discoveries are revealed as secrets are disclosed. The travels are all factual with fictional mysteries woven throughout. Travelers and book lovers alike will feel transported when reading her delightful clean, cozy page-turners, staying engaged until the end.

Are these travelogues wrapped in a murder mystery or are they a murder mystery wrapped in a travelogue? The reader gets to decide.

Deleen travels for pleasure and professionally by organizing groups, friends and family and has been fortunate to have visited five continents (Antarctica and Asia, here she comes) and over 40 countries. Some favorite countries are: Scotland, Iceland, Ireland, Cuba, all of Scandinavia, Croatia, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, England--actually she has lots of favorites.

Deleen worked full-time as an administrator at educational institutions for three decades. She is living her dream by writing her adventurous exploits. She volunteers at Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels. She and her husband live in the middle of wine country in beautiful Willamette Valley in Oregon.