Currently Reading

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Week of December 26 – January 2, 2022

The holidays slowed down my reading. Besides, I was reading Two Graves by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Their books are usually quite long.

In the Prendergast thriller, He discovers that his wife Helen is alive. She had faked her death to throw the villains off her trail. Now her brother has arranged a meeting with Prendergast, a meeting that goes horribly wrong. Helen’s brother is killed, and she is abducted. Despite being injured, Prendergast follows them to Mexico where she unfortunately is shot dead.

After a spell of self-destructive grieving, Prendergast is tempted into a new case involving a serial killer. He takes no trouble to avoid cameras and Prendergast realizes the serial killer is designing his murders for Prendergast himself.

Prendergast goes on the hunt, following the trail to a Nazi compound deep within Brazil.

The writing is merely pedestrian. But the story, and the sheer creativity, hooks a reader in and keeps them reading until the end.

I also read the new Elly Griffith, The Midnight Hour. I’ve been a fan since the beginning of the Ruth Gallagher series but I really enjoy the newer Magic Men mysteries as well. In the latest, it is the fifties. Emma and Edgar are married with three children. Emma has set up a detective agency with her friend, reporter Sam and they are asked to investigate a murder also being investigated by the police. Impressario Bert Billington has been poisoned. Suspicion immediately falls on his wife: Verity Malone, but there are a slew of other suspects from the entertainment world.

Besides the mystery, which I did not guess, the novel touches on the struggle of women to be taken seriously, no matter how bright and talented. All of the usual characters make and appearance and there are several life changes. Highly recommended.

Finally, I read A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow. It is more than a reworking of The Sleeping Beauty fairy tale and it is wonderful. The main character, she calls herself the dying girl, has been severely damaged by environmental factors. She is transported into the fairy tale – and it is very different from what she expected. Yes, the Princess is cursed and there is a bad fairy. Except not so much. The Prince is not charming and the Princess is fighting against her fate with every ounce of her being.

In a relatively short book, the author touches on environmental issues and expectations of gender. A wonderful tale and highly recommended.

Families

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As I looked around the table at Christmas dinner, and saw people who had not spoken to one another for years, I thought of how complicated families could be.

In Murder, Sweet Murder, I set the mystery against Lydia’s family, but Will Rees’s is no less difficult.

Lydia, estranged from her father and step-mother, left her family years ago. Her father is a wealthy Boston merchant engaged in the Triangle Trade. He owns a distillery that distills molasses into rum as well a fleet of ships that run slaves from Africa.

Lydia cannot accept her father’s profession and after some problems in her personal live, runs away. She lands at Zion, a Shaker community in Maine. In Murder, Sweet Murder I bring her back to Boston, and her family. She is no more tolerant of her father’s profession now than she was then.

Rees’s father was an abusive alcoholic who died by falling off a wagon in a drunken stupor. Rees is not an alcoholic but he makes other mistakes with his children. Before the action begins in A Simple Murder, David, Rees’s oldest son runs away from home, and takes refuge in Zion with the Shakers. Rees had left David (he would say his father abandoned him) with Caroline and her husband. When Rees returns home and recovers the farm, sending Caroline’s family packing, she never forgives him.

In A Devil’s Cold Dish, Caroline does her very best to destroy her brother and his family.

As the stories go on, and Rees’s history unfolds, his family expands. But it also changes. By the time of Murder, Sweet Murder, Jerusha, Rees’s oldest daughter, wants to leave home for school. David and Simon have already left for a farm in a distant town.

Families are complicated, even in fiction.

Sugar, Molasses and Rum

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Before rum, there was sugar – from sugarcane. Sugar is present in many fruits and vegetables. Sugar beets, for example, have more sugar than an apple. There are also many types of sugar: glucose, fructose, lactose, with slight differences in their chemical structures. 

The sweetest of all is sugarcane.

Sugarcane is a picky plant, requiring heat, sunshine and water. It must be grown in a frost free environment. Discovered millennia ago, it grew first in New Guinea and from there spread to India and the Indian subcontinent. It did not reach Europe until many centuries later, during the Middle Ages, and it was rare and expensive. A description of a banquet in 1457 mentions sugar sculptures. As sugar was planted in Madeira and the Canary Islands, the demand for sugar increased tenfold.

Christopher Columbus brought sugarcane to the New World and the first sugar plantation was set up in Hispaniola. Slaves were imported to work the plantations and the desire for sugar continued to increase. With the plantations in the West Indies, sugar became cheap enough for most households to afford. From a few pounds consumed per capita in the colonies in the beginning of the eighteenth century, the amount rose to eighty pounds by the end.

