I've Got a Hitch in My Getalong

 

I don't know what happened, but I've been laid low by some kind of non-COVID-19 nonsense. I've been spending most of my time in bed sleeping with an ice pack on my head. I haven't even been doing much reading because-- when I start-- my eyes close and the book drops. Blogging is the last thing on my mind.

However, I thought the least I could do is give you a heads-up that there might not be many posts this coming week. If my body wants to sleep, I'm going to let it sleep. Hopefully, I'll be fighting fit soon. (I am trying to use some psychology on my body, which tends to be perverse. If I post that there won't be any posts, it might just huff and puff and say, "I'll show her!")

Hope to be back soon!

The Times They Are A'Changing Weekly Link Round-Up

 

It is Monday as I write this. When Denis left for work, I went out in my normal uniform of capri pants and tank top and got a shock-- I was almost cold! 65°F. is the forecast high today, and it's been a long time since the high has been that low. (I know, it's not low to some of you folks in different climes.) At least the air conditioner is finally getting a well-deserved rest.

 

The "highlight" of the week has been the cutting down of the huge Aleppo pine tree by our driveway. It was one of many victims of Phoenix's hottest summer in recorded history. I'll probably share some photos of the removal process in the near future.

Since this is just before Halloween and Día de los Muertos, I thought I would share something I found in the mound of family photos I've been going through. It is an example of a type of photography that I'm glad has passed out of fashion.

Clark William Brookshier 1906-1909

 

This is the only photo taken of my grandfather's older brother, Clark. A bit creepy, isn't it? Post-mortem portraits were popular during the Victorian Era and the first part of the twentieth century due to a much higher mortality rate. Clark was playing in a large dirt pile in the farmyard. He liked to dig mine shafts and play at being a miner. He couldn't be seen from my great-grandfather's seat on the wagon. The team of horses shied, and the wagon backed over the pile of dirt, crushing little Clark. This all happened on April 1, 1909, and is the reason why my family has never played April Fool's jokes.

 

And on that somber note, I'm going to head on out to the link corral. Head 'em up! Moooove 'em out!

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

•  R.V. Raman on bringing the traditional murder mystery to India.
• Check out Merriam-Webster's Time Traveler to see which new words were added during the year you were born.
• Why the Prado's show on women in art is facing accusations of misogyny.
• Cheap writing surfaces and medieval bureaucracy helped popularize the alphabet.
• Where do reading lists come from? (And why do we love them?)
• How girls have brought political change to America.
• The disconcerting beauty of isolated vocal tracks from some of the most famous songs by the Beatles.
• Did the Northern Lights play a role in the Titanic's demise?
• How algorithms discern our mood from what we write online. 
• How will COVID-19 change the way museums are built?
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• The remnants of a woodland Iroquois village has been discovered in Ontario.
• A long-lost medieval monastery has been discovered beneath a parking garage in England.
• From the BBC: A Shakespeare First Folio fetches a record $10 million at auction. Here's more from Smithsonian Magazine.
• Well-preserved brain cells were found in a Vesuvius victim.
• The ruins of an eighth-century pagan temple was found in Norway.
• A T. Rex sold for $31.8 million, and paleontologists are worried.
• Fingerprint analysis reveals new insights on prehistoric rock art's creators.
• A sweeping DNA survey highlights the Vikings' surprising genetic diversity.
• An ancient inscription reminds modern Egypt of drought risk.
• Mexico has identified the submerged wreck of a Mayan slave ship.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Watch a busy baby beaver build a dam inside its rescuer's house using an amusing variety of household items.
• Droughts and human interference wiped out Madagascar's gigantic wildlife 1,500 years ago.
• Charming photos capture small children bonding with protective big dogs.
• "Call the zookeeper!" A five-year-old found the lemur that went missing from the San Francisco Zoo.
• A bird flies 7,500 miles, a new record for the longest nonstop bird migration.
• Rope bridges save the most endangered primates from making death-defying leaps.
• The pandemic quiet means we can eavesdrop on rare Australian dolphins.
• Tribes reintroduce the swift fox to northern Montana's Fort Belknap Reservation.
• A new study finds that dogs may not spread COVID-19, but cats can pass it to each other.
• Watch a tiny shepherd puppy take a very patient rescued horse for a short walk around the pen.
• Are giraffes doomed to be struck by lightning because of their height?

 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• A colossal statue of Atlas will rise again in Sicily's Temple of Zeus.
• Eight of America's most unusual polling places.
• Toronto: crime fiction in North America's safest city.
• Could a tree help find a decaying corpse nearby?
• What wildfire archaeology tells us about the burning American West.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• The trail-blazing French artist Rosa Bonheur is finally getting the attention she deserves.
• Patricia Marroquin Norby, the Smithsonian's first full-time curator of Native American art.
• The light as she saw it: On sitting in Emily Dickinson's bedroom.
• Deborah Sampson, one of the first women to serve in the United States military.
• 31 literary icons of Greenwich Village.

