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The Gold Pawn in L. A. Chandler’s second Art Deco mystery, after The Silver Gun, and continues the story of Lane Sanders.

Lane continues investigating the mystery of her parents, as well as of their deaths. To do that, she travels to Rochester to visit her childhood home. But, once there, she experiences such a powerful and negative emotion that she rushes back to New York City. A banker, Mr. Hambro, has disappeared. Fio wants Lane to look into it.

Meanwhile Finn, on assignment in Great Britain, is learning more about Rex Ruby and the Red Scroll gang.

The action bounces back and forth as both Lane and Finn piece together the dangerous mobster and the possibility of an heir to him.

Lots of fun. I admire Chandler’s ability to keep the story light and amusing while underpinning the mystery with a serious nod to Jeyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.

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Circles of Death by Marcia Talley is the twentieth book in her Hannah Ives series.

Noel, a young friend of Hannah’s, appeals to her for help. Noel and her sister both took a DNA test and discovered that, not only are they not sisters, but they are not related at all.

Hannah uses her genealogical skills to begin tracking down relatives of Noel’s. With those relatives, they can begin finding someone who might be able to shed some light on the mystery.

At the same time, Noel and Hannah look into the poisoning of several eagles nearby and discover a farm that is using a banned pesticide. The man Hannah suspects of using that pesticide is murdered, his body floating to her dock.

The twin investigations lead to a long ago murder. Although the identity of one of the murderers is not difficult to figure out, the identity of the other was a total surprise.

I’ve read that this might be the last of the Hannah Ives mysteries. I am sorry to hear it. I so enjoy spending time with her and her family and friends.

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As I begin preparing for Malice Domestic, (I am moderating a panel on setting ), I read a book by a featured author. Peril in the Pool House by Judy L. Murray, is the third in the Chesapeake Bay series.

At an open house party, thrown for the announcement of Eliot Davies’ candidacy as well as a welcome to their old, thoroughly renovated house, the body of Eliot’s campaign manager is found stabbed to death in the pool house. Who could have wanted this woman dead?

Helen Morrisey, the realtor who sold Eliot and his wife the house, and sometime detective, begins to poke around. Although warned off by her off and on love interest Joe McAlister, Helen knows Eliot and Alison have sunk every penny into the house – turned into a B & B – and they’ll lose everything unless the murderer is found.

Helen is an engaging detective with an unusual Detective Club. It is an imaginary one including such luminaries as Jane Marple and Nancy Drew.

I enjoyed this so much that I will go back to the first one and read all three. Lots of fun.

I also read The Paris Mistress by Mally Becker.

This is the third of the Revolutionary War series. I have enjoyed all of them but this one is my favorite so far.

Becca, along with her mother Hannah and mother-in-law Augusta, travel to France to meet Daniel Alloway. Becca and Daniel plan to marry in France. Almost immediately, Benjamin Franklin asks Becca and Daniel to listen and report back. Franklin knows there is a spy in his household reporting to England. Reluctantly, the couple agrees.

The visit goes from bad to worse. The body of the young man, Jude Fenimore, who’d traveled to France on the same ship with Becca, is found dead on the roof of Franklin’s house. The magistrates in France refuse to allow Becca and Daniel to marry (all for frustrating bureaucratic reasons) and Daniel is attacked.

Now Daniel insists Becca, her mother and mother-in-law return home before something else happens.

Highly recommended.

Giveaways and More

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I am giving away five copies of In the Shadow of the Bull on both Goodreads (sign up here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/384416-in-the-shadow-of-the-bull) and on Fresh Fiction (sign up here: https://gleam.io/iwKi2/eleanor-kuhns-march

I am celebrating the release of the second book in the series – On the Horns of Death, which will be released April 2nd. Look for another giveaway at the end of March for the second book.

Last call to attend the all online conference Murderous March on Saturday (March 9.) Yes, I will be on the first panel on Saturday morning but there are plenty of other great panels and our featured speaker :
EDGAR AWARD-WINNING AND BESTSELLING AUTHOR
NAOMI HIRAHARA

If you are in Suffolk, I invite you to the Mystery Festival on Saturday, March 16. All day. This is one of my favorite events. Participants have a chance to meet many different mystery writers, attend panels, and, of course, buy books. Contact them here: Telephone: 757-514-4130

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L.A. Chandlar is the moderator for my Murderous March panel, The Reluctant Sleuth, on March 9. Since I will be reading all the books for my panel mates, I decided to read hers as well.

The Silver Gun.

Chandlar’s series, The Silver Gun is the first, is called the Art Deco mysteries. They take place in the late 1930’s in New York City. This is after Jimmie Walker and Tamany Hall. Fiorella