I’ve long been an admirer of Daniel Silva, Ludlum, Le Carre, and Ken Follett.  For years I wanted to see if I could break away from Florida and use an international setting for a change.

I was a Fulbright professor in Bilbao, Spain for a year and always wanted to use some of those marvelous settings I encountered as I traveled around Spain and Europe that year.  

Since the first Harper McDaniel novel featured the chocolate industry, I was searching for another food that could be the centerpiece of her next storyline.  

I remember seeing the olive groves in southern Spain and Italy and feeling an eerie sense of their antiquity and their mysterious beauty.

I didn’t know much about olive oil when I began the book, but after months of research, and trying out some excellent olive oils, I felt ready to send Harper into that world.  

I discovered early on in my research that the olive oil industry, like the chocolate business, had its dark side.  Anyone who has seen The Godfather knows that olive oil can be lucrative and serve as an excellent front for other illegal activities.  

Along the way in my research I also discovered an element concerning the agricultural and environmental aspects of olive trees.  That was my “bingo moment.”  These beautiful, ancient, profitable trees are vulnerable to a disease that could change the face of the olive oil industry and wipe out vast orchards.  These elements: crime, money, beauty, and the environment have long been my favored subjects.  

It was wonderful to spend a year visiting Italy and Spain (in my memory and imagination) and to give Harper a challenge beyond anything she’d faced before.

I wanted to write a book with a wider geographical scope, one that had some of the features of those international thrillers I loved. These Harper McDaniel novels are my best efforts to accomplish those goals.