 

►Crafty Little Gems◄

• Have you seen LEGO's 2,500-piece modular bookshop?
• Sailors' Valentines were painstakingly crafted, but not by sailors.

 

►I ♥ Lists & Quizzes◄

• Ten books about the Himalayas. 
• Five thrillers that explore "mean girl" culture.
• Six COVID-19 terms that would have made no sense in January.
• What genre should you read, based on your furniture picks? (According to this, I should be reading memoirs. Guess again, quiz makers!)
• Five books about sisters and secrets.
• Red herrings in contemporary crime literature.
• These famous noirs and mysteries were inspired by real-life crimes.
• Ten books of eco-fiction.
• Fifteen crime movies where love comes as a surprise.
• Eleven presidential thrillers.
• The top ten dinner parties in fiction.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

Evil for Evil by Aline Templeton

 

First Line: I think I'll go mad if I can't confess my guilt.

At first, it seems like a historical (although brutal) case-- a skeleton found shackled to the rocks inside a sea cave off the southwest coast of Scotland, and it should cause no undue difficulties. After all, it belongs firmly in the past. Well, it does until a modern wristwatch is found hanging on the bones of one shackled arm. With that one discovery, Detective Inspector Marjory Fleming knows this case is something else entirely.

The skeleton could tie into the strange goings-on in the nearby village of Innellan. Someone is staging a series of escalating crimes against the owner of the island on which the skeleton was found. Why is he being targeted? The villagers aren't any help. This is a small and introverted community, and no one is willing to speak out. Fleming senses there is a pattern, one that is not willing to come out into the light, but it could prove that the skeleton and the current series of crimes are connected. All she and her team have to do is find the one evil act that started it all.

~

I can always count on Aline Templeton to write an intelligent, compelling mystery, and her DI Marjory Fleming series has long been a favorite-- so much so that I only tend to pick one up when I need what I call a guaranteed good read. Evil for Evil is a bit slow at times, but once it builds up a good head of steam, time flies by. 

The mystery itself is a strong one, as well as being surprising and quite disturbing. The village setting is atmospheric... claustrophobic... and so well drawn that most city folk could point to it as convincing proof that no one should step one single toe out in the country. When secret after secret is exposed to the light, one character describes it as "omertà Scottish style," which I think is a perfect description.

But this series isn't all about the mystery. The major reason why I keep coming back for more is due to the excellent cast. I always like watching "Big Marge" Fleming's mind work as she pieces things together. Her personal life plays a role in each book, too. In Evil for Evil, both of her children show us what parents must deal with when youngsters think with their emotions instead of their brains. Fleming's second-in-command, Tam MacNee, has to deal with a secret or two in his own life, and we get to watch newcomer Detective Constable Louise Hepburn try to apply her classroom knowledge to real-world situations in order to make a big impression on the boss.

There are always things to learn in Templeton's books, whether it's raising deer as a commercial business or finding out what a Croydon facelift is. I like learning things. I like trying to solve mysteries. I like feeling a part of the family with a multi-faceted cast of characters. There's just no way around it: I like the way Aline Templeton writes, and I'll always go back for more (especially when Big Marge Fleming is involved).

Evil for Evil by Aline Templeton

eISBN: 9780749013509

Allison & Busby © 2012

eBook, 480 pages

 

Police Procedural, #7 DI Marjory Fleming mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

A Will to Kill by R.V. Raman

First Line: The visitor was ill at ease, fidgeting with his watch's metal strap, locking and releasing the clasp repeatedly.

Wheelchair-bound Bhaskar Fernandez invites his feuding relatives to Greybrooke Manor, a remote estate with a deadly past in the misty Nilgiris hills of southern India. One of Fernandez's objectives is to explain the two wills he has had written. One will in the event of his natural death; the second will if he dies any other way. Into this tinderbox, he has invited seasoned investigator Harith Athreya.

On the day of Athreya's arrival, a landslide isolates all of the guests at the estate, and a murder rapidly follows. Almost immediately, Athreya learns that a killer is not the only thing that the mist conceals.

~

A Will to Kill is perfect for Agatha Christie lovers. Raman has crafted an intricate plot that keeps all a reader's little grey cells working at high speed in order to deduce everything that's going on (and there's quite a lot). For those who love to concentrate on puzzles and plots, I highly recommend this book.

However, if-- like me-- you're a character-driven reader who also likes a rich, vivid setting, you're not going to enjoy A Will to Kill as much. Although it is very atmospheric, I was hoping that the setting would be more vibrantly Indian as I've come to expect and love in mysteries written by Tarquin Hall and Vaseem Khan, for instance. In the case of this book, it would appear that the British Raj had never ended. That in itself is a setting to be reckoned with, but it's a bit bland. (But it doesn't detract from that plot, eh?)

Yes, A Will to Kill is all about the plot. None of the characters really stood out in my mind, although the compassionate way Athreya deals with a bored, silly woman is quite touching and does say a great deal about the type of person he is.  If I'm in the mood for a Christie-esque, plot-driven mystery, I'll pick up the next Harith Athreya mystery. If not...

For you, the choice will be an interesting one.

