Writer's Blocks

Jeffery Deaver pens his best suspense novels when he's at home in the Raleigh/Durham area.

When Jeffery Deaver isn't sitting in his ideal workspace - "a dark room with no distractions" - and plotting how to scare folks, he spends his time in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill triangle, engaged in his favorite activities of breeding show dogs (Briards, French herding dogs), listening to music and enjoying the great outdoors. His latest thriller, Roadside Crosses, comes out June 9.

With all the places you've lived - Chicago, Missouri, Virginia, California - what brought you to Raleigh?
"The dogs. We have 16 or 17 of these guys, and the breeding business outgrew where my business partner and I were living in Virginia. There's also a fantastic kennel club near here in Cary. And Raleigh is the home of the American Kennel Club (www.akc.com). I'm very involved in animal awareness and promoting animal health. Coincidentally, my partner is a UNC graduate, and her son wanted to go to Durham Academy, so it made perfect sense."

Your book, The Empty Chair, is set in North Carolina and deals in part with regional history. How does the area inspire you?
"What I really like about this state is the antebellum quality of the Old South. The culture is very modern, yet there's something about North Carolina that embodies the good and noble aspect of the Southern states. In downtown Raleigh, you find these absolutely gorgeous old houses, many from the Victorian era. The combination of that, with the music and culture, is what I really like."

As a onetime folksinger, what is your favorite spot to hear folk or other music?
"I go to the clubs on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, like Blue Horn Lounge (www.bluehornloungechapelhill.com) and Local 506 (www.local506.com). Expect the music to be a little loud, less acoustic and more electric. For jazz and alternative music, the sort for an older crowd, there's West End Wine Bar (www.westendwinebar.com), which off ers dozens of wines by the glass."

What's your favorite leisure-time activity?
"I love to cook, but once or twice a week, I'll go to some amazing restaurants, like Fins (www.myspace.com/finsrestaurant; 919-834-6963), a seafood place in downtown Raleigh. And Nana's (www.nanasdurham.com; 919-493-8545) in Durham is very eclectic. One of the best restaurants on the East Coast is Magnolia Grill (www.magnoliagrill.net; 919-286-3609) near the Duke University campus. And in Chapel Hill, on Franklin Street, there's Lantern (www.lanternrestaurant.com; 919-969-8846) and Il Palio in The Siena Hotel (www.sienahotel.com; 919-929-4000), which has one of the best wine lists in the region."

As a reader, where's a great place to hang out with a book?
"Hibernian Restaurant and Pub (www.hibernianpub.com), a classic old Irish pub on Glenwood Avenue, a really nice strip of Raleigh. I absolutely love it. They have Celtic music, which I used to play."

Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks," and prides itself on natural preservation. Where's your favorite splash of green?
"Duke Forest (www.dukeforest.duke.edu). It's a massive pristine area. You really feel it's primeval. I actually go there to work on book ideas. People may think I'm a little odd, talking out loud. With two dogs on the leash, it's a little hard to stop and write, but I have a tape recorder with me, and I've actually come up with a number of ideas. It's a little unusual that in this area, where there's nothing but tree aft er tree, I'll be thinking about a story in an urban setting. It's just such a peaceful, exhilarating place that the ideas come much more quickly than when I'm in the actual city where the book is set."

Do you have plans to feature Raleigh in a future book?
"Yes. It'll be the next Lincoln Rhyme book, but it'll feature a character from The Empty Chair, a New York City policeman - and a Tar Heel - who's come to Raleigh to see the local policewoman he's wooing. I don't want to give too much away, but he's going to get into a really serious problem here. And Lincoln, who's in a tough physical state, is going to come to Raleigh to save him."