Happy Fourth of July
Currently Reading
Lost Birds, the newest mystery by Anne Hillerman, has a lot going on.
Joe Leaphorn, working as a private detective, is searching for the history of a woman who was adopted by a white couple., before the law forbidding such adoptions was passed. Her only clue to her past is a photograph with a Navaho child’s blanket. The Lost Birds of the title refer to those children adopted out and who are now missing from their culture.
At the same time, Leaphorn receives a call from a man who met him as a child. Bowlegs’ wife is missing but before he can give too many details, the call is interrupted by an explosion. Leaphorn is not even sure if Bowlegs survived. Bernie Manuelito becomes involved in this case when she is called to the scene; a school with a newly built addition. A school, moreover, where Bowlegs’ wife worked.
Bernie is distracted by other cases and her mother’s increasing frailty. She cannot live on her own and Bernie’s sister is unable to fulfill that responsibility.
Complicated as the cases collide. The underlying theme is these missing children who lose their heritage. Hillerman continues her father’s legacy of showing this exotic and amazing culture. Captivating.
Minoan Tea
One of the reviewers for On the Horns of Death commented on the fact Martis and her mother, as well as other women in the mystery, drink tea. She questioned whether this might be an anachronism.
In fact, I was not thinking of the teas we get from India and China but instead of an herbal tea made from herbs well known in Crete.
Both sage and dittany were known then. Dittany is an herb that has been used for centuries, right down to early America, as a medicinal plant. A potent and fragrant herb related to oregano, the name comes from Mount Dikte in Crete. And, of course, one of the names for Britomartis, the maiden in the Cretan pantheon, is Diktynna. It is marketed now as a tea called Dictamnus.
Sage is another herb we believe was known and used in ancient times. We use it primarily as a culinary herb but, like oregano today, it also was used as ritually and as a medicine.
Finally, an herb that is marketed as an herbal tea today is malotira. This herb grows at high altitudes on Crete and is valued for its medicinal properties. It is commonly used to treat respiratory illness and digestive problems as well as skin irritation. It has anti-inflammation, anti-fungal and anti-microbial properties.
When I described Martis and company drinking tea, I was visualizing an herbal concoction. Maybe one of the herbs alone, maybe a combination
Currently Reading
This week I read two cozies. The first is the third in a series I really enjoy by Mindy Quigley.
Delilah and crew are on their way to a mansion, and a very high-end fundraiser for the Library. Delilah is already stressed out from creating a pizza with no tomato sauce, no gluten, and no cheese.
Then a body rolls down the steps and lands at the bottom. Who would want to kill this annoying, but harmless, member of the Library Board?
Calvin Capone, and his mother, are on scene and begin the investigation as a storm rages outside, trapping everyone, including the killer, in the mansion.
All the usual characters are here, including Butterball the cat.
Lots of fun. The recipes aren’t bad either. I have already ordered the next one.
The second cozy is a book I purchased after seeing a Bookbub deal. My first time ever buying one. Foul Play at Seal Bay by Judy Leigh takes place in Cornwall, England. Morwenna is an older woman, divorced, and working in the small local library and her family’s teashop.
At a party to celebrate Morwenna’s daughter’s engagement, a wealthy transplant from London is murdered. The local detective is completely out of his depth. Morwenna can’t help but begin asking questions. A letter, and a sign painted on the Library wall telling her to back off, fail to discourage her.
I did not see the final twist coming. Light and charming.
Podcasts and more
I was interviewed about On the Horns of Death by Fran Lewis. She has both a blog and a podcast. The links are below.
Blog – https://tillie49.wordpress.com/2024/06/18/on-the-horns-of-death-2/
Podcast – https://www.blogtalkradio.com/book-talk-with-fran-lewis/2024/06/18/on-the-horns-of-death
I also had the first few chapters read aloud by Teresa Trent. The link to her blog is below.
Blog: https://wp.me/pnaIT-2GS
The link to the podcast on Spotify is below.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Af4wGoQGYVGWNfquf8ztr?si=f1b9f2286b7445dc
Currently Reading
Forty Acres and a Soggy Grave by Frankie Bailey is the fifth of her Lizzie Stuart Mysteries. In this, the last so far, Lizzie accompanies her fiancé, John Quinn to a weekend with some of his old friends. Lizzie is quite nervous about meeting them – will they like her? But she quickly senses undercurrents swirling around the group, from Mitch and his extra young girlfriend, to the rumors that Bree is involved in smuggling undocumented migrants.
When one of the migrants if found hiding in the horse barn, and then Mitch’s girlfriend is shot right in front of Lizzie, she knows she is deep into something she doesn’t fully grasp.