 

A Will to Kill by R.V. Raman

eISBN: 9781951709341

Polis Books © 2020

eBook, 174 pages

 

Private Investigator, #1 Harith Athreya mystery

Rating: C+

Source: Net Galley

November 2020 New Mystery Releases!

There's nothing like trying to compose blog posts with the racket of chain saws right outside the window. We're having some work done on many of the trees on the property with the HUGE project of cutting down the enormous dead Aleppo pine coming Saturday. I'm going to miss that tree, so it's a good thing that I have the distraction of new books to talk about and share with you all.

I've grouped my picks of the best new crime fiction being released during the month of November by their release dates, and the synopses and covers are courtesy of Amazon.

Now it's time to see if any of my choices tickle your fancy, too. Let's take a look!

=== November 1 ===

 

Title: The Cipher

Author: Isabella Maldonado

Series: #1 in the FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera series set in various US locations

335 pages

Synopsis: "FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera escaped a serial killer’s trap at sixteen. Years later, when she’s jumped in a Virginia park, a video of the attack goes viral. Legions of new fans are not the only ones impressed with her fighting skills. The man who abducted her eleven years ago is watching. Determined to reclaim his lost prize, he commits a grisly murder designed to pull her into the investigation…but his games are just beginning. And he’s using the internet to invite the public to play along.

His coded riddles may have made him a depraved social media superstar—an enigmatic cyber-ghost dubbed “the Cipher”—but to Nina he’s a monster who preys on the vulnerable. Partnered with the FBI’s preeminent mind hunter, Dr. Jeffrey Wade, who is haunted by his own past, Nina tracks the predator across the country. Clue by clue, victim by victim, Nina races to stop a deadly killer while the world watches."

=== November 3 ===

Title: Consolation

Author: Garry Disher

Series: #3 in the Constable Paul Hirschhausen police procedural series set in Australia.

400 pages

 

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

 

Synopsis: "In Consolation, Tiverton’s only police officer Constable Paul Hirschhausen is dealing with a snowdropper. Someone is stealing women’s underwear, and Hirsch knows how that kind of crime can escalate. Then two calls come in: a teacher who thinks a child may be in danger at home. A father on the rampage over at the primary school.

Hirsch knows how things like that can escalate, too. Families under pressure. Financial problems. But it’s always a surprise when the killing starts." 

Title: The Preserve

Author: Ariel S. Winter

Standalone thriller set in the future

256 pages

Synopsis: "Decimated by plague, the human population is now a minority. Robots—complex AIs almost indistinguishable from humans—are the ruling majority. Nine months ago, in a controversial move, the robot government opened a series of preserves, designated areas where humans can choose to live without robot interference. Now the preserves face their first challenge: someone has been murdered.

Chief of Police Jesse Laughton on the SoCar Preserve is assigned to the case. He fears the factions that were opposed to the preserves will use the crime as evidence that the new system does not work. As he digs for information, robots in the outside world start turning up dead from bad drug-like programs that may have originated on SoCar land. And when Laughton learns his murder victim was a hacker who wrote drug-programs, it appears that the two cases might be linked. Soon, it’s clear that the entire preserve system is in danger of collapsing. Laughton’s former partner, a robot named Kir, arrives to assist on the case, and they soon uncover shocking secrets revealing that life on the preserve is not as peaceful as its human residents claim. But in order to protect humanity’s new way of life, Laughton must solve this murder before it’s too late.

The Preserve is a fresh and futuristic mystery that is perfect for fans of Westworld and Blade Runner."

=== November 5 ===

Title: The Diabolical Bones

Author: Bella Ellis

Series: #2 in the Brontë Sisters historical series set in England.

352 pages

UK Release

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë are rather losing interest in detecting until they hear of a shocking discovery: the bones of a child have been found interred within the walls of a local house, Top Withens Hall, home to the scandalous and brutish Bradshaw family.

When the sisters set off to find out more, they are confronted with an increasingly complex and sinister case, which leads them into the dark world of orphanages, and onto the trail of other lost, and likely murdered children. After another local boy goes missing, Charlotte, Emily and Anne vow to find him before it's too late.

But in order to do so, they must face their most despicable and wicked adversary yet - one that would not hesitate to cause them the gravest of harm. . ."

=== November 10 ===

Title: Shallow Ground

Author: Andy Maslen

Series: #1 in the Detective Ford police procedural series set in England.

367 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Barely a month since his promotion to Inspector, DI Ford is called in to investigate the murder of a young nurse and her son in a small flat in Salisbury. There are few clues, and no apparent motive, but Ford can sense that there’s a serial killer at work. After all, he knows from brutal personal experience how killers cover their tracks…

It’s been six years since Ford lost his wife in a climbing accident—an accident he caused. He is desperate to keep the truth hidden, especially from his son, Sam. But Ford’s new partner, Dr Hannah Fellowes, is a crime scene investigator with a ruthlessly analytical mind, and as they work together to track down the killer, his crippling guilt is compounded by fear of exposure.

