Author Archives: Eleanor Kuhns

About Eleanor Kuhns

Librarian and Writer Published A Simple Murder, May 2012

Currently Reading

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Occasionally I read other genres than mystery. Science fiction and historical fiction are two of my other favorites. This week I read System Collapse by Martha Wells.

I have read quite a number of novels and stories by Wells but this was a new series for me. Told from the viewpoint of a Murderbot, an android if you will, it tells of a hunt for some rogue colonists and a skirmish with a corporation determined to enslave the colonists and take the planet for its resources. Put like that, it sounds average but the murderbot’s voice is so human in so many ways that the story works. The bot, like Data in The Next Generation is both human and not and struggles with the dichotomy. Fun.

I also read Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice. In this outing, Finlay and Vero head to Atlantic City to save Vero’s cousin from a mobster and rescue the Aston Martin given Finlay by a Russian gangster. Needless to say, it does not go smoothly. Finlay’s ex-husband and mother insist on accompanying her and then Finlay’s hot cop boyfriend turns up. Laugh out loud funny.

Archaeological advances

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One of the things I find so interesting about the research into the distant past is how many more things are discovered, seemingly every year. One would think that after decades of excavation, everything would have been discovered already. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Recently a labyrinth was discovered on Crete on the top of a hill. Crete has undergone many excavations but clearly there is still plenty more to find.

And, as science moves on, we have better tools. archeogenetics is a new and burgeoning field. The discoveries made through testing DNA have upset many long held beliefs. The Etruscans, for example, believed to have emigrated from Anatolia to Italy are now found to be from the Caucasus.

Tests of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe have been similarly surprising.

Previously, they were thought to have migrated to the High Plains from the Great Lakes. Some anthropologists have argued that the Tribe’s language if part of the Algonquin family. Nothing in the Blackfoot oral tradition supports this.

DNA supports their belief that they have lived on their ancestral lands since time immortal. Current linguistic research indicates that the Blackfoot language has features belonging to an ancient language that predates Algonquin. 

Even coffee has proven to have a surprising journey. The coffee bushes evolved in Eastern Africa in a few different strains that eventually interbred. The plants that grew on the eastern side of the Great Rift Valley remained wild but the ones on the eastern side were brought to the Yemen city of Mocha. Folklore says that the red berries were eaten. (Yuck.) Oral histories say that an Indian monk brought the berries to India from which it spread around the world. Dutch explorers cultivated c. arabica on Java – Typical. Another variant was cultivated by French colonists – Bourbon – and that combination of those two varieties largely gave rise to the coffee most of us drink today. Who knew?

Currently Reading

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The third of Amy Myer’s cozies, Marsh and Daughter’s murder mysteries, Murder in Hell’s Corner, finds Georgia and her father investigating the murder of Patrick Fairfax, a revered WWII pilot.

As Georgia and Peter investigate, especially looking into a close knit group of pilots who knew Fairfax, they realize that he was not as universally admired as his family believed.

Was the murderer one of his many women? Or one of the other pilots? Or his business partner? The solution, and the twist at the end, is surprising.

What I found captivating, though, was the descriptions of WWII. The relentless bombing by the Germans, the loss of friends and comrades that occurred almost hourly, the sheer scale of a war pounding at this small country. Like Foyle’s War, it is a reminder that England was almost destroyed and was metaphorically hanging by its fingernails.

Highly Recommended.

Olympics

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I was captivated by the Olympics this summer and watched as many events as I could. I did not realize how many really fast runners there are! Really impressive.

There were a couple of things that struck me. Perhaps the most striking was the good sportsmanship displayed by the athletes. So much hugging between winners and losers. Refreshing.. I also loved the engagement of the audience. The French men’s basketball team took silver and the crowd broke into a spontaneous anthem. So moving!

The teams were diverse, not only the United States contingent, but most. I love seeing the inclusion of all these athletes, including some from countries who not only have never won but never even participated before now.

Also impressive was the number of women competitors. Women have not been well represented in the past but, boy, they sure were this time. Wonderful to see.

The only two blots on the Olympics had almost nothing to do with the athletes but with the judges instead. I have been following the dustup over the gymnastics. The judges made several mistakes, that is fact. They marked off one gymnast for going out of bounds and the replay clearly shows she did not. They missed the difficulty of one of the moves in Jordan Chiles’ routine, added it on review and then took it away again. Instead of admitting their mistakes, they’ve doubled down. Both the USA and Romania agree to multiple bronzes (3 to include another gymnast) but the judges refuse. This is not a good look and certainly does not display good sportsmanship.

Finally, the Chinese diving team tested positive for a banned substance. When Kamila Valieva tested positive during the figure skating in the Winter Olympics she lost her gold and Russia was banned. China suffered no consequences. If this is the rule (and it should be) it should be applied uniformly. The Chinese divers may have won anyway – they are that good – but doping gave them an edge and supposedly is forbidden.

Currently Reading

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On a Bookbub recommendation, I bought the set of Marsh and Daughter mysteries by Amy Marsh.

So far, I have read the first two and begun the third.

Georgia and her father, a retired police detective, research cold cases. Anything that piques their curiosity – a little bit of supernatural here – and then write books solving the mystery.

In the first one, The Wickenham Murders, a young gardener Davy Todd is accused of murdering Ada Proctor, the Doctor’s daughter. But so many parts of the story don’t make sense. The villagers don’t want the Marshs poking around but there is that strange music indicating someone doesn’t believe Davy was guilty. Then Georgia discovers Davy’s old sweetheart, still alive, and convinced of his innocence.