Another wonderful mystery delving into the intersection of race and gender, now complicated by feelings about immigration. Highly recommended.
Forget me Never by Susan Witting Albert is the 29th China Bayles mystery. In this outing, China investigates the death of her friend Olivia Andrews. She hosts a true crime podcast and now she claims she has a bombshell story about an upstanding citizen of Pecan Springs. One morning, while out running, she is hit by a car. At first the death is ruled accidental but as China digs, she quickly realizes it was murder.
Another murder follows and all signs point to the second husband of a wealthy widow who died, it was thought murdered, twenty years previously. Is he the citizen of Pecan Springs? And who is he?
The usual gang appear and as usual the herbs and information about them is front and center.
Nancy Drew
Why am I blogging about Nancy Drew? I am beginning a new series set in the late 1920s and into the thirties. Like most girls, and certainly almost all women mystery writers, I started my career by reading the Nancy Drew mysteries. Nancy, and her friends George and Bess, are so much a part of the culture, I, at least, can’t imagine the world without them. I thought I should reread a few.
What I didn’t know was that the first Nancy Drew was published in 1929, only nine years after women won the right to vote. The Secret of Shadow Ranch was published in 1931.
There are few descriptions of clothing or anything else that might be too era specific so the books can stretch across decades without sounding dated. And Nancy is brave, smart and independent, a new role model for girls who wanted something else besides the domestic sphere. Later revisions have, of course, adapted some of her traits and history.
Her spunky personality is usually ascribed to Mildred Wirt who wrote many of the early mysteries.
These books are targeted to girls 3rd to 6th grade. I read them mostly in the fourth and fifth grades and had a number of favorites. (I am now rereading The Sign of the Twisted Candles which I loved.)
To an adult, the mysteries are lightweight, the writing pedestrian at best, but I can see the appeal to a girl. The mysteries have some danger, but Nancy always escapes it. I loved stories with secret rooms and here we are. Plus, Nancy does everything well, money is never a problem, and no one tells her what to do. Not even her father, Carson.
I imagine the young women in my new series will know of Nancy Drew even if they have not read her books.
Currently Reading
Killer in the Kitchen is the second Chesapeake Bay mystery by Judy L. Murray.
Lizzie, Helen’s daughter, is the host of a popular cooking show. Upon hearing that Roberto, the popular chef and main attraction of the show, wishes to sell his house, Helen visits the set to meet him. When she visits the second time, she is just in time to see Roberto collapse, poisoned.
Worse yet, Lizzie had also tasted the food and is slightly affected.
Helen jumps in with both feet to identify who might have murdered Roberto. Now its personal since the shooter clearly considered Lizzie only as collateral damage.
There are suspects aplenty. Besides Roberto’s partner Adrian, Dana is another host who was pushed aside and lost a huge percentage of her ratings. The food stylist, Mariah, is another suspect, this time with an important secret.
The characters shine here. Although I had a suspicion about the murderer’s identity, I kept reading. I felt like I knew the characters personally and I was engaged in their lives.
Highly Recommended.
More about Artemis
Further proof that Artemis is linked with the Minoan Cretan hunting Goddess Britomartis (or Diktynna which means of the nets.) By the 5th century B.C, this goddess had been completely assimilated into Artemis.
Britomartis, whose name means sweet maiden, was said to have invented hunting nets. This is thought to be one reason she was also called Diktynna. And yes, I took Martis from her name as the name of my main character in the Bronze Age Crete series.
In one of the myths, Britomartis jumps into the sea to escape King Minos and his lust. Fishermen hid her in their nets (an alternate reason for the name Diktynna.)
Am I the only one appalled by the constant stories of rape of all the women in the myths? It does make Artemis’s reaction to the men who watched her or pursued her – frequently death – a little more understandable.
Currently Reading
You should have died on Monday, by Frankie Bailey, is the third of her Lizzie Stuart mysteries. They just keep getting better and better.
In this outing, Lizzie bends all her efforts to finding the mother who abandoned her at five days old. With an old post card as her only lead, she travels to Chicago. It does not take long to discover her mother, at twenty-two, was already involved in a relationship with a gangster and, at the same time, with the leader of a group that later becomes associated with the Black Panthers.
When Becca’s close friend suddenly disappears from Chicago, Lizzie follows her to Wilmington, North Carolina and then to New Orleans.
Secrets – who murdered Reuben James and Becca’s lover-gangster – are covered. But one secret, Lizzie’s paternity, remains unknown.
Throughout, Lizzie struggles with the status of her relationship with John Quinn, a man who has his own secrets. Highly Recommended.