When instinct leads him towards a high-profile suspect, his superiors’ warnings just make him more determined to connect impulse and fact. But can Ford hold it all together—the case, his life—long enough to stop the killer?"

Title: Moonflower Murders

Author: Anthony Horowitz

Series: #2 in the Susan Ryeland series set in Greece and England.

608 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

Synopsis: "Retired publisher Susan Ryeland is living the good life. She is running a small hotel on a Greek island with her long-term boyfriend Andreas. It should be everything she's always wanted. But is it? She's exhausted with the responsibilities of making everything work on an island where nothing ever does, and truth be told she's beginning to miss London.

And then the Trehearnes come to stay. The strange and mysterious story they tell, about an unfortunate murder that took place on the same day and in the same hotel in which their daughter was married—a picturesque inn on the Suffolk coast named Farlingaye Hall—fascinates Susan and piques her editor’s instincts. 

One of her former writers, the late Alan Conway, author of the fictional Magpie Murders, knew the murder victim—an advertising executive named Frank Parris—and once visited Farlingaye Hall. Conway based the third book in his detective series, Atticus Pund Takes the Cake, on that very crime. 

The Trehearne’s, daughter, Cecily, read Conway’s mystery and believed the book proves that the man convicted of Parris’s murder—a Romanian immigrant who was the hotel’s handyman—is innocent. When the Trehearnes reveal that Cecily is now missing, Susan knows that she must return to England and find out what really happened."

Title: Murder in Old Bombay

Author: Nev March

Historical mystery set in 19th century Bombay, India.

400 pages

*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.

 

Synopsis: "In 1892, Bombay is the center of British India. Nearby, Captain Jim Agnihotri lies in Poona military hospital recovering from a skirmish on the wild northern frontier, with little to do but re-read the tales of his idol, Sherlock Holmes, and browse the daily papers. The case that catches Captain Jim's attention is being called the crime of the century: Two women fell from the busy university’s clock tower in broad daylight. Moved by Adi, the widower of one of the victims ― his certainty that his wife and sister did not commit suicide ― Captain Jim approaches the Parsee family and is hired to investigate what happened that terrible afternoon.

But in a land of divided loyalties, asking questions is dangerous. Captain Jim's investigation disturbs the shadows that seem to follow the Framji family and triggers an ominous chain of events. And when lively Lady Diana Framji joins the hunt for her sisters’ attackers, Captain Jim’s heart isn’t safe, either.

Based on a true story, and set against the vibrant backdrop of colonial India, Nev March's Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award-winning lyrical debut, Murder in Old Bombay, brings this tumultuous historical age to life." 

Title: After All I've Done

Author: Mina Hardy

Standalone psychological suspense set in the US.

310 pages

Synopsis: "Five months ago, an accident left Diana Sparrow badly injured and missing a few months of her memory. As if that's not enough, she's started having recurring nightmares about the night of the accident. Dreams that feel so real, she's left questioning: maybe she didn't just slide off the road into a ditch. Maybe, just maybe, she hit something. Or someone.

She can't turn to her former best friend Val, who's been sleeping with Diana's husband Jonathan for months, but she might find some comfort in newcomer Cole Pelham. Yet the closer they become, the more Diana begins to wonder what really happened that night--and how Cole might be connected. Worse, it seems everyone else could be involved, too.

Who was with her that night? What really happened? As her life unravels thread by thread and the dreams become too real to ignore, Diana will have to face the unthinkable--and do the unforgivable."

=== November 24 ===

Title: Meet Isabel Puddles

Author: M.V. Byrne

Series: #1 in the Mitten State cozy series set in Michigan.

336 pages

Synopsis: "The only thing widow Isabel Puddles loves as much as her hometown of Gull Harbor on the shores of Lake Michigan is cozying up to a good mystery--but she never expected to be caught in the middle of one...

To the tourists and summer residents, Kentwater County is a picturesque community of small-town charm, fruitful farmland, and gorgeous freshwater beaches. To middle-aged widow Isabel Puddles, it's where she enjoys breakfast every morning at a local café with her childhood best friend and spends her evenings cozying up with a good book and her devoted Jack Terrier, Jackpot. In between, Isabel makes ends meet through a variety of trades--preserving pickles, baking pies, working the counter at her cousin's hardware shop, and occasionally helping "fix-up" the hair of corpses at the local funeral parlor.

When Isabel discovers a two-inch nail embedded in the skull of Earl Jonasson, it seems the octogenarian may not have died of a stroke. His son is quickly arrested when his alibi doesn't check out. But Isabel has known Earl Jr. since they were kids and can't believe he'd murder his own father, regardless of his financial difficulties. As gossip about Earl Sr.'s land and insurance policy money starts to spread around the county, Isabel finds herself conducting her own investigation to clear her friend's name. But real detective work isn't like Jessica Fletcher's Murder She Wrote mysteries, and she's meeting dangerous suspects who don't like Isabel poking around in their business..."

There's certainly a wide-ranging selection of new books this month, isn't there? Did any of them tickle your fancy? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!

