Author Archives: Eleanor Kuhns

About Eleanor Kuhns

Librarian and Writer Published A Simple Murder, May 2012

Currently Reading – and the whiff of patriarchy?

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The first book I read this week was A Simple Murder by Linda Castillo.

I chose it because it shares a title with my first Will Rees mystery series.

I also enjoy Linda’s books and have read them all. This work consists of five interlinked short stories, all starring Kate Burkholder and the Amish.U admit I prefer her novels but these were fun and were a little lighter than her novels. (It seems funny to consider murder mysteries ‘lighter’,)

The second book is Queens of the Wild; Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe. This is nonfiction; a study of Mother Earth, the Fairy Queen, Mistress of the Night and the Old Woman of Gaelic Tradition. Hutton challenges most of the current scholarship in claiming these are NOT pre-Christian Goddesses.

I am reading it as part of my research for the new series I am working on. It will take place in Bronze Age Crete. Women figured prominently in this society and the mosaics, seals and other artifacts discovered seemed to indicate, not only a Goddess as the supreme being, but the importance of women.

Why do I find the Hutton work so disturbing?

When I began my research into what is popularly known as the Minoan Civilization, I began with a work by Nilsson, one of the first archaeologists to dig in Knossos. He was convinced that the many depictions of women in the mosaics, including a very famous one showing them participating in bull leaping, had to be showing Goddesses. Why? Because women simply couldn’t be that important. His prejudices were clear and informed his interpretation of this ancient civilization.

Granted, understanding a society that is separated from us by over 3000 years is very difficult, especially when one is working with mosaics, jewelry, seals and other artifacts, (no newpapers or written records to help) as the clues to interpret the inner workings of a culture. With that said, however, the lesson I took away is that we all judge based on the cultural mores we’ve internalized. It is important not to assume that because gender roles in the early twentieth century followed one pattern that they were set and unchangeable, and fit every human society. Most scholars now posit that women were indeed that important in that society.

So, back to Hutton. I admit I haven’t quite finished this work and maybe I will agree with him more when I’m done than I do now. His focus does appear to be more about the Christian world of the early Middle Ages and a discussion of how these pagan goddesses came to be in a Christian society. We shall see.

Communes – and Shakers

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The communal style of living which is now so much a part of our picture of the Shakers was actually not a part of their beliefs. When they moved to the Colonies, however, relocating around Albany, financial stresses compelled them to live in a communal setting

If you have begun thinking of tie-dye, put it out of your mind.

The equality between the sexes was a direct outgrowth of the Shakers’ belief in the dual nature of God; a masculine half and a feminine half. It did not hurt that the spiritual leader of the order was a woman, Mother Ann Lee. Her experiences during childbirth, and the death of her young children, persuaded her that all sin came from sex and that only by overcoming fleshly desires could true salvation be attained. Unlike many of the new faiths that sprang up at that time, the Shakers were celibate.

The sexes lived together in the Dwelling Houses, but were separated and lived on separate sides of the Dwelling House. Personal property was abolished as well, all the property being held communally. New converts brought with them and gave to the order all of their worldly possessions, including land. Even though the order accepted anybody, including those who were penniless, the order became quite wealthy from the property deeded to them.

By living communally, the Shakers also had a work force, necessary on the large farms they owned.

Their agrarian methods ceased to be competitive with the United States economy when it shifted from farming and handcrafts to factories. The Shakers couldn’t compete and their numbers began to dwindle. Celibacy was part of the problem. Since they had no children of their own, they relied on converts, both adults and children. Once there were governmental agencies that cared for the poor and for the abandoned children, formerly a conduit of people to ‘make’ a Shaker, and the number of converts declined, the number of Shakers diminished rapidly.,

Tthey remain once of the most successful ‘communes’ ever established. Currently, there are still two surviving members.

Currently Reading

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Week of July 11

So glad to return to my usual routine. This week I read two books: Sleep Well My Lady by Kwei Quarter and Unbreathed Memories by Marcia Talley.

Sleep Well My Lady takes place in Ghana.

A famous fashion designer, Lady Araba, is found murdered in her bed. Her chauffeur is arrested but Araba;s aunt is convinced he is not guilty so she applies to the Sowah Detective Agency. They quickly discover there are plenty of suspects, from the alcoholic Augustus Seeza to Ismael, the gardener. Although DNA evidence has been collected, it has been set aside, untested. The members of the agency go undercover to lay bare what really happened.