Sugarcane is a grass. The crop is chopped into lengths, crushed and boiled. (Now much of this is done by machines but during the time of Will Rees, it was all done by hand.) The sugar we know and love is the crystallized result from the sugarcane syrup. Raw sugar is brown and has a higher molasses content. Slave accounts allude to the difficult and dangerous work connected to the production of sugar, from the chopping of cane to the boiling of the syrup. Slaves in the more northern states did not want to be sold down south: to the cotton or cane fields.

Molasses is a byproduct of this process. Once, it was discarded but the demand for molasses grew exponentially when it was discovered it could be fermented into an alcoholic drink. The fermentation of sugarcane juice is mentioned in Sanskrit texts. By the time of the sugar plantations in the West Indies, the enslaved were fermenting the molasses into ‘Rumbullion”, ‘kill-devil,’ and ‘screech’ – all forms of (probably undrinkable) rum. It rapidly gained in popularity, however, and was used as currency in Africa and was exported to Great Britain.

Sugarcane is a heavy feeder and requires about 660 gallons of water for every 2.2 pounds of sugar. So, not great for the environment as well as its role in obesity, tooth decay, diabetes, and other health risks.

Currently Reading – week of Dec 7

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Last March, after the Sinsters in Crime Chapter the Mavens of Mayhem hosted their third annual Murderous March Conference, I picked up several of the books written by participants.

A Darker Shade by Laura K. Curtis, and the Curse of the Braddock Brides by Erica Obey were romantic suspense. Throwbacks to an earlier era when that was practically all I read. Both were charming and fun although the Curtis book had more of the gothic vibe.

A Darker Shade is a ghost story. Molly Allworth has been in service since leaving college. Now, her finances are precarious. When the agency offers her a post in Maine, she jumps at it. Soon she is in a remote house in Maine, caring for a little girl who claims she saw her mother’s ghost before she stops speaking all together. And Molly soon realizes something terrible is going on. The master of the house, Nathaniel Prescott, dismisses any belief in the supernatural. As for Molly, as winter closes in the the events grow more dangerous and frightening, even her attraction to Nathaniel may not make her stay.

The Curse of the Braddock Brides was instantly appealing since it takes place in the Hudson Valley, not to far from where I live. Libba Wadsworth is outspoken and knows her own mind, a bluestocking in the vernacular of the times. He4r family has already been dogged by scandal and now Libba, with her cutting remarks, pushes away all the vacuous suitors who apply for her hand. Then she meets two men, Lord Hardcastle, in want of a wealthy wife, and the far more appealing, but rakish, Will Ransome. Are either who they claim to be?

Great fun!

Rum

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Rum was the lubricant and the fuel for the engine of commerce leading up to the American Revolution and a bit beyond. It was a favorite drink of the slavers, the slaves, and pretty much everyone else. Called Nelson’s blood (as well as a number of less flattering names), rum made up part of the British sailors’ pay.

What is rum? Rum is distilled from the molasses left over from sugarcane. The cane has particular requirement and cannot be grown in the temperate lands. It must be grown with lots of sun and water. It also needs intensive labor to cut, cart and process the cane under the tropical sun. A clear and distinct link between the growing demand for sugar and slavery can be drawn because, as plantations were turned over to cane, the needs of a large work force demanded more workers – Slaves.

The slaves needed to be fed. New England ships brought dried cod, picked up the molasses for transport to the distilleries in New England. The resulting drink (called among other things, screech, kill-devil, demon water) was put in casks and sent to Africa to purchase more slaves and also to Great Britain. This was the previously discussed Triangle Trade.

Ironically, the long trips over the ocean, stored in casks, made the rum more drinkable.

Although rum was still consumed after the War for Independence, as mentioned in Murder, Sweet Murder, it was falling out of favor as the new country’s beverage. Whiskey, from rye grown in Western Pennsylvania, and distilled in the country, was considered more patriotic and as such became the drink of choice.

Currently Reading – Week of November 29

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Searcher for the Dead, by Nancy Herriman, is a historical mystery that takes place during the Elizabethan era. After the tragic death of her husband Martin, Bess relocates to the small town where she was born and moves in with her mother. Bess’s brother in law, Fulke, is found hanged and at first the murder is deemed a suicide. Since suicide was a crime, all of his assets are to be taken by the Crown. But Bess does not believe it was suicide and with the help of Kit, the constable, she investigates further.

This was captivating and enjoyable. Since it ended on a cliffhanger, and the possibility of some romance between Bess and Kit, I expect there will be another in this series. It is already on my list to read.