A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson

First Line: The wetlands dedication was a resounding success until the gunman showed up.

 

When her job in Boston ends, wildlife biologist Alex Carter is offered a position monitoring wolverines on a preserve in Montana. After a messy breakup with her boyfriend and the harrowing conclusion of the dedication ceremony of the wetlands preserve, Alex is more than ready to leave the city and head for the wilderness.

 

Even though she's greeted with a great deal of suspicion in the small town where she buys necessities, the job is perfect for Alex. The solitude is a balm for her spirit. Until she checks footage from one of the cameras she's set up and sees a badly injured man apparently lost and wandering in the wilderness. Search and Rescue are unable to find the man, and the attitude of local law enforcement makes Alex suspicious.

 

Her suspicions are confirmed when she realizes that she's stumbled upon something she was never supposed to have seen-- there's a far-reaching illegal operation being conducted here, and now she's a threat. She's going to need all the skills at her disposal just to stay alive.

 

~

 

When I learned that A Solitude of Wolverines was a mystery with a wildlife biologist as the main character, I perked up. When I learned that the book was written by an actual wildlife biologist, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Now I can say that this first Alex Carter mystery is a winner, and I can't wait to read more.

Wildlife and the wilderness are at the center of this story, and you can really get a feel for the type of conservation work wildlife biologists do. If you love all creatures great and small, there's even a bibliography so you can learn more about the animals being studied in the book. But if the wilderness is at the center of A Solitude of Wolverines, Alex Carter is its beating heart. When asked to lie about her findings for her bosses who have taken bribes in a previous job, Alex refuses in spectacular style knowing that she has a lot to lose by telling the truth.

 

This is not your usual female character. Her mother was an Air Force fighter pilot who devised games for her daughter that taught Alex how to think on her feet and use the items at hand for her survival. When something like that is mentioned in a book, you can take it to the bank that this is going to be a big factor in the story later on-- and it is. There are plenty of high octane action scenes in A Solitude of Wolverines, and there is no candy-coating of the consequences for neither man nor beast. (I mention this for those readers who might be a bit squeamish.)

 

The only thing that made me wonder about Alex is her choice of best friend and boyfriend. Anyone with two working brain cells should have been able to deduce that her boyfriend was a high maintenance waste of space, but I suppose that tells us that she makes mistakes like the rest of us mortals. Her best friend is a typical high rolling Hollywood actress, and that makes for an odd combination with the middle-of-nowhere loving Alex. I do have to admit that it's probably not a good idea for a main character-- no matter how dynamic-- to be a hermit. There's also a shadowy third character in Alex's orbit. One that she didn't realize she had, and it would appear that this dangerous shadow will figure more prominently in the next book. Why is this person a "dangerous shadow"? Because he's Alex's serial killer guardian angel. How's that for a shocker!

 

A Solitude of Wolverines is a momentous opening chapter in Alex Carter's story, one that changes her: "A new sensation spread inside of her, a loss of innocence." I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what she does next.  

A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson

eISBN: 9780062982094

William Morrow © 2020

eBook, 320 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth, #1 Alex Carter mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Net Galley

Saddled With Murder by Eileen Brady

First Line: A wish can be many things: optimistic, greedy, or a simple request for a favor from the vast unknown.

 

Veterinarian Kate Turner is having a very difficult time getting into the holiday spirit. She's dealing with two extremely difficult clients, and her beloved grandfather is urging her to reconcile with the father she turned her back on years ago. She'd just as soon stay in bed with the covers over her head. Then things take a decided turn for the worse.

 

Her ex-boyfriend is mugged and robbed after they have an argument out in the hospital parking lot, and those two disgruntled clients of hers both turn up dead. This all seems to be a series of unfortunate coincidences, but they really add up to something much more venomous.

 

~

 

Saddled With Murder is advertised as the first in a new series, but it really is a continuation of Brady's Kate Turner DVM cozy series. Same characters, same setting, no big jump in the timeline. The publisher says the decision was made to start fresh because Kate had reached a crossroads in her life, but if she has, I can't figure out what it is. I think it has more to do with Poisoned Pen Press now being a part of Sourcebooks, but I may be wrong. I only mention it because some of you may have been reading Brady's previous books. Let's just move along to what I thought of the book.

 

Eileen Brady has crafted a solid mystery here that shows the pervasiveness and power of social media. (Let me tell you, I hope nothing I do ever goes viral!) The author kept me guessing, and I always like that.

 

I do have to admit that the reason why I've read all of Brady's Kate Turner books has more to do with Kate's profession that it has to do with the mysteries themselves. Brady is a vet in real life, and she infuses her stories with what the daily life of a veterinarian is like, funny, sad, and exhausting. A pet owner can pick up quite a few tips from reading Saddled With Murder. 

 

I also learned a lot about how to acclimate a mustang. Bringing a wild horse into pastures, barns, and human contact requires patience and knowledge, and I found the whole process interesting and a welcome change from Kate's usual small animal practice. Another thing I enjoyed is the fact that Brady was inspired to learn about this from seeing our Salt River wild horses right here in Arizona. These horses have a social media presence as well as their own website.

