Author Archives: Eleanor Kuhns

About Eleanor Kuhns

Librarian and Writer Published A Simple Murder, May 2012

Shepherd’s Best Books of . . .

Posted on by

I recently found a new online source for finding good books to read. I am always looking for new authors and titles.) The Best Books of website has authors listing favorite books with a topic or a theme that interests them. (When I first looked at this page, I looked at the fantasy page and found The Pyramids of London, which I really loved.)

Another topic that interested me was the lists of books on social topics – social issues – because the topic of my post was mysteries with a dash of social commentary.

The above are some of my favorite books. Several I reread regularly.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

The two books I read this past week were Serpent in Heaven, by Charlaine Harris, and The Precipice by Paul Doiron,

Serpent in Heaven is the fourth of the Ginnie Rose series.

This entry focuses on Felicia, half-sister to Lizbeth Rose. Felicia, who is a descendent of Gregor Rasputin, is one of those whose blood keeps the tsar alive. She is considered a charity case at the Rasputin school for magic users and is thought to have no magical ability. Then she is abducted and gradually, as the attempts to capture her increase, she is forced to rely on her own abilities to save herself as well as unravel the mystery of the kidnapping attempts.

The world created by Harris is amazing. I found Felicia a somewhat less interesting character than Lizbeth Rose but I expect she will grow. The ending of this fourth book felt unfinished so I suspect there will be other entries in this series.

The second book I read was The Precipice by Paul Doiron.

In this entry to the long running series, Mike Bowditch and his girlfriend Stacey search for missing hikers on the 100 mile trail in Maine. Needless to say, the search does not end well.

Bowditch is a fully fleshed out character but it is the setting that really shines. This is exactly how hiking in a Maine forest feels: the sharp climbs up steep hills, the roots that snake across a trail with the bark worn shiny from hiking boots, and always the climbing over the granite that underpins this state.

Happy Holidays

Posted on by

We take so many Christmas customs for granted that we may assume that they have always been enjoyed. Not so. A visit to Colonial Williamsburg, for example, reveals a village decorated with candles and evergreen boughs. Where are the trees splendid with glittering ornaments? Where are the Christmas cards? Where are the representations of Santa Claus?

From its early days, Christians celebrated the Nativity. The giving of presents, the decoration of the houses with evergreens, the suspension of enmity and the proclamation of peace were all features of the festival right from the beginning. (That is, with some interruptions. The Puritans thought the celebrations took away from the worship of God and banned all jollity.) Some of the customs common during this period aren’t so familiar to us now. The Lord of Misrule? What does that even mean? ( The Lord of Misrule was usually a servant or a slave who presided over the Christmas revels. He had the power to make anyone do anything during the season. )The switching of masters and servants ? That is something foreign to us now.

It is true some of our traditions have roots stretching back to antiquity. Caroling, for example, has been a feature of the season since the middle ages. Wreaths also have a long history. The Etruscans used wreaths, a tradition that continued into Ancient Greece and Rome. The different plants symbolized different virtues. Oak leaves meant wisdom. Laurel leaves were used to crown winners. Our evergreen wreaths are constructed of evergreens to represent everlasting life. The Advent wreath, with its white candles, was first used by Lutherans in Germany in the 16th century.

What about the hanging of stockings?

Well, this tradition has a long history. According to some historians, this is a custom that stretches all the way back to Odin. Children put out their boots filled with food for Odin’s horse to eat and Odin would reward them with gifts or candy. Like so many pagan customs, the practice was adopted and Christianized. Hanging stockings became connected with Saint Nicholas.

So, let’s talk about Old Saint Nick, known in the US as Santa Claus.

The modern Santa Claus grew out of Saint Nicholas, a fourth century bishop, as well as the German Christkind and the Dutch Sinterklaus. Christmas had been personified -made into a person – as early as the fifteenth century but the modern Santa Claus in his red suit is a nineteenth century creation that has been added onto over the years. Now even several reindeer have names, courtesy of the poem “The Night Before Christmas” (originally titled “A visit from Saint Nicholas) by Clement Clarke Moore. The Santa Claus so beloved of today’s children was not invented until the nineteenth century.

Other nineteenth century inventions include the Tree, the lights on the tree and Christmas cards, The tree was a custom in Germany and arrived in England with Prince Albert. Although known in England before Queen Victoria married Prince Albert,  it did not achieve its popularity until the Queen adopted it. Like so many British customs, this one crossed the Atlantic and now who can imagine the holiday without a tree?

Our Christmas lights are descended from the candles used to decorate the tree in Christian homes in early modern Germany. And the first commercial Christmas cards were not created until 1843. Again, that custom began in England. Cards did not cross the Atlantic to the United States until 1874.

Nutcracker dolls were known as early as the seventeenth century but were not connected to Christmas until later.

So Will Rees and his family would not have been familiar with most of the customs we think of as essential to the celebration of the holiday. And more customs continue to be created. In my family, the holiday is not complete without a showing of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. The elves (Santa’s elves that is) make regular visits to the kids and leave little gifts.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

This past week, I read only one book: Overboard by Sara Paretsky.

