Amy-

I hear you -- I try to do the very same. Over time, I hope to build up a great set of lists for all 50 states and most major international destinations. For now, I just have a few such lists in my "Travel & Places" category -- take a look:

http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com/category/Travel-best-book-lists/110

Are you headed to a specific destination soon? If so, why don't you reply here and I'll ask my 100,000 Twitter followers for suggestions.

Peter
(The guy who runs Flashlight Worthy)

If you are a mystery lover you can perform a search in Google or any search engine on "mysteries by locale" or "mysteries by location" and your search results will include various lists of mysteries from various locations. You may come across a list of mysteries that take place in Sweden or in the Chesapeake Bay. Good Luck!

Although Ann Rule doesn't write fiction (that I know of), she does write books set in crime locations - so you learn abit about the city/area/streets/etc.
Also. Phillip Margolin writes legal mystery books set in Portland, OR. Since i lived there for awhile, I do recognize most of the spots mentioned in his books. Makes it more interesting to visualize the setting accurately! Plus, both Rule and Margolin are good writers! Enjoy!!

if you are a mystery lover you can preform a search in google or any engine on "mysteries by locale" or "mysteries by location" and your search results will include various lists of mysteries from various locations. You may come accross a list of mysteries htat take place in sweden or in the Chesapeake bay. Good Luck!

My wife and I lived in Salta, Argentina for several months about a decade ago and have been back a few times since then and know the region. We just published a mystery novel set in Salta and the surrounding areas, which should have all the background information anybody might want to have read before visiting the area, at a very affordable price. The book, "The Empanada Affair" is available from Amazon as an E-book for $0.99. Go to www.amazon.com and search their book section for "empanada affair". Click on the picture or title to get to the page where you can buy the book and at the same time you can download a free Kindle reader application. The book has chapters that describe Salta, Cafyate, Jujuy, Purmamarca, Cachi, Humahuaca, and much of the rest of the region. You can also get descriptions of food, wine, and artisanal crafts from the novel. There is a lot more detail than you will find in the typical travel blog. And you'll also get a nice book to read during the long flight(s) or bus rides to B.A. and Salta from wherever you start your trip.

The best thing I know is LibraryThing. You can do a search by topic on your destination, then look at the lists it pulls up: works, tags, classifications, etc. I belong to a group there for books about or set in California. It's an amazing site!

Try http://novelsonlocation.com/. It's a Google Maps and Amazon mash-up that you can browse or search for your next trip. And adding books is just as easy. If you log in with your Facebook account, you can see which books your friends added.