If you love books with an interesting main character, lots of animals, and intriguing mysteries, Eileen Brady's Kate Turner mysteries should be just what you're looking for.

Saddled With Murder by Eileen Brady

eISBN: 9781464212734

Poisoned Pen Press © 2020

eBook, 337 pages

 

Cozy Mystery, #1 Dr. Kate Vet mystery

Rating: B

Source: Net Galley

Celebrating Día de los Muertos at Casa Kittling

Over the years that I've been blogging, I've mentioned that I've never been a fan of Halloween. Where I grew up, it seemed that all that particular day signified was overspending on toilet paper to make a mess of people's property, overdosing on candy, and being pelted with spoiled tomatoes when you went on hayrides. No, thank you!

Once I moved to Phoenix, it took me a few years to really begin learning about the Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and my interest was probably triggered by several deaths in the family. If you'd like to learn more about Día de los Muertos, you're welcome to read this article from the History Channel.

I've gone from visiting the Desert Botanical Garden's Offrendas exhibition (none this year due to COVID-19) to making my own offrenda (an altar made in honor of your loved ones). Now that I've got my offrenda up, I feel the need to watch Coco, but I'll share some photos with you first!

My offrenda is the one with the lights. The top of the dresser just shows off some related bits 'n' bobs.

Yes, I knitted the scarf. The lighting is so bright that it's made the colors look washed out.

Here are the bits 'n' bobs from places like Santa Fe. I love my mother's Norman Rockwell plate on the right showing a family tree. (The prim & proper married to pirates and outlaws, etc.)

Here is my offrenda. The large plate hanging on the wall is from Target.

Yes, I knitted this scarf, too. I came to my love of bright colors (and in combinations) late in life, but whenever I use them, I think of my grand-aunt Marguerite, who'd crochet any size doily in eye-wateringly bright colors.

Pets are loved ones, too.

My great-grandmother Katie Brookshier. My grand-uncle and -aunt, Glenn and Mary Ann Brookshier.

You guessed it-- I knitted this scarf, too. The color combinations aren't nearly as bright as Aunt Marguerite's. By the way, you'll get a chance to see her in a bit.

Me with my mother, Glenore Brookshier Cole, and my father, Charles Norman Cole. Donald Duck is for my father who could do a perfect Donald Duck impression.

A celebration calls for music, right?

My grandfather, Earl Brookshier, on his favorite seat for listening to Cubs games on the radio. Me with my grandparents, Irene and Earl Brookshier. By the way, I stitched the needlepoint mats on the tops of each cake stand, too.

In the back, my grandfather, Earl Brookshier, at the age of three standing next to his sister, Marguerite, she of the radioactively-colored crocheted doilies, bless 'er. In front, the 1909 wedding photo of my great-grandparents, Myrtle Tadlock Brown and James Elmer Brown. Whenever I look at that chicken, I hear my mother laugh, but the chicken actually belonged to Mom Brown. I also like how my grandfather seems to be keeping an eye on me on the upper left-- something he did quite well.

If there's a problem with something like this that I walk past several times a day, it's that I can't stop faffing with it. (In US-speak, I could say fussing instead.)  As you can see, I've made some changes from the fourth photo at the beginning of the post.

I found a stash of reprints that my grandmother made in her own little darkroom. I didn't want to go to the expense of buying all sorts of frames for the larger originals, and these reprints were perfect to cut to size for small frames. Here I've added my favorite photo of my great-grandfather, James Elmer Brown, because I think he's so handsome in it-- and I love his smile.

My offrenda looks even better with the candles lit, doesn't it?

Do any of you celebrate Día de los Muertos, or is it pumpkins and witches and bats and ghosties for you? Inquiring minds would love to know!

The Winner of the Midnight at Malabar House Giveaway!

 

Thank you, everyone, for filling my inbox with entries for my latest giveaway, but it is now time to announce the winner.

Congratulations to Tom from Maryland! An autographed copy of Midnight at Malabar House will be on its way to you shortly.

 

An It's Going to Be Different Weekly Link Round-Up

 

I'm weird. I've never denied it. "Organized" is probably the most common word that's been used to describe me. I don't think it's in my DNA unless it skipped several generations because I've had to go through deceased loved ones' belongings. I mean, once you find 107 single socks stuffed in all sorts of nooks and crannies, you get the impression that the person who did it wasn't particularly organized... But I'm beginning to digress. I stumbled across a series called The Home Edit on Netflix, and it's almost perfect for me. Lots of purging and categorizing and containing and labeling... *sigh* Nirvana! The two organizing gurus have me changing my terminology, too. I've always called 'em "lazy Susans" even though I wondered who on earth the original Susan was and-- just how lazy was she? On The Home Edit, they're called "turntables"-- and they even have divided ones. Be still, my heart! I now have a divided turntable in the main bathroom and made my own dividers for the one I have by my chair in the family room. Now I'm fighting the urge to buy more, more, more. Get hold of yourself, Cathy!

