Thursday, December 29, 2022

A Spanner in the Works Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Christmas was a little too quiet for Denis and me. I was suffering tremendous pain from a pinched nerve in my hip and spent most of the day in bed. As soon as I'm done typing this, I'm heading back there. The pain has eased significantly, but I'm going to continue to rest it and not push my luck.

Denis and I have found the critter situation here at Casa Kittling to be quite interesting. Where we were having weekly visits from JR the raccoon, he's missed two or three times, and the only reason why has to be because Wile E. Coyote has been sniffing around the premises. All the feral cats stayed away for well over a week, and even now they show up much less than in days of old. At least the female kestrel is still performing her toilette in the birdbath out front.
 
John French's The Great American West (Reminds me a bit of Sedona, Arizona.)


I hope you're managing to stay warm and well read during the frigid weather most of the country is experiencing. I hope to be back under full power for the next round-up.

Enjoy the links!


►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
 
►Book Banning & Censorship◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
  • Reclaiming a place in animation history for Bessie Mae Kelley.
  • Artist Raku Inoue forages fallen flora and arranges it into exquisite portraits of animals and insects.
  • Ann Cleeves recovered her laptop containing a half-finished novel after a blizzard in Shetland.
  • How audiobook narrator Robin Miles finds her voices.
  • What a young, aspiring John Singer Sargent learned from the beauty of Florence.
 
►Best of 2022 Lists◄
 
►I ♥ Lists◄
 
     ● Five character-driven mysteries from European authors.
     ● The best historical fiction coming out this winter.
     ● 11 atmospheric mysteries with Southern settings.
     ● These non-fiction books will take you around the world.
     ● The baby names authors chose for their own children.
     ● 20 of the best audiobooks of all time.
     ● Eight authors like Hilary Mantel.
     ● Ten bingeable (and complete) mystery series you can enjoy right now.
     ● Four atmospheric thrillers with unexpected settings.
     ● The new seniors of crime fiction, on page and screen.
     ● 25 of the best non-fiction books of all time.
     ● The 72 best crime drama and thriller shows on Netflix: 2023 edition.


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.

Wishing All of You the Best of All Possible New Years 
With Plenty of Good Books to Read!
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Wednesday, December 28, 2022

You Light Up My Death by Mary Jane Maffini

 
First Line: It would have been the honeymoon from hell, if we'd actually had a wedding.
 
Ottawa lawyer and victims' advocate Camilla MacPhee has finally agreed to elope with her long-time partner, Sergeant Ray Deveau. Loaded down with gifts from her bossy sisters to family members in the Cape Breton area as well as a smelly dog and a little calico cat, Camilla should be on her way to Happily Ever After, right?

For some unknown reason during the 1,000-mile journey, Ray's attitude changes, and Camilla finds herself abandoned with a dog and a cat... but without a vehicle, luggage, wallet, or fiancé.

When Ray's brand-new car is found an hour away with the keys still in it, and his phone is found on the street, Camilla bottles up her anger and begins a desperate search along the spectacular Cabot Trail with the help of a collection of eccentric relatives and locals. People are dying, and Camilla is determined that Ray is not going to be one of them.

~

I've been brave in the past few years and have begun jumping midstream into mystery series with generally favorable results, but after reading You Light Up My Death, I would not suggest doing that with this one. With no former knowledge of Camilla MacPhee and her fiancé Ray Deveau, I found myself thoroughly disgusted with Ray's behavior, and not too fond of Camilla either. But I soldiered on because I trust Mary Jane Maffini, and once I was able to overcome my lack of series familiarity, Maffini delivered as I knew she would.

Maffini made me want to travel the Cabot Trail (under better weather conditions), and the helpfulness of the area's residents reminded me of the area where I grew up. Camilla's wacky relatives, Donald Donnie and Auntie Annie chief among them, made me laugh, and the mysteries surrounding Camilla's mother and Ray's disappearance kept my little grey cells busy. If only the book's title didn't constantly remind me of an earworm from decades past! 