V.I. Warshawsky in trouble again.

On a morning run with her dogs, Vic discovers a young girl sheltering in a space between the rocks on the shore. She is very thin and pale and her legs are covered with burns. She says only one word: ngayi.

Suspecting that this is some immigrant girl who speaks only Hungarian, Vic has her sent to the hospital. But while a janitor, with some Hungarian, is questioning her another man enters the room as well. Shortly after, the girl runs away, and the janitor is found murdered.

Simultaneously, Vic is trying to look after a synagogue that has been the target of hateful graffiti and dealing with a troubled teen who ends up in her office.

The story is complex and Vic puts herself in danger several times, but it all comes together in a satisfying conclusion.

It is easy to understand why Paretsky has such a stellar reputation. Highly recommended.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

Since my husband and I spent a week in Paris, and with all the holidays, I have not had as much time to read.However, waiting in airports always provides some time.

I read the newest Owen Archer, The Fox in the Fold, by Candace Robb.

The death of a stone mason, found stripped naked in a field, brings Archer into contact with an old enemy bent on revenge and threatening Archer’s family. Totally immersive. Robb’s descriptions are woven into the story so adroitly that I felt as though I lived during that time. This novel also filled in some of the back story for Owen Archer at the same time it involved Archer’s children. Highly recommended.

Flavia Alba is the adopted daughter of Marcus Falco and Helen Justina. While her parents are away, Flavia is hired to investigate two strange deaths. Her investigation brings her into close contact with several acting troupes. The use of mythology (Greek to Roman) is used to good effect here, Flavia is an interesting detective, strong willed and determined. So far, this is my favorite of the series. Recommended.

I returned to one of my favorite series: Jane Yellowrock

A magic driven wind storm tears through Jane’s house, ripping off the door. One discovers Evan, Molly’s husband, outside and lobbying wind spells at her. Molly has disappeared. So, at the same time Jane is investigating a new vamp in town, she is trying to find Molly, who, they quickly discover, has been kidnapped. Jane finally comes to terms with her mission as vamp killer and she and Beast, given a chance to separate, choose to remain a hybrid. I don’t know how Hunter does it but this urban fantasy series remains fresh and captivating.

Finally, I read Pyramids of London. I picked it up as a ‘Best of” and it really is. The world building is simply amazing and besides the fantasy story, there is a murder mystery. Host is a new author for me but I will be reading others by her.

The murders of the Tenning children’s parents out them into the care of their aunt Adrienne. To investigate the murders, Adrienne sells herself to a vampire god-king. But she is inadvertently claimed by a totally different vampire and that totally changes the trajectory of her investigation..

This is a world where the Roman and Egyptian god-kings rule. Rome is beginning to take the lead because they own the energy source fulgite. Tiny Prytennia has to utilize every strategy at their command to survive. I did not see the end, or the final twist coming. Highly recommended.

Thanksgiving in 1801

Posted on by

Although we modern folk are used to celebrating Thanksgiving on the same day and eat a menu that is the ‘traditional’ fare, Rees and his family would not know of many of these customs Since George Washington proclaimed the first nationwide Thanksgiving in 1789, but it was not an official yearly celebration until 1863 when it was established by Abraham Lincoln.

Since there was no nationwide date chosen, the dates of observance varied from state to state. By the early eighteen hundreds, however, Thanksgiving was customarily celebrated on the fourth Thursday. FDR tried to change it to the third Thursday to lengthen the time for Christmas shopping but there was so much outcry, he reversed his decision.

The first holiday was a religious once and for over two hundred years the activities included church as well as a hearty meal.

While we are talking about the meal, no one is quite sure if the Pilgrims ate turkey. (Most likely, they ate venison and wild ducks for their meal.) Cranberry sauce had been invented in the sixteen sixties but potatoes were unknown. Pumpkin pie, on the other hand, has a long history. Pumpkins were made into pies in Tudor England. Most of the sources I’ve read theorize that the Pilgrims and early settlers did not eat pumpkin pie as they did not have the butter and flour for the crust. In fact, pumpkin pie did not become a traditional part of the holiday feast until the early nineteenth century.turkey

Currently Reading

Posted on by

I read two cozies, plus another Jane Yellowrock, this past week.

I continue with the Marcia Talley series – except I accidentally skipped number 3 and had to go back. I am glad I did.

In Occasion for Revenge, Hannah’s father begins dating a woman named Pauline, a woman who both Hannah and her sister Ruth despise. They are also dealing with their father’s alcoholism. (I know this sounds heavy but Talley has a light touch.) Then Pauline is found murdered and Hannah’s father disappears. Recommended.

Doggone Death is the second by S.A. Kazlo.

At a hooker’s workshop (that’s rug hooking), a difficult woman dies in Jamies’s arms. So, she is instantly suspected of the murder. Of course, she begins investigating. The murderer tries to warn our intrepid heroine off, including by poisoning her beloved dog Porkchop. Fun and frothy.

Finally, I read the next in the Jane Yellowrock series, Blood Trade.