Now... you may have noticed that I said that this program was almost perfect for me. Why isn't it? Because if I had a dollar for every time those two gurus used the word "like," I'd be able to buy up the world's supply of divided turntables. It's gotten so bad a couple of times that I watched with the sound turned off. Have any of you ever done that? It just, like, hurts my brain! Ow!

Before I mosey out to the link corral, I just wanted to mention that the upcoming holiday season is going to be so much different from what most of us are used to, and we should start planning accordingly. That especially goes for gifting. I came across something on Facebook that I will share with you here. Some of the things on the list may not apply depending on lockdown guidelines, but many of them do. Think outside the box this year. It could really make a difference in people's lives.

Enjoy the links!

 

►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄

• Explore the Roman cookbook, De Re Coquinaria, the oldest known cookbook in existence.
• The reason it's so hard to spot your own typos.
• Author Don DeLillo cut the mention of COVID-19 from his new novel, but who added it?
• What happens when literary events move online?
• Why Latino history is American history.
• Justice for the invisibles, by the invisibles: a brief history of nontraditional voices in crime fiction.
• The ancient art of harvesting fruit in the desert.
• A Johnstown, New Jersey, based literacy bank is nourishing minds worldwide through magazines.
• What Stephanie Kent learned from interviewing Indie booksellers in every state. 
• Skyhorse Publishing's house of horrors.
  

 

►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄

• Found: A 1,500-year-old tomb of a Germanic lord within a circle of six women.
• Fossilized footprints found in New Mexico track a traveler with a toddler in tow.
• Thamugadi, the Roman ghost city buried in the sands for a thousand years.
• This ancient Egyptian coffin was opened for the first time in 2,600 years.
• Is this mysterious Viking Gerdrup grave the burial place of the sorceress Katla and her son Odd who are mentioined in the Icelandic Sagas? (Thanks, Margot!)
• How drones help archaeologists peer into the earth.
• This incredible 17th-century lock counted how many times it was used.
• An ancient Roman villa was discovered beneath an Italian apartment complex.

 

►Channeling My Inner Elly Mae Clampett◄

• Scientists cloned an endangered wild horse using the decades-old frozen cells of a stallion.
• How humans benefit from a highway of trails created by African forest elephants.
• Two new species of semi-aquatic mice have been identified in East African rainforests.
• Blue whales sing all day when they migrate and all night when they don't.
• Wildlife suffers as Brazil's Pantanal wetland burns.
• Why it takes a DNA test to determine a panda cub's sex.
• 500,000 sharks could be killed in the race to produce a COVID-19 vaccine.
• Togo the Wonder Dog.
• Watch an orphaned baby otter chomp on ice cubes.

 

►Crafty Little Gems◄

• Guorui Chen sculpts animals and flowers from grains of rice.
• Stunning traditional double-sided, hand-embroidered Chinese silk fans with nature-inspired designs.
  

 

►The Happy Wanderer◄

• The romantic story of Menabilly, the real life inspiration for Manderley in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.
• You could own the house of horrors from Silence of the Lambs. Here's another article from Deadline Hollywood.
• The grave of Thomas Fletcher inspired a movement that has spanned generations and saved countless lives.
• 23 of the best 3D virtual tours of British museums, castles, churches, and stately homes.

 

►Fascinating Folk◄

• How Dr. Emma Brainerd-Ryder set up India's first literary society for women.
• James Richard Shinn, the rare-book thief who looted college libraries in the 1980s.
• American poet Louise Glück wins the Nobel Prize.
• Tana French has written an Irish Western.
• Betty Reid Soskin is 99... and the oldest park ranger in America.
• Sarah Forbes Bonetta, Queen Victoria's Black goddaughter.

 

►I ♥ Lists◄

• Time Magazine's list of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time.
• Kids and thrillers and their freaky powers.
• Seven great heist novels recommended by an art dealer.
• Ten underrated Agatha Christie novels.
• Seventeen crime fiction series that use real historical figures as sleuths.
• Eight thrillers that bring an uncanny slant to the natural world.
• Six book-to-movie adaptations Book Bub contributors can't wait to watch.
• Words with lost meanings.
• Six punctuation marks hated by famous authors.
• Seven audiobooks by Indigenous authors.

That's all for this week! Don't forget to stop by next Friday when I'll be sharing a freshly selected batch of links for your surfing pleasure.

Stay safe! Stay healthy! And don't forget to curl up with a good book!

The Spirit Woman by Margaret Coel

First Line: Father John O'Malley pulled up the collar of his jacket and dipped the brim of his cowboy hat against the hard wind whirling little pellets of snow into the air.

Legend has it that Sacajawea, the Native American woman who helped guide the Lewis and Clark expedition through the vast American wilderness, is buried on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. A college professor and longtime friend of Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden has disappeared while searching for documented evidence of that legend. 

Holden and Father John O'Malley become increasingly concerned when her missing friend is linked to another female historian who also vanished on the reservation while researching Sacajawea twenty years ago. The answer to these disappearances may lie in the pages of Sacajawea's hidden memoirs, but someone is willing to do anything to ensure they're never found.