Did my rocky beginning with Camilla MacPhee sound a death knell to the entire series? No. Mary Jane Maffini saved the day, as I knew she would, and I have a feeling that Camilla and I will meet again.

You Light Up My Death by Mary Jane Maffini
ISBN: 9781990896019
Ottawa Press & Publishing © 2022
Paperback, 272 pages
 
Amateur Sleuth, #7 Camilla MacPhee mystery
Rating: B+
Source: the author, in exchange for an honest review.
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Tuesday, December 27, 2022

January 2023 New Mystery Releases!

 
Although I felt that vast sections of 2022 crept by at a snail's pace, I'm still astonished that 2023 is staring me right in the face. How does that happen? Something tells me that I'll never figure it out.

The monster storms that are plaguing the rest of the country have left the Phoenix area alone. We're not having our usual balmy late fall/early winter weather; however, with temperatures seeming determined to stay in the 50s and 60s. I still get perverse enjoyment from seeing fellow desert dwellers bundled up as if they're venturing out into the Arctic tundra.
 
While I chuckle at all the scarves, knit hats, gloves, and heavy winter coats, I still keep an eye peeled for new mysteries to read-- but of course you knew that already!
 
The following are my picks of the best new crime fiction being released in January. I've grouped them according to their release dates, and the covers and synopses are courtesy of the Amazon showroom. Let's see if any of my choices tickle your fancy, too.
 
 
=== January 3 ===
 
 
Title: Fatal Fascinator
Series: #7 in the Hat Shop cozy series set in England.
288 pages
 
Synopsis: "It’s wedding season and Viv’s longtime frenemy Piper May is getting married. She convinces Viv and Scarlett to take on the job of designing the headpieces for her “wedding of the year.” The well-to-do bride and her entourage are delighted to have Viv and Scarlett as their famous hat designer guests, but the hat-making pair are really just looking forward to a getaway at a castle in Sussex. It is to be a weekend full of events, culminating in the big ceremony.  
 
Unfortunately, on the first night of the festivities, the groom is found murdered, and the joyous holiday becomes the stuff of nightmares as no one is allowed to leave the castle until the investigation is complete. Although Scarlett assures Harrison Wentworth, her fiancé, that she and Viv will stay out of harm’s way, circumstances force them to step in when a secret affair between the deceased groom and a bridesmaid comes to light, and the murderer takes another life. Scarlett and Viv vow to unveil the killer’s identity before the wedding adds another to its death toll." 
 
 
Title: Breaking the Circle
Author: M.J. Trow
Series: #2 in the Margaret Murray historical series set in 1900s England.
224 pages
 
Synopsis: "Dr Margaret Murray, accomplished archaeologist, and occasional sleuth, calls upon her police connections to investigate who may want to see the Edwardian mediums of London dead. Known for her sharp mind and quick wit, Margaret decides to infiltrate one of the spiritualists circles to narrow down the list of suspects. But soon the killer has Margaret in their sights! Can she capture the culprit and avoid passing beyond the veil?" 
 
 
 
Title: Blaze Me a Sun
Author: Christoffer Carlsson
Standalone police procedural set in Sweden.
448 pages
 
Synopsis: "In February 1986, the Halland police receive a call from a man who claims to have attacked his first victim. I’m going to do it again, he says before the line cuts off. By the time police officer Sven Jörgensson reaches the crime scene, the woman is taking her last breath. For Sven, this will prove a decisive moment. On the same night, Sweden plunges into a state of shock after the murder of the prime minister. Could there possibly be a connection?

As Sven becomes obsessed with the case, two more fall victim. For years, Sven remains haunted by the murders he cannot solve, fearing the killer will strike again. Having failed to catch him, Sven retires from the police, passing his obsession to his son, who has joined the force to be closer to his father.

Decades later, the case unexpectedly resurfaces when a novelist returns home to Halland amid a failed marriage and a sputtering career. The writer befriends the retired police officer, who helps the novelist—our narrator—unspool the many strands of this engrossing tale about a community confronting its shames and legacies.

