Pawel has asserted she never intended to write mysteries, and came upon the idea almost by accident. In the summer of 2000, while on vacation in Spain, Pawel sent an e-mail to her college professor, Persephone Braham, asking if she could pick her up anything while she was there. Braham requested she bring back some murder mysteries set in Madrid. When Pawel confessed she couldn't think of any such mysteries, but that a mystery set in the Spanish capital after the Nationalist's siege would be a great idea, Braham suggested Pawel go ahead and write it. Eight weeks later, Pawel completed the manuscript for "Death of a Nationalist".