~

It's been much too long since I've picked up one of Margaret Coel's Wind River mysteries, and The Spirit Woman was such a pleasure to read. Coel always seems to find a fascinating aspect of Native American or Western history to build her stories upon, and this time it's Sacajawea, the remarkable teenager who, with a baby strapped to her back and dealing with an abusive husband, guided Lewis and Clark. Proving that Sacajawea survived and died in old age on the Wind River Reservation among her people would be a coup for any historian, but it can't be just any proof. Historians want written documented evidence. Oral histories will not do. Rumors of Sacajawea's written memoirs are a magnet for both female college professors who have disappeared on the reservation.

The subject of abusive relationships is a major theme in The Spirit Woman, but for those readers who may find the subject too distressing, rest assured that Coel never resorts to any sort of graphic violence. It's what living under such circumstances can do to women that is the author's focus, and she deftly weaves this into the story.  

The whodunit was easy for me to deduce, but then I don't read mysteries just to see how good I am at solving crimes. For me, characterization and setting mean even more, and Coel's series has both in abundance. There's the attraction between Father John O'Malley and attorney Vicky Holden. There's how residents of the reservation react to a historian nosing around and asking questions. But even more important, there's the fact that O'Malley's boss has decided that it's time for O'Malley to move on to a different parish. His replacement shows up almost before O'Malley has a chance to hang up the phone. John is highly respected on the reservation. How are the people going to react to his leaving? The actions of the elders should make you smile. 

One of the things that kept me glued to the pages was trying to figure out how O'Malley got to stay. Let's face it... this is the sixth book in a twenty-book series, and they're all called Wind River mysteries. Father John has to stay, right? I was happy to see that my solution wasn't the right one (not that it was violent or anything, just wrong).

This is a series to savor, particularly if you love intelligent writing. The characters and the setting sing. What readers can learn about reservation life and the West is fascinating. If you haven't sampled the Wind River mysteries, I highly recommend them. Due to character development, I would suggest that you begin with the first book, The Eagle Catcher. It will be the start of a beautiful reading relationship.

The Spirit Woman by Margaret Coel

ISBN: 0425180905

Berkley Prime Crime © 2000

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

 

Native American mystery, #6 Wind River mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Paperback Swap

Some Favorite Childhood Books

Charlie Lovett's Escaping Dreamland had a great deal to do with the books we read in childhood that helped shape the people we are today. Reading that book made me think of my own childhood favorites, and my thoughts have been percolating away ever since so I thought I'd go down to my keeper shelves and bring back a few of those favorites that I've hung on to. Now it's time to share them with you. Perhaps seeing some of my favorites will bring back memories of your own. I know you've got them!

I actually remember the three little books that were the first ones I read all by myself, but I graduated very quickly to chapter books, so I won't include those three here. Besides, I couldn't find any pictures of the covers to show you. (Does that mean I'm getting old? Naaaaah!)

The first author whose books I read voraciously was Thornton W. Burgess. Most of his books were library books, but I do have a couple of my own.

Even as a young child, I knew that animals did not wear clothes and that they did not speak any language that you and I could understand, but Burgess had a knack for telling stories, and he imparted so much knowledge about the animals his tales were about!

I showed an interest in my grandmother's glorious flowerbeds from an early age, and she was only too eager to fan the flames, even going so far as to choose a book by a favorite author.

Just the sight of my grandmother's handwriting brings back so many memories!

Another early favorite book. Hitty was a doll, and the story is told in her voice. Mom would read her adventures to me, and I was very proud when I could finally read them for myself!

My grandparents weren't the only ones who encouraged my love of reading. Mom's handwriting takes me down Memory Lane, too.

I think Hitty was the first book that made me realize that inanimate objects could have stories, that almost all things have some sort of history, and because I read Hitty, I became interested in the stories objects could tell.

My next obsession was Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series. For me, these were fantastic stories that fostered a love of history and biography.

Illustrations can be so important in children's books. I've included many from my favorite childhood books, but I do remember being proud of the fact that the Little House books didn't have quite so many, and that meant that I was really growing up!

But deep down, my favorite kind of books were books about animals, especially horses.

I absolutely loved Wesley Dennis' illustrations for Marguerite Henry's books!

C. W. Anderson's Blaze series was another favorite. I read a lot of books from the 1920s through the 1940s at the library because it took my mother time before there was a library board in our village that actually believed in spending money on books.

As far as horse books go, Walter Farley's books were my favorite. I'd read the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew (mostly The Hardy Boys), but I found myself returning over and over again to the adventures of the Black Stallion.

Another series I was obsessed with was the Childhood of Famous Americans series. I had to search high and low for the blue covers that I remembered as a child.

The other thing I remember so well about this series is its silhouette illustrations. I read every single book in this series that Mom bought for the library. The range of the biographies was impressive, but I was thrilled to see that diversity has finally given so much more depth to this series that's still going strong.

Well, those are my favorite books from my childhood. Now the question is... what are some of yours? Inquiring minds would love to know!