A #1 bestseller in Sweden, Blaze Me a Sun marks the American debut of the youngest winner of the Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year award, the top prize for Swedish crime writers whose past winners include Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell." 


=== January 10 ===
 
 
Title: The Game Is a Footnote
Author: Vicki Delany
Series: #8 in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop cozy series set on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
320 pages
 
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
 
Synopsis: "Scarlet House, now a historical re-enactment museum, is the oldest building in West London, Massachusetts. When things start moving around on their own, board members suggest that Gemma Doyle, owner of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, might be able to get to the bottom of it.  Gemma doesn’t believe in ghosts, but she agrees to ‘eliminate the impossible’. But when Gemma and Jayne stumble across a dead body on the property, they’re forced to consider an all too physical threat.  
 
Gemma and Jayne suspect foul play as they start to uncover more secrets about the museum. With the museum being a revolving door for potential killers, they have plenty of options for who might be the actual culprit.
 
Despite Gemma's determination not to get further involved, it would appear that once again, and much to the displeasure of Detective Ryan Ashburton, the game is afoot.
 
Will Gemma and Jayne be able to solve the mystery behind the haunted museum, or will they be the next to haunt it?" 


Title: Better the Blood
Author: Michael Bennett
Police Procedural set in New Zealand.
336 pages

Synopsis: "An absorbing, clever debut thriller that speaks to the longstanding injustices faced by New Zealand’s indigenous peoples, by an acclaimed Māori screenwriter and director.

A tenacious Māori detective, Hana Westerman juggles single motherhood, endemic prejudice, and the pressures of her career in Auckland CIB. Led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man ritualistically hanging in a secret room and a puzzling inward-curving inscription. Delving into the investigation after a second, apparently unrelated, death, she uncovers a chilling connection to an historic crime: 160 years before, during the brutal and bloody British colonization of New Zealand, a troop of colonial soldiers unjustly executed a Māori Chief.

Hana realizes that the murders are utu—the Māori tradition of rebalancing for the crime committed eight generations ago. There were six soldiers in the British troop, and since descendants of two of the soldiers have been killed, four more potential murders remain. Hana is thus hunting New Zealand’s first serial killer.

The pursuit soon becomes frighteningly personal, recalling the painful event, two decades before, when Hana, then a new cop, was part of a police team sent to end by force a land rights occupation by indigenous peoples on the same ancestral mountain where the Chief was killed, calling once more into question her loyalty to her roots. Worse still, a genealogical link to the British soldiers brings the case terrifyingly close to Hana’s own family. Twisty and thought-provoking, Better the Blood is the debut of a remarkable new talent in crime fiction."
 
 
Title: Reef Road
Author: Deborah Goodrich Royce
Standalone thriller set in Florida.
320 pages
 
Synopsis: "A young woman’s life seems perfect until her family goes missing. A writer lives alone with her dog and collects arcane murder statistics. What each of them stands to lose as they sneak around the do-not-enter tape blocking Reef Road beach is exposed by the steady tightening of the cincture encircling them.

In a nod to the true crime that inspired it, Deborah Goodrich Royce’s Reef Road probes unhealed generational scars in a wrenching and original work of fiction. It is both stunning and sexy and, like a bystander surprised by a curtain left open, you won’t be able to look away." 



=== January 17 ===
 
 
Title: The Motion Picture Teller
Standalone mystery set in Thailand.
240 pages
 
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
 
Synopsis: "Thailand, 1996: Supot, a postman with the Royal Thai Mail service, hates his job. The only bright spot in his life is watching classic movies with his best friend, Ali, the owner of a video store. These cinephiles adore the charisma of the old Western stars, particularly the actresses, and bemoan the state of modern Thai cinema—until a mysterious cassette, entitled Bangkok 2010, arrives at Ali’s store.