Although the setting is exotic, the motivations -and the people – are like people everywhere. Outside of some clunkiness in the style, probably from the translation, a very enjoyable mystery.

The second book I read this week is Marcia Talley’s Unbreathed Memories.

It is number two in the Hannah Ives series; my plan is to read them all throughout the summer.

Hannah’s sister Georgina is seeing a therapist and suffering a rather severe mental breakdown. During therapy, she claims her father sexually abused her. Worse, Georgina’s therapist has taken a header off the balcony and now Georgina is the prime suspect in her murder. It is up to Hannah to figure out what really happened.

I really enjoy these mysteries!

Maine and Ellery Queen

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Had a fun but very busy week in Maine. We stayed on Mount Desert Island, an absolutely magical place. The place we stayed had limited Internet; I could only access my email from 5 am to about 8. After that my phone worked only intermittently.

Above are a few shots of Maine locales. The middle photo is Thunder Hole in Acadia Park. The Island is one of the best place for hiking I know.

While there, I did not have time to read a book. Instead, I read an Ellery Queen magazine. Probably the April issue (I am behind.) Some good stories in there.

Black Death

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Probably one of the most famous pandemics is the Bubonic Plague or the Black Death. I was most familiar with the plague that swept Europe in the 1340s (primarily from The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. One of my favorites and one I reread almost once a year.)

But recent scholarship has discovered Yersina Pestis in Bronze Age Samples. This is a very old disease. The oldest human sample is 5000 years old but it is now estimated that the organism is probably 7000 years old. Wow. It is thought that the disease originated in Northern Eurasia but one of the Bronze Age samples is from England so the disease was already traveling.

But most of the graves found so far are individuals, not mass graves. What happened?

Well, the theory put forth in BBC History, Vol 23, is that the spread of the disease coincided with the rise of the Mongol empire in the thirteenth century. As they spread out, reaching even Italy, they carried some of their own provisions with them. Guess what loves grain? Rodents.

It has been known for some time that rodents and fleas were the disease’s vectors.

One of the goods Italy was importing was grain.

COVID traveled via airplanes. The Black Plague traveled by ship as goods and people went from country to country. It returned in waves and one estimate posits that half the population in Europe died. Certainly entire villages were wiped out.

The disease is still around and still lethal without treatment.

Plagues

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After experiencing Covid this past week, I have a new interest in the plagues that have occurred throughout human history.

Some, like smallpox, have been eradicated in the wild. The last case occurred in 1978 when a lab worker was infected and died.

Smallpox has been around for over 3000 years; the exact beginnings are not known. It was widely feared, and with good reason.The ordinary type of smallpox was extremely lethal with death rates ranging between 30 and over 60 percent. Almost as feared was the scarring left in those who survived. The malignant form is even more lethal, causing death in almost 100 % of the time. Smallpox epidemics swept through the population in regular waves. George Washington was so nervous about the effect on the Continental troops that he insisted everyone be variegated (inoculated with matter from a pustule. Death could still occur but was less likely.)

Another greatly feared plague was the Bubonic, the so-called Black Death. It also swept over Europe in waves and is still the most lethal pandemic recorded, killing between 75 and 200 million people. Estimates of death rates in Europe range between 45 and 60%. The Hemmoraghic form had a mortality rate of between 90 to 95%. Entire villages were wiped out. The loss of so much population created tremendous economic and social upheaval and, arguably, contributed to the rise of the middle class.

The Black Death is so-called because it causes the flesh to die and turn black. Because the Bubonic Plague (called that because of the swellings, or buboes) is bacterial, it is treated with antibiotics and is now curable.

Influenza. There have been six pandemics in the last 140 years, with the 1918 pandemic being the worst. Millions died and millions more were sickened. Like COVID, it is a respiratory disease. Severe cases still cause death. Because it is viral, antibiotics do not work. A new vaccine shot must be taken every year as the virus mutates quickly.

And then we come to COVID. Vaccinated and boosted, my case was not terrible. I felt awful the first day but then the illness moderated to nothing worse than a bad cold.

