Christopher Mirabile was born to books. The middle child of a small-town librarian, by the time he was an honors English major at Colgate University, he was certain he would write fiction. Life had other plans. A career in business and law, years spent mentoring and co-founding startups, and several nonfiction books written along the way all came first, while the novels he always intended to write waited patiently in the background.
It took a pandemic, some turbulent times, and a few years of van life—camping across the United States and Canada with his wife and dogs—to finally clear the headspace and bring that long-delayed ambition into focus. Somewhere out in open country, Silas Lopez came into being: a plainspoken former ranch hand who washes up as a police chief at the far tip of Cape Cod. The Silas Lopez Mysteries are Christopher's way of writing about belonging, justice, and the particular magic of Provincetown, the town he now calls home year-round.
And now that the series is underway, Christopher can’t imagine leaving Silas and Wren behind—he suspects Silas still has plenty of stories left to tell. When he isn't writing, he's out in the dunes with his wife, hiking with his dogs (one of whom may recognize himself in these pages), or behind a camera somewhere along the Outer Cape.
Dunes of Herring Cove Beach at sunset, showing the magic known to artists as “Cape Light.” Herring Cove is where Silas and Kevin Clark interacted with the fisherman in The Washashore.
Flowers of Provincetown. This is the kind of lush, overflowing garden Silas walks past when he takes Bandit on walks around town.
Race Point Light & Lightkeeper’s House. This is the lighthouse with the white beam that Wren and Silas talk about at dinner and picnic near in The Washashore.
Your author with his wife and their rescued Australian Cattle Dog/Border Collie mix, Harry. Many of Bandit’s antics and behaviors are inspired by Harry.
One of many gorgeous restored old houses and cottages in Provincetown, this one in the west end. This is a good facsimile of what Constance Blanchard’s house looks like in The Holdfast.
Your author, with Harry and his brother Eddie, also a rescue. They are working on a hole at low tide on the sandbars of the Beach Point area not far from Wren’s house.
Wood End Light, with its red beam illuminated at sunrise, just as Wren describes photographing it to Silas in The Washashore. This lighthouse is also where they walk out towards in the breakwater scene.
Spectacular sunset on the outer beach. Provincetown is one of the few places on the East Coast where the sun sets directly over open water.
The outer Cape teams with grey seals and harbor seals. They are very curious about dogs like Bandit and when the light is just right, you can see them through breaking waves. One of them features in a scene in The Holdfast.