Bangkok 2010 is a dystopian film set in a near-future Thailand—and Supot and Ali, immediately obsessed, agree it’s the most brilliant Thai movie they’ve ever seen. But nobody else has ever heard of the movie, the director, the actors, or any of the crew. Who would make a movie like this and not release it, and why?

Feeling a powerful calling to solve the mystery of Bangkok 2010, Supot journeys deep into the Thai countryside and discovers that powerful people are dead set on keeping the film buried." 


=== January 24 ===
 
 
Title: Murder at a Scottish Wedding
Author: Traci Hall
Series: #4 in the Scottish Shire cozy series set on the coast of northern Scotland.
304 pages
 
Synopsis: "As her friend’s matron of honor, Paislee Shaw vows to solve the mystery of a missing brooch and a dying wedding guest . . . Paislee’s specialty sweater shop and yarn business Cashmere Crush, in the charming Scottish village of Nairn, is closed today for a special occasion. Her bonnie bestie Lydia is moments away from walking down the aisle of the church at Old Nairn Kirk to wed Corbin Smythe. Gramps and Paislee’s eleven-year-old son Brody are seated in the pews with the other guests—the only family not in attendance is their black Scottish terrier Wallace. As matron of honor, Paislee is at her friend’s side when Lydia lets out a frantic cry. The Luckenbooth brooch her betrothed gave her is missing. A traditional Scottish love token, the gold heirloom has been in his family for generations and not wearing it could bring bad luck—according to the superstitious Smythes. But the real misfortune falls on a distraught cousin who suddenly disrupts the ceremony and dies with the brooch in her hand. The Smythes insist it’s the curse. But Paislee must broach the subject of…murder. And was the intended victim the guest—or the bride? Only Paislee can determine who to pin the murder on . . ." 
 
 
Title: The Twyford Code
Standalone mystery set in England.
333 pages
 
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
 
Synopsis: "Forty years ago, Steven “Smithy” Smith found a copy of a famous children’s book by disgraced author Edith Twyford, its margins full of strange markings and annotations. When he showed it to his remedial English teacher Miss Iles, she believed that it was part of a secret code that ran through all of Twyford’s novels. And when she disappeared on a class field trip, Smithy became convinced that she had been right.

Now, out of prison after a long stretch, Smithy decides to investigate the mystery that has haunted him for decades. In a series of voice recordings on an old iPhone from his estranged son, Smithy alternates between visiting the people of his childhood and looking back on the events that later landed him in prison.

But it soon becomes clear that Edith Twyford wasn’t just a writer of forgotten children’s stories. The Twyford Code holds a great secret, and Smithy may just have the key.

“A modern Agatha Christie” (The Sunday Times, London), Janice Hallett has constructed a fiendishly clever, maddeningly original crime novel for lovers of word games, puzzles, and stories of redemption." 
 
 
Title: A Winter Grave
Author: Peter May
Standalone thriller set in Scotland in the year 2051.
368 pages
 
Synopsis: "It is the year 2051. Warnings of climate catastrophe have been ignored, and vast areas of the planet are under water, or uninhabitably hot. A quarter of the world's population has been displaced by hunger and flooding, and immigration wars are breaking out around the globe as refugees pour into neighboring countries.

By contrast, melting ice sheets have brought the Gulf Stream to a halt and northern latitudes, including Scotland, are being hit by snow and ice storms. It is against this backdrop that Addie, a young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station, discovers the body of a man entombed in ice.

The dead man is investigative reporter, George Younger, missing for three months after vanishing during what he claimed was a hill-walking holiday. But Younger was no hill walker, and his discovery on a mountain-top near the Highland village of Kinlochleven, is inexplicable.

Cameron Brodie, a veteran Glasgow detective, volunteers to be flown north to investigate Younger's death, but he has more than a murder enquiry on his agenda. He has just been given a devastating medical prognosis by his doctor and knows the time has come to face his estranged daughter who has made her home in the remote Highland village.