Jane heads to Natchez on a job for the Master of that City. Naturaleza, vampires who treat humans like cattle and drain them, are killing humans. When Jane arrives, she finds these vampires are unlike any she’s ever seen before. Silver does not kill them and they scuttle like insects. What is going on?

Jane is also dealing with an appeal from an old friend who grew up in the children’s home with her. Misha’s daughter is desperately ill with leukemia. Misha risks meeting with vampires, some of them the Naturaleza, and now she has disappeared, leaving her daughter in Jane’s care.

Another page turner!Occasion

Currently Reading

Posted on by

I finished Death’s Rival by Faith Hunter.

I am in awe of Hunter’s imagination. Although this is several books in, the story still feels fresh. This is an enjoyable series and I expect to read it right to the end.

I also finished Death of a Snow Ghost by Linda Norlander. I met Linda at last Year’s Malice and was interested enough in the description of her first book to read it and the second.

Jamie Forest leaves New York City for a small cabin in the Minnesota woods. Along with each mystery, Jamie experiences the trials of a hand to mouth existence in a cabin that seems to need constant massive infusions of cash.

In Death of a Snow Ghost, Jamie has her first bitterly cold winter. On her way home, she sees what looks like a ghost coming out of the snowy fog. But it turns out not to be a ghost but a young woman in labor. Jamie delivers the baby in the back seat of her car and finds herself thrust into a serious mystery.

Carmen is terrified that someone will try and take her child and as Jamie becomes involved in the lives of these pregnant Hispanic women, she realizes that something is very wrong in the home, and the people, who supposedly work for an organization that claims to save them. A death of one of the young women, as well as one of the men, leads Jamie into a complicated mystery.

All the familiar characters are here: Clarence her friendly lawyer, Jim, her love interest, and more.

Although this is a cozy, it deals with some serious topics. Highly recommended.

Cosmetics

Posted on by

Lydia, of the Will and Lydia Rees mystery series, does not wear cosmetics of any kind. Although the Colonial periods both men and women boasting fine white wigs and patches, the Federalist culture viewed women who wore ‘paint’ as loose. Lydia, as a former Shaker, would be even more reluctant to wear any kind of cosmetic.

Throughout human history, however, people have worn various forms of paint for adornment. Even war paint is adornment of a sort, although used to strike terror in onlookers instead of awe at their beauty.

I thought of this as I researched my next series, a historical murder mystery set in Bronze Age Crete.

Cosmetics were commonly used in the Ancient World: Egypt, the Middle Ages, and Asia. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, we know from hieroglyphics, murals, frescos and more, they were used by both men and women and all classes. Kohl was the most commonly used cosmetic. Although kohl was the major cosmetic in Crete, in Egypt eye paint was also important. Especially green eye paint. That was made of malachite a copper carbonate pigment. Kohl was made from galena, a dark gray ore and crushed charcoal. Both the malachite and the galena were crushed and missed with gum or water to make a paste. Cosmetics were so important cosmetic palettes were found buried in gold with the deceased’s grave goods.

Kohl was used for lining the eyes, like modern eyeliner. It offered health benefits in the form of protection from disease, bugs and sun rays. Red ochre clay was ground up and mixed with water to create a paste to paint on the lips and cheeks.

This was a lot less dangerous than the white lead women used to paint their faces in Elizabethan times. Lead is toxic so these women were gradually poisoning themselves. (Medieval women also plucked the front hair on their heads also to give themselves a high forehead.

The ban on cosmetics for “virtuous” women continued through the eighteen hundreds but returned as a fashion imperative during the nineteen twenties when so many other changes happened. Women have worn cosmetics, especially lipstick, since. (Lipstick, BTW, used to be made with the blood of small cochineal beetles to give that scarlet shade.)

I wear eyebrow pencil to darken my pale eyebrows, mascara for my blond lashes and eyeshadow, continuing the history of eye paint since the Bronze Age.

Currently Reading

Posted on by

I seem to be on a short story path right now. I read Chesapeake Crimes: they had it coming, a collection of short stories by members of the Chesapeake chapter of Sisters in Crime. I bought it at the 2022 Malice Domestic.

I am not normally a huge fan of short stories but I enjoyed every one of these. Standouts include Volunteer of the Year by Barb Goffman and Safe Sex, Vampire Style by Helen Schwartz.

Have Stakes, Will Travel, by Faith Hunter, is a collection of longish stories.

The first entry, written by Beast, fills in some of the holes in Jane Yellowrock’s past. All of her usual characters are included. and we see even more of Molly, Jane’s witch friend, and her husband Evan.

The collection concludes with an excerpt from Death’s Rival. I did not know that – until suddenly the story ends. Now I was hooked and so I have begun reading Death’s Rival.

Jane is sent on another job by Leo Pellisier. A sickness is attacking the vampires. Leo asks Jane to collect a blood sample from one of the afflicted. Jane is attacked as soon as she gets off the plane and again as she leaves the wounded vampire’s lair. Beast’s quick thinking, and an emergency shift, save her life. Another winner.