When the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted a couple of months ago, wreecking havoc on the country as well as European travel, I did three things to learn about it.

I read the newspaper and watched CNN; I asked my next door neighbors who hail from Iceland and I regularly read the blog Murder Is Everywhere for Icelanic author Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s posts.

 Fortunately, Eyjafjallajökull appears to be dormant now, according to scientists. (And no, I still don’t know how to pronounce it.)

But I still regularly check in with Murder Is Everywhere for its international focus, as I did before the volcano. Here, the contributors are Tim Hallinan (Bangkok), Leighton Gage (Brazil), Dan Waddell (England), Cara Black, at left, (Paris), Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Iceland) and Michael Stanley (Botswana).

The world has gotten so much smaller. When I was a kid, St. Louis seemed like another world from my small hometown of Charleston, Mo. Now, thanks to myriad technology, we know what is going on instantly throughout the world.

While newspapers and TV news keep us in touch, there is nothing like the human touch. And while many of us may not know someone who lives in exotic lands, international mysteries show us lands we may never visit.

I have read each of these novelists and have been fascinated with their take on their particular countries. Hallinan’s Bangkok brings this land close as does Stanley’s view of Botswana. Gage’s Brazil shows an unique perspective. Waddell’s take on England is different from the other British novelists whose work I admire.

One place I have visited – and desperately want to return to – is Paris. A day-trip two years ago on a cruise reconfirmed this; it also made my husband fall in love with the City of Lights.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep glued to Cara Black’s posts. Cara’s love of Paris is evident in each of her novels. Through 10 novels, Black has gracefully moved through the streets and neighborhoods, showing rare views of the City of Lights and, along the way, also exploring the life of private detective Aimée Leduc.

Black’s affection for the city has made me want to pack my bags many a time. I was delighted when I was forced to read Black’s Murder in the Palais Royal (Soho) when Mystery Scene assigned it to me for a review. Murder in the Palais Royal came out in March and her scenes in Paris still resonate with me.

So I was especially interested in Tom Nolan’s excellent profile of Cara Black in the latest issue of Mystery Scene (Spring Issue No. 114). Nolan captured this author who grew up in the Bay Area and credits her father with being an avid Francophile.

While it doesn’t seem as if Paris – or Iceland or England or Botswana – are in our immediate travel plans, I’ll be content to travel vicariously by reading these authors’ novels and their posts on Murder Is Everywhere.