Author Archives: Eleanor Kuhns

About Eleanor Kuhns

Librarian and Writer Published A Simple Murder, May 2012

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Since I’ve begun working on the next in my Bronze Age Crete Mystery series (beginning with In the Shadow of the Bull)

I’ve been doing research. The first book is Arcadian Days, a retelling of several of the Greek myths.

I’ve read in the Edith Hamilton collection of myths – in eighth grade. The retelling by Spurling lays out those myths he chooses in a much clearer way. My goodness, the Greeks were a bloodthirsty lot. I don’t know how they slept at night. The story of Medea is the stuff of nightmares.

Jason, of Jason and the Argonauts, meets Medea when he goes for the Golden Fleece. She agrees to help him if he will marry her and he agrees. Big mistake! As they are fleeing with the fleece, she arrives on board with a bundle, which turns out to be her step-brother. As her father pursues them, she slits the toddler’s throat and dismembers him, throwing limbs in the water so her father will stop and pick them up.

It doesn’t get any more cheerful from here. Medea, it is apparent, is a psychopath.

Other myths are no so violent but all of the families, no matter how favored by the Gods they seem, have terrible lives.Greek Myths

Sacred Snakes

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The Bronze Age Crete civilization worshipped snakes.

Snakes are pictured on seals and in frescoes, and statuary of either priestess or goddesses, twine snakes around their waists and hold them aloft in what is theorized are religious ceremonies. (There were no venomous snakes in Crete.)

In my book, In the Shadow of the Bull, I suggest that one of the headdresses worn by a Priestess might have contained live snakes, thereby providing the germ to the Medusa myth. The reverence for these serpents is also interesting considering the Judeo-Christian version of the Snake in the Garden of Eden and humanity’s fall. But I digress.

Marija Gimbutas in The Living Goddesses discusses the frequency of snake goddesses in various cultures: the Baltic, for example and the Celtic, as a symbol of rebirth and/or fertility. Gimbutas writes that the Minoan divine snake symbolizes regeneration. (The shedding of the snakeskin).

In any event, the figurines certainly lend credence to the importance of snakes in the early Bronze Age rituals.

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This week I read Bombay Monsoon by James W. Siskin.

I have read several of his Ellie Stone mysteries and enjoyed them greatly. I found this book puzzling. I kept expecting a murder but the mysterious death happens well into the novel. I finally decided this stand-a-lone is not a mystery per se.

Danny Jacobs is a journalist in India in 1975. He meets his enigmatic neighbor Willie Smets and promptly falls for Sushmita, Willie’s lover. His feelings are reciprocated.

Danny begins working on a story involving a bomber but is stopped cold by the Emergency, a coup by Indira Gandhi and the arrival of a censor in the newsroom who cuts all the stories to ribbons before publication. Since I knew very little about this time period, particularly in India, the setting is fascinating.

Not a mystery but really good historical fiction.

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Another busy week now that tax season has begun. I only managed to read one book, Breaking the Circle by M.J. Trow.

Margaret Murray is an archaeologist who frequently consults with the Metropolitan Police on cases in Victorian England. In this outing, several mediums are found murdered with some unusual clue left behind; for example, a feather in the mouth or a tarot card crushed in one hand. Murray joins a local spiritualist group, with which the group had been affiliated, to dig up information. Few of the members are what they claim to be and someone does not like Murray poking around. One of the group’s members, who bears a close likeness to the archaeologist is found battered in the street.

Fortunately, Margaret Murray has a plan.

This is light but enjoyable. Just one note. This is the third mystery involving spiritualism I’ve read in a month. I guess it’s a thing?Breaking the Circle

Willies

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What are willies?

In Ancient Greece, Willies, sometimes described as nymphs or magical maidens, were the spirits of girls who died before their time (before marriage and motherhood) and returned as spirit beings, or ghosts, to our world.

As described in some of the folklore, if they died disappointed or abused and were not put to rest with the proper rituals, they would return and haunt their families, usually for nine generations. (The number nine appears to be sacred to the Minoans.)

Arge, Martis’s sister, would be considered a willie. Martis relies on her to help solve the mystery of Arge’s death. Would we consider Arte a ghost? Not exactly. She is a spirit but there is a mystical component to her in accordance with Minoan beliefs.

Is this where the phrase Gave me the willies came from. I don’t know.willies

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I read one book this week; Courting Dragons by Jeri Westerson.