Arriving during an ice storm, Brodie and pathologist Dr. Sita Roy, find themselves the sole guests at the inappropriately named International Hotel, where Younger's body has been kept refrigerated in a cake cabinet. But evidence uncovered during his autopsy places the lives of both Brodie and Roy in extreme jeopardy.

As another storm closes off communications and the possibility of escape, Brodie must face up not only to the ghosts of his past, but to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that George Younger's investigations had threatened to expose."
 
 
=== January 31 ===
 
 
Title: The Drift
Author: C.J. Tudor
Standalone thriller set in high in the mountains in the winter.
352 pages
 
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
 
Synopsis: "Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. Evacuated from a secluded boarding school during a snowstorm, her coach careered off the road, trapping her with a handful of survivors. They’ll need to work together to escape—with their sanity and secrets intact.

Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She’s in a cable car stranded high above snowy mountains, with five strangers and no memory of how they got on board. They are heading to a place known only as “The Retreat,” but as the temperature drops and tensions mount, Meg realizes they may not all make it there alive.

Carter is gazing out the window of an isolated ski chalet that he and his companions call home. As their generator begins to waver in the storm, something hiding in the chalet’s depths threatens to escape, and their fragile bonds will be tested when the power finally fails—for good.

The imminent dangers faced by Hannah, Meg, and Carter are each one part of the puzzle. Lurking in their shadows is an even greater danger—one with the power to consume all of humanity."
 
 
Title: Exiles
Author: Jane Harper
Series: #3 in the Aaron Falk police procedural series set in Australia.
368 pages
 
*Upcoming review on Kittling: Books.
 
Synopsis: "Federal Investigator Aaron Falk is on his way to a small town deep in Southern Australian wine country for the christening of an old friend's baby. But mystery follows him, even on vacation.

This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Kim Gillespie's disappearance. One year ago, at a busy town festival on a warm spring night, Kim safely tucked her sleeping baby into her stroller, then vanished into the crowd. No one has seen her since. When Kim's older daughter makes a plea for anyone with information about her missing mom to come forward, Falk and his old buddy Raco can't leave the case alone.

As Falk soaks up life in the lush valley, he is welcomed into the tight-knit circle of Kim’s friends and loved ones. But the group may be more fractured than it seems. Between Falk’s closest friend, the missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge. What would make a mother abandon her child? What happened to Kim Gillespie?" 


From light to dark, from new to old, from right here in the U.S. of A. to much farther afield, there seems to be something for everyone in January, doesn't there?
I was thrilled to see a new book by one of my favorite authors, Colin Cotterill; I've been waiting for one way too long. The premise of The Twyford Code has fascinated me since the first time I read it, and it's always great to see a new book from Australian writer Jane Harper.

Were any of these books already on your Need-to-Read lists? Did I persuade you to add any? Which ones? Inquiring minds would love to know!
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Monday, December 26, 2022

The Lost Man of Bombay by Vaseem Khan

 
First Lines: March, 1950-- Tsangchokla Pass, Himalayan foothills. Have you lost your mind?
 
When the body of a white man is discovered frozen in a cave in the Himalayan foothills, he is christened the Ice Man by the media, and public interest runs high.
 
Inspector Persis Wadia investigates, trying to find out who the Ice Man is and why he was murdered. She soon pieces together clues left behind by the dead man that leads her straight into the heart of a conspiracy-- and more deaths.
 
~
 
The Lost Man of Bombay is the latest entry in one of my favorite historical series. Khan does an excellent job of portraying a post-World War II, post-Partition India remaking itself in its new era of independence. Persis Wadia has her first ride on an airplane as she searches for answers to the Ice Man's identity, but that's not all she has to contend with.

Her father has a new woman in his life, and Persis does not want to deal with it. The entire situation brings up too many memories... and too many questions about the future. Something else she does not want to deal with is Seema Desai, a young girl from the slums of Bombay whom she's supposed to mentor. And then there's Archie Blackfinch, the white forensics expert with whom she's fallen in love. Although I'd just as soon skip this romance, it does show that the prejudices of colonial India are still a significant factor in life there.