The second book I read was far different. In The Bone Cay, by Eliza Nellums, it is unclear whether there is a mystery. Magda Trudell is the current caretaker of the home of a famous poet, Isobel Reyes. A cat four hurricane is bearing down on Key West and is forecasted to be a direct hit. Magda chooses to stay in the house and when the storm damages the gift shop, it reveals a steamer trunk with the remains of a young woman. This does not occur until page 102. Shortly thereafter, the handy man and his daughter arrive seeking refuge but Magda soon discovers they are not what they seem. I am not sure how I feel about this book. It is not a whodunit and the mystery really does not begin until quite late. But it is beautiful written and I did finish it. The descriptions of the storms were especially riveting.

Taverns Part I

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averns and coffeehouses were an important part of Colonial and Federalist life. They served as meeting places, inns, restaurants and more. Before post offices were built, taverns and coffeehouses also handled letters. In the early days of the colonies, taverns were built at ferry landings. Later on, when coaches began running, the taverns became handy stops and, in fact, Rouge’s tavern frequently sees an influx of passengers either going to or from Boston.

As one might expect, there was a wide range of comfort and amenities provided, ranging from a grand inn like the Raleigh in Williamsburg to the ordinary that served the ferrymen or waggoneers. In the last, the beds were likely to be hard wooden pallets, the mattresses filled with cornhusks or straw as well as fleas and other critters. Food offered was usually cornmeal mush.

All of the taverns mentioned in Murder, Sweet Murder, with the exception of the Painted Pig, which is my own creation, existed in 1801 in Boston. The Warren Tavern is still in use as a bar and restaurant. The Green Dragon, which was the Headquarters of the Sons of Liberty (and where much of the planning for the War of Independence occurred), was demolished in 1822.

Currently Reading week of November 21.

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With the holidays, I had less time than usual to read. Still, I managed to finish 2 books and part of a third.

Staging is Murder by Grace Topping is a charming cozy. The amateur detective is a home stager whose assistant is accused of the murder. A lovely old Victorian provided the setting – and don’t we all wish we lived in such a magnificent place. This is a series and I plan to read the rest of it.

I regularly read fantasy and science fiction. One of the suggestions that came up on my Amazon feed was The Witches of Dark Root by April Aasheim. Dark Root, a small town in the Pacific Northwest, is one of the last places on earth that keeps the darkness at bay. But now the circle had cracked. Sasha, coven leader, is ill. Her four daughters have scattered. running away from home and the control of their mother. But when news of Sasha’s illness reaches the daughters, they return; first Merry, the eldest, then Maggie, the daughter with the most power, and finally the other two. I really enjoyed this supernatural suspense novel. Since several problems remain to be resolved, I plan to read the rest of the series.

Finally, I am enjoying the latest David Rosenfelt: Best in Snow. When Andy Carpenter’s golden retriever digs up a pile of snow in the park, she discovers the body of the mayor. Andy’s friend Vince persuades him to take the case (Carpenter is a lawyer) and he becomes convinced the suspect the police have in custody has been set up. Rosenfelt’s mysteries are always fun. The characters are interesting and Carpenter is amusing. This one is also appropriate to the season since it is set just before Christmas.

The Triangle Trade

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The enslavement of thousands is a stain on the United States. The ripple effects are still being felt to this day.

Slaves were bought and sold in the northern colonies, but, by about 1800 these areas, states now in the new United States, had by and large forbidden the importing and sale of slaves. (That does not mean there were none; the slaves already present were allowed to remain.)

However, that does not mean merchants in the north were guiltless. Merchants, such as Lydia’s father, engaged in a three cornered trade in which New England businessmen took African slaves to the United States and the West Indies for work on the plantations, especially the sugar plantations.

The by product of making sugar, molasses, was shipped to New England for distillation into rum. That rum was exported to Great Britain and brought to Africa. The rum, and the profits from selling the rum, was used to purchase more slaves.

This trade was called the benign sounding Triangle Trade.

Week of November 7 – 13

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I missed last week’s post since I was still reading Sherlock Holmes vs Cthulhu by Lois Gresh. This is one weird book, and I like weird. Still not sure how I feel about it.

Hemlock, by Susan Wittig Albert, is the newest in a long series of China Bayles Herbal mysteries. In it, China journeys to North Carolina to hunt for a rare and valuable herbal called the Curious Herbal by Elizabeth Blackwell. The information about hemlock, the poisonous herb, not the tree, and the book were historically accurate and fascinating. The mystery was a little disappointing but the rest of the book made up for it.

Murder at the Abbey, by Frances Evesham, is part of a series, although this was my first. A human bone was found in a river near a historical abbey. Is is the bone from the abbey graveyard? Or something worse. Libby, and her new husband, are on the case. A charming cozy.