I was a huge fan of Jeri’s Crispin Guest mysteries so I was curious about this new series. In this one, historical personages are more than cameos. Henry VIII, his wife, Anne Boleyn, Cromwell and quite a few others prance through these pages. The historical backdrop is Henry’s effort to divorce Catherine so he can marry Anne Boleyn.

Will Somers, the King’s jester, is a supporter of Catherine.

The first murder is that of a Spanish courtier who is charged with protecting Catherine.

But another murder occurs, by crossbow, and the bolt comes perilously close to Will Somers love. Already investigating, Will now has a personal reason to find the murderer.

An interesting mystery set in a fascinating time period.

The Bull

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The date for the release of In the Shadow of the Bull is now July 4 for the UK. No word on the release date in the US yet.

In an attempt to reveal what we know of this ancient culture, I thought I would begin with the bull. Bulls were sacred. I’ve read varying explanations. Is it because the Bull represented the male principle, even in a society with a Supreme Goddess? Is it because of the connection with Poseidon. also a God in this culture. (I have mentioned previously how much the Classical Greeks borrowed from the Minoans).

Whatever the reason, the mosaics, the statuary, the rites practiced were all centered around the Bull.

One of the practices was bull dancing or bull leaping. This is a feature of the Theseus myth. Since it was written by the occupying Greeks, it has a negative spin. In the myth, Minos, the ruler of Knossos, requires tribute from the mainland: 7 young women and 7 young men, to face the fearsome Minotaur in the labyrinth. (The creation of the Minotaur is another myth, a rather creepy one.) Theseus volunteers to be one of the tributes. Minos’ daughter Ariadne gives Theseus a ball of string and he is able to kill the Minotaur and lead the other tributes to safety.

Frescoes from Knossos show young men and women (probably teenagers) leaping over a charging bull. The bull dancer grasped the horns and flipped over the bull’s back. Another member of the team caught and steadied him as he landed. There seems to be no doubt that these performances occurred.

Remnants of mazes pictured in mosaics have also been found. But labyrinth, a synonym for a maze, is actually from the word labyrs, a sacred two headed axe used in religious rituals.

A stylized version of the bull’s horns, called the Horns of Consecration, were used everywhere. Examples have survived in Knossos.

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This week I read two books that were really average. The first was the better of the two; Tendrils of the Past by Anthea Fraser.

I have read quite a few by Fraser and enjoyed them. This one, in my opinion, was not up to par.

The basic story is this: Charles and Sarah have a happy marriage. They socialized regularly with another couple: Lily and Luke. Luke becomes obsessed with Sarah but after a short affair, she attempts to break it off.

Fifteen years later, the deaths of Sarah and Charles are still a mystery. But their two daughters begin remembering the night in question. The stories of two other couples cycle in and out as well as Sarah’s mother’s. The adulteries and near adulteries are difficult to keep track of. The mystery is not much of a mystery.

The second book I read was more of a novella. I read it because it is set in the twenties.

It reads like it too with mysteries royalty, a secret treasure, and a key to the treasure that Pip, the protagonist, figures out. This one was very Nancy Dervish.

In the Shadow of the Bull Cover

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So excited to show the cover for the first book of the new series of mysteries .

It really conveys the ancient era I think. And the bull, which was sacred to this culture, is as important as the people.

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With the preparations for the release of the fist book in the new series (more about that in a few days), I have not been able to read as much as usual. However, I did finish two books, both about Maine.

The first is Death in Acadia, a nonfiction book about the park.

These are true stories about usually fatal misadventures in the park. The first section is devoted to rogue waves coming off the ocean and whisking away people seated on nearby rocks. Some are dashed against the rocks but survive; some succumb to hypothermia. A few entries deal with Thunderhole, an iconic tourist stop on Ocean Drive. I now understand why the steps leading down to the inlet are frequently closed off.

I also read Almost Midnight by Paul Doiron, another in the Mike Bowditch series.

Mike is called away from his vacation by an old friend, Billy Cronk. Billy is in prison and is suspicious about one of the guards. Mike looks into her but he suspects Billy is seeing a conspiracy when there isn’t one. Now what to do with the rest of his vacation? In quick succession, Bowditch is given an ultimatum by his girlfriend, Dani Tate, and is called to a Veterinary Clinic because his wolf dog Shadow has been shot by a crossbow. Mike, of course, decides to investigate on his own time and runs afoul of some of the scary characters in Northern Maine.

Darker than some of his others but captivating.