The mystery in The Lost Man of Bombay is excellent, and the book was powering its way to my Best Reads of 2022 list when everything came to a screeching halt. Persis had a "TSTL" (Too Stupid to Live) moment that disgusted me. She even knew she was being stupid and did it anyway. Yes, it showed her determination to succeed at all costs. Yes, it showed her bravery. Yes, it showed her tactlessness (once again). But oh how I hate those moments! Hopefully, she's learned from her experience and won't be so foolhardy in the future.

Despite her momentary lapse in judgment, The Lost Man of Bombay is an excellent read that immerses readers in a fascinating period of India's history in which the extraordinary Persis Wadia is carving a name for herself. I look forward to the next installment.

The Lost Man of Bombay by  Vaseem Khan
eISBN: 9781529341133
Hodder & Stoughton © 2022
eBook, 378 pages
 
Historical Mystery, #3 Persis Wadia mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon. 
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Sunday, December 25, 2022

Wilbur the Verdin

For several years after I bought and moved into Casa Kittling, I'd spy this tiny little bird flitting from palo verde to sumac to fairy duster. I could never get a good look at it. Extremely shy, it would usually sit in the depths of a tree or bush and chit away at me like I'd done it some unimaginably horrible slight.

Finally, I learned that these little birds were verdins, one of the most characteristic birds of the desert, and they have one notable distinction: they are not closely related to any other bird in the western hemisphere.

It took me years before I could take an acceptable photograph of one, but I'm not saying that the ones I'm sharing today are all that acceptable, they just show the behavior of one little verdin that I named Wilbur.

Until recently, we used to have an evaporative cooler (commonly referred to as a swamp cooler here) that used open windows and water to keep the house cool. It did a wonderful job until monsoon season, which is when the humidity goes up here in the desert. Once it was monsoon season, it was time to turn on the air conditioning. One of the reasons why I loved having a swamp cooler is because you could have the windows open. I hate being shut up in the house all the time.

Well... one young verdin-- Wilbur-- liked the swamp cooler, too, and he got in the habit of coming to talk to me every day as I sat here in the office at the computer.

Wilbur looking to see if I was sitting at my desk.

You in there, Cathy?

Wilbur would cling to the screen, enjoying the cool breeze and chirping happily away at me. (This photo reminded me to clean the screen!)

Some of the other verdins seemed to think Wilbur was a bit Looney Tunes.

 
Since then, the verdins' shyness around me seemed to evaporate, due largely in part to Wilbur, I would assume. I've witnessed more than one adult taking its children around the back garden to show them how to get nectar out of the hummingbird feeders and where the best places are to get nice, juicy bugs. I sometimes wish we could turn back the clock and use the swamp cooler again. (Neither Denis nor I want him climbing up on the roof to do maintenance!) Something tells me that, if we did, I'd have a tiny little friend coming for a daily chat with me at the window once more.
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Thursday, December 22, 2022

An Enjoying the Season Weekly Link Round-Up

 

Nothing much is going on around here. Denis and I are keeping a low profile and just enjoying the season, so I thought I'd send you my best wishes for this holiday season and for a bright and wonderful New Year.

Thank you all for spending time with me and sharing your love of books. Long may we continue to do so.
 

Casa Kittling in years gone by.

 
Enjoy the links!



►Books & Other Interesting Tidbits◄
 
►BookTok◄
 
►Book Banning & Censorship◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Indiana Jones◄
 
►Channeling My Inner Elly May Clampett◄
 
►The Wanderer◄
 
►Fascinating Folk◄
 
►I ♥ Lists◄

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.

Remember to celebrate the holidays by curling up with a good book!
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Wednesday, December 21, 2022

The Maid by Nita Prose

 
First Line: I am your maid.
 
Since her beloved grandmother's death, hotel maid Molly Gray has had no one to help her interpret the facial expressions and intentions of others, no one to help her with social skills. Her gran used to decipher all of that for her and codify it into simple rules for Molly to live by.

