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Bless Your Heart: A Jeannie Johal Thriller takes place in Eastern North Carolina. The City of Greenville and the Pitt County Arboretum play outsize roles. Greenville is about a 90-minute drive from Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, and around the same distance from Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, and Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks.

The Pitt County Arboretum: Photos of plants from the Butterfly Garden, where Jeannie enjoys eating her lunch. Upper middle: Bignonia capreolata (Trumpet Flower) draping from the green canopy. Upper right: Achillea millefolium (Pink Yarrow). Middle left: Baptisia sphaerocarpa ('Screaming Yellow' Wild Indigo). Middle second to left: Coreopsis lanceolata (Lanceleaf Tickseed). Middle third to left: Achillea millefolium ('Colorado Mix' Yarrow). Lower left: Blooms from Philadelphus lewisii (Mock Orange) shrub. Lower left: Second in: Foeniculum vulgare (Bronze Fennel). Lower middle: Butterfly Highway sign; Lower second from right: Phlox subulata (Moss Phlox). Far right: Eutrochium purpureum (Joe Pye Weed). Photos: Susann C., Jeannette D., Rebecca M.

Kinston, Tick Bite, Grifton

Mother Earth Brewing, Kinston

A Kinston landmark that produces the best-tasting specialty beers. Anywhere. In Bless Your Heart, La Donna Rogers samples a pint of Mojito Berlinerweisse.

Tick Bite, NC

This unincorporated community located between Kinston and Greenville is where Will Davis was born. Tick Bite was severely ravaged by Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Check out Jeremy Markovich's story on Tick Bite in The North Carolina Rabbit Hole.

The historic Train Depot, Grifton, NC

The Okay Corral Training Range is in spitting distance of the Train Depot in Grifton. This is where Jeannie took "The Well-Armed Woman" course in safe gun handling. Photo: Vicki Kennedy.

Downtown Scotland Neck, The Skylight Inn, The Rickhouse

Downtown Scotland Neck, NC

Near the tobacco farm in Scotland Neck where Detective Henry Smith grew up. Coming from a rural farming community, Det. Smith sees Greenville as a bustling metropolis.

The Skylight Inn BBQ, Ayden

The legendary, James Beard Award-winning restaurant for whole-hog barbecue, Carolina-style. Since 1947, when Pete Jones opened a small restaurant on the family property in Ayden.

The Rickhouse, Greenville, NC

The Rickhouse American Provisions and Spirits, commonly known as 'The Rickhouse,' offers more than forty selections of bourbon, as well as American whiskey and rye.