My name is Campbell Hale. I manage a travel agency in Nashville, where I live on a bluff overlooking the Cumberland River. My home is in the Donelson area of Nashville near Opry Mills Mall and The Opry House, east of downtown, which is not to be confused with East Nashville. Since I travel often, my neighbors, the Morgans, keep an eye on my house and on me. Mr. Morgan is a retired Seal; nothing gets past him. Mrs. Morgan gardens and keeps me in homegrown tomatoes. My best friend Mary Nell has a daughter who plays basketball at nearby McGavock High School. Mary Nell’s daughter Melissa is conveniently friendly with the daughter of Metro Nashville homicide detective Sam Davis. Sam is a friend. We date some, but I don’t know whether I can call him a boyfriend. Bring a single parent seems to be Sam’s priority these days, and I respect that.

I work on 21st Avenue in Hillsboro Village near Vanderbilt University and Music Row at a travel agency called Get Out of Town. Clever, right? Airlines, hotels, cars and cruise lines have all made it easier than ever for people to go online and make their own travel arrangements. A few years ago, I thought the industry was done, but it turns out that experience really does matter. I know some things that can make your trip more successful. I can tell you which days are better for travel. I can get your tee times and play tickets booked. I know tour operators – and have phone and online relationships with some agents who work for them – that package travel arrangements so that they’re cheaper than booking elements separately. Group travel rates are still negotiable, and I have a lot of experience with that. I can tell you fairly quickly when changing your travel dates by one day can make a huge difference in your cost.

Sometimes I have local clients with unusual travel needs. This is Nashville; I have several music industry clients. Sometimes they travel on tour buses, but not always. I make arrangements for some of them when they go on tour. I know what special luggage requirements they have, when they need extra seats reserved for instruments and equipment. Nashville is an “it city” now with lots of incoming travelers. Like one client, a guitar player who used to be a huge star and converted his mansion to a high-end recording studio. I book the studio with incoming artists, arrange to let them in and lock up when they’re gone. If the artist’s band or entourage need more rooms than are available in the house, I book those at a convenient location. I book any vehicles they need and have them delivered to the studio site. I make sure the studio and the house are cleaned as often as they need it to be with clean linens, whatever groceries and catering services they need. I ensure the requested soft drinks, beer and liquors are stocked. There’s a pool, and I arrange to have it cleaned as well. There are a million details. Sometimes the owner’s in town, but when he’s on tour himself, he doesn’t have to worry about it.

My high school class reunion is coming up, and I’ve made arrangements for that, for the reunion events and rooms for the attendees from out of town. An Air Force base closed the year we graduated, so a lot of classmates moved immediately and don’t have families in town to come home to. I’ve negotiated rates and held blocks of rooms. I’m looking forward to it, but it will be a work weekend.

I drive across Nashville to arrive at work about 7:30 before we open at 8:00. I pick up some coffee before I go inside. Hillsboro Village has coffee shops and restaurants I can walk to. I don’t even have to order most of the time. They’ll see me through the window and have my coffee ready by the time I’m at the counter. At the office, I check my calendar and my email: what deposits and final payments are due? What clients are scheduled to come in for meetings and consultations? Do I have the information they need? Do I have credit card numbers and the exact, correct names and spellings that I will need? What information do I need to remember to double check?

Some days are very routine, but on some days, things get interesting.

Gone Missin’, A Nashville Mystery #2
Genre: Cozy
Release: January 2022
Purchase Link

Nosy, warm-hearted travel agent Campbell Hale gets mixed up in a missing persons case when beloved Nashville socialite Bitsy Carter vanishes during her Mexican vacation.

Travel agent Campbell Hale isn’t surprised when she hears her good friend, socialite and talented artist Bitsy Carter, has booked a luxury Mexican spa vacation through her agency. Bitsy often takes solo trips abroad, and who’d want to spend February in grey Nashville when they could avoid it?

She is, however, extremely surprised – and extremely worried – when Bitsy doesn’t come back.

What could compel warm, friendly Bitsy to run away without telling anyone her plans? And most puzzling of all: what could make her leave her small children behind?

The answers lie in Zihuatanejo, and Campbell barely needs to twist new boyfriend Detective Sam Davis’ arm to get him to agree to accompany her there. Campbell’s determined to uncover the truth, but will this be a vacation to remember . . . or one to die for?

About the author
Peggy O’Neal Peden grew up in Middle Tennessee and has lived in and around Nashville for most of her life. She has taught English at high school and college levels, owned a travel agency, been published in regional magazines, and written award-winning advertising copy. She has a bachelor’s degree from Lipscomb University and a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky. A talented artist as well as writer, Peggy is a member of the Nashville Artist Guild. Your Killin’ Heart, the first book in the Nashville mystery series, won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award.

All comments are welcomed.