Molly has thrown herself into her work. With her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette as well as her unique worldview, she's perfect for the job of a hotel maid. She delights in her crisp uniform, her fully stocked housekeeping cart, and-- especially-- in returning the guest rooms of the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly's world is turned upside down when she enters the suite of wealthy Charles Black to discover the rooms in a mess and Black himself dead in bed. Molly's unusual behavior has the police targeting her as their prime suspect, and things rapidly turn from bad to worse. Fortunately, Molly has friends she never knew she had. Will they be able to help her unmask the real killer?

~

The Maid is a wonderful character study that had me cheering on twenty-five-year-old hotel maid Molly Gray almost from the very first page. Daughter of a "fly by night" father and a drug addict mother, Molly was raised by her loving grandmother, herself a maid in a wealthy household. Upset whenever her chosen routine is ignored by others, Molly clings to the simple rules her grandmother gave her to navigate through a world she feels like an outsider in-- no matter how much she wants to belong.

Molly's special blend of observation and naivete easily gets her into trouble, and several times I found myself mentally trying to steer her away from the people she's placing her trust in as well as trying to steer her toward the people she should trust. Unfortunately, my mental powers aren't very good and she seldom paid attention to me-- which means that The Maid is a much better book as a result.

One of the best things about this book is the fact that, as I read, I became uncertain about Molly. Is she telling me everything? Can I trust her? My indecision made me read more carefully. Even though I only saw all the other characters through Molly's eyes, each one was vivid in my mind's eye, a testament to the author's skill. And, although this is a mystery, it's as a character study that The Maid shines brightly. I am so glad I met Molly and got to see the world through her eyes.

The Maid by Nita Prose
eISBN: 9780593356166
Ballantine Books © 2022
eBook, 320 pages
 
Standalone, Amateur Sleuth
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2022

While Miz Kittling Knits: Karen Pirie

 

Now that I want to knit afghans to donate to the Arizona Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, I seem to have a waiting list filled with other deserving recipients. Isn't that always the way? I'm knitting one that was requested by Denis, there are three that I want to make for the veterans, one for the woman who comes to the house to cut our hair, and one for her mother who's in a nursing home. Tucker also told me how much the residents of the nursing home loved handmade things, that they would sit in their wheelchairs and continuously stroke the afghans lying across their laps. Yikes! I could get more knitting done if I cut back on my reading, but you know that's not going to happen. Hmm...

I'd better stop yapping and show you the latest afghan to come off my busy needles so I can get back to stitching. 


This newest afghan is from my go-to book, Leisure Arts' Big Book of Quick Knit Afghans. The pattern is called "Congenial", and it calls for US size 17 circular needles and two strands of yarn. From experience, I've learned that these afghans knitted with large needles and using double strands of yarn can pull out of shape and create what Denis refers to as "toe holes" where your little piggies can stick out and get cold. As a result, I decided to monkey around with this pattern a bit. Using the needles the pattern called for, I used three strands of yarn instead of two: one strand of Red Heart's 100% acrylic in "Bright Yellow", and two strands of Cascade Yarn's 100% acrylic Cartwheel in a colorway called "Sioux Falls". (Interesting name, eh?)

I love how it turned out. The colors blend so well, and they remind me of sunflowers. Truth be told, although I always make afghans longer than what the pattern calls for, I went to town on this one. I guess I was enjoying myself too much! Let me show you what I mean.


I didn't realize that I'd actually made a blanket until Denis put it on the bed in the guest room to show me. Speaking of Denis, he's already had several nice, warm sleeps under this afghan, so it's been tested out before being laundered and given to its intended recipient. (Something tells me Denis is going to insist on "test snoozing" all future afghans.)

What was one of the programs I watched while making this beauty? 


Based on Val McDermid's series (which I really enjoy and am woefully behind on), here's the synopsis to the first season of Karen Pirie:

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