In the second book, Murder in Friday Street, a rock musician, Fanny Star, is murdered when she returns to the village to give a concert. Although her partner is accused of the crime, serves time and is murdered almost immediately upon his release, Georgia and her father don’t believe he was the guilty party. Suspects abound but the investigation into ‘the gang’, the friends of Fanny when they were kids, leads to the solution.

These are darker than Agatha Christie but, like her mysteries, show that murders happen even in cozy villages.

Terrific!

Age and Athletes.

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The Olympics are associated with Classical Greece, where these games officially began.

But there were contests of athletic skill before that. And women participated. At least we know they did in Sparta. (Some of the writings by men in other areas were shocked by the freedom of Sparta’s women.)

Since the murals and frescoes in Knossos seem to display both male and female athletes, I chose to believe the young women in Minoan Crete also engaged in races and other games of skill.

And with the Summer Olympics are going on now, I’ve reflected on the athletes who are competing.

I’ve gotten more than a few questions on the youth of my protagonist. (Martis is 16.) Here’s my question: do you think a forty-year old has the stamina, the speed, and the fearlessness to run at a charging bull?

Even in the 2024 Olympics, the athletes tend to be young. One of the skateboarders is 11. Another competitor is 12. There are quite a few teenagers competing. DHINIDHI DESINGHU, a swimmer from India, is 14 years old.

Hezly Rivera. American gymnast, is 16. After Kamila Valieva, a Russian figure skater, won at fifteen (and then lost the gold because of a doping scandal) the age for competing in figure skating has been raised to 17.

The ‘old’ athletes in their late twenties are referred to as though they have one foot in the grave and the other on a roller skate. Simone Biles, arguably the best modern female gymnast, is the oldest competitor at 27 since the 1950’s. She’s referred to as a ‘veteran’ and ‘experienced.’So, a 16 year-old athlete is not an outlier at all, even now.

Currently Reading

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I’ve been a big fan of Victoria Thompson for many years. Murder on Madison Avenue is book 25 in her popular Gaslight Mysteries.

Malloy is approached by a distraught Mrs. Bing who wants a divorce from her husband but won’t explain why. Mr. Bing is the owner of a automobile company, an EV too – a really interesting part of the book. Curious, Malloy and Sarah attend the car show to get a read on Mr. Bing.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Bing is found murdered, run over by on of his very own cars.

To complicate matters, Bing’s first wife, who he abandoned but never divorced, shows up. Her story is that when Bing abandoned her, he also took their daughter Pearl, and Nora Bing wants her back.

Now, hired by the second Mrs. Bing to discover the murderer, Malloy and Sarah investigate.

As always, the characters and the setting are fascinating. I knew what was going on, though, from very early in the book. I suspect most modern readers would. But I did not guess the identity of the murderer. B+. Recommended.

Ancient Beauty Standards

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Every era has its own standards for beauty. In the Middle Ages, the high forehead look was popular. In the artwork, all the women have protuberant abdomens, a definite no-no now. In the United States, a round-shouldered, pale appearance was considered beautiful, a little weird since that look is a symptom of advanced TB. Very white skin was valued in the Elizabethan era, a look achieved by the liberal application of white lead.

The ancient Greeks also had standards. Symmetry of facial features was one. (That is valued now as well, think Denzel Washington.) Pale skin was another admired trait. The theory is that since people who worked outside were tanned, those who had the leisure to stay inside were the wealthy – the elite. Of course, that standard has changed since it is the elite now who have the leisure to tan.)

Physical fitness, especially for men, was particularly valued. Just look at the statuary and the pictures. And, of course, it was the Greeks who began the Olympics.

One of the admired traits I found surprising: the unibrow was apparently considered beautiful. That definitely is not the case now!

Currently Reading

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Since I am watching the Summer Olympics, my usual reading has taken a hit. I am about half way through Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead.

The previous book in the series ended with a cliffhanger: Finlay sees a proposed hit on her husband with a bounty of $100,000. She is pretty sure Theresa is not behind it since she is in jail for her connections with the Russian mob.

Since Finlay is nothing if not impulsive, she not only looks at the hit, she responds to it. The coded response comes to both Finlay and ‘EasyClean”, saying whoever murders Steve first will get paid – and she wants it done by Christmas.

Finlay and her nanny/friend begin investigating and are in Steven’s trailer at his business when someone firebombs it. The discovery of a body in a storage unit rented under Theresa’s name further complicates the case.

Like the first in the series, it is funny. But also full of contrivances. Finlay does a lot of foolish things, impulsively and without thought. I would give the series a B to a B+. It’s funny and the story keeps moving but I find Finlay’s thoughtlessness and impulsivity annoying.

Partners in Crime Podcast

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I had a wonderful time talking to Gina Hott about both my Bronze Age Crete series and the Will Rees/Shaker series. We discussed, not only the stories, but also my research and some of what I discovered.

One example of a funny story: during President Washington’s first term, John Jay was dispatched to Great Britain to work out a treaty. (Great Britain still did not recognize the new United States as its own country and continued to lay claim to forts and to impress American sailors.) The Jay Treaty was very unpopular. The newspapers of the time pilloried Jay (God damn John Jay and God damn all the people who won’t damn John Jay.) Jay was burned in effigy all through New York and Pennsylvania.

Here is the link if you missed it.  https://youtube.com/live/BAlVQsAe3FM 

Also, keep an eye out for a new Fresh Fiction giveaway. In August I am giving away the first novels in each of my series plus an Amazon gift card.