Currently Reading – week of June 13

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Another crazy week. A high school reunion infected myself, my husband, and a number of other friends with Covid. Light cases all but still an interruption in our usual routines.

This week I read When Blood Lies by C.S. Harris.



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I strongly recommend this series, which begins with What Angels Fear.“ These historical mysteries take place in the Regency and follow Sebastian St, Cyr.

When Blood Lies is number seventeen or eighteen.

After years of searching for his mother, Sebastian finally locates her in Paris living under the name Sophie Cappello. He and his family travel to Paris and Sebastian makes an arrangement to meet her. He has many questions, including about the identity of his biological father. But just hours before the meeting, she is murdered. Despite being warned off the investigation, and seeing both his life and the lives of his family threatened, Sebastian (or Devlin, as he is also called), persists.

The mystery is set against Napoleon’s escape and return from Elba and the heightened tensions his imminent arrival in Paris brings.

I read and write historical mysteries because I love the historical details included in the story. I did not know that the armies went over to Napoleon instead of fighting him and he took Paris without a single shot being fired.

Another excellent mystery.

Paper money

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The history of paper money is far more involved and less linear than any of us might expect. We use it without really thinking about all the thought, and all the changes that have gone into the bills we use now.

Because coins are heavy and difficult to transport, the search for an easier form of currency began early, especially in far-flung trading networks where carrying large amounts of cash was impractical.

Leather, parchment and other durable substances were used. They were not paper money, as we think of it. These bills acted as bills of credit or promissory notes for the transaction of business. Paper money is thought to have begun in China using the inner bark of mulberry trees. (I guess in this case money really did grow on trees.)

Letters of credit and promissory notes were widely used in Europe during the Middle Ages. They were backed up usually by specie. The shift toward using these banknotes in Europe occurred in the mid-17th century. But the issuing of such notes was not centralized. Banks and other groups (such as the Knights Templar) issued their own.

. In the United States, notes were issued by different banks, even the different states. There were more than 7000 different varieties.. In 1861, the Treasury Department began printing ‘Treasury notes’, partially to help fund the Civil War. But the other banks and institutions continued printing there own notes; US government decreed these notes were subject to government authorization. The law was not suspended until 1932.

Although paper money is lighter to carry, it is also less durable. Counterfeiting has been and continues to be an ongoing problem. To combat the problem, various changes were instituted. The Secret Service was established in the 1860s. In 1929, the design for the bills was standardized. Paper and ink have been changed a few times to make them harder to copy and, most recently, the pictures have been moved off center.

The history of paper money is far more involved and interesting than we realize.money

Currently Reading – week June 7

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I read only one book this week. It has been a crazy time with High School reunions, weddings, graduation and more.

Anyway, this week, I read Sing it to her bones. I try to read books written by people I know.

I have to say I loved it.

Hannah Ives is recovering from cancer. She goes to visit her sister in law and while walking the dog discovers a body in the cistern of a nearby abandoned farm. As she begins to poke into the murder, for murder it is, Hannah’s own life become at risk. She is warned away several times and then a van drives her off the road and into a pond. She just survives that, but other, more dangerous attempts soon follow.

At the same time, her husband has been accused of sexual harassment. Hannah does not know whether to believe his protestations of innocence or not.

The story is flavored with sailing lore and tips, and the sail boat plays an important part at the end.

I will definitely continue this series.

Currently Reading -May 30

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This week I read the third in the Gunnie Rose series, the Russian Cage, by Charlaine Harris.

A coded letter from Lizbeth’s sister Felicia tells her Eli is in jail. Lizbeth immediately takes the train to the Holy Russian Empire to rescue him. Once there, She is thrust into a power struggle between Alexie, the tsar and the Grand Duke who is trying to take power.

Much bloodshed ensues but the book ends with a wedding. Very enjoyable.

The second book is Three Debts Paid by Anne Perry.

Perry is now on the second generation of the Pitt family, following the investigations of Daniel Pitt, an up and coming young lawyer. Marion Ford-Croft is now a full-fledged pathologist working under another woman, Eve Hall, who has distinguished herself in the field. Daniel and Marion pursue their specialities to identify and catch a killer, nicknamed in the papers as the Rainy Day slasher. The victims are slim young women. So far, no one has seen the murderer or even has an idea whom it might be.

I enjoy these although not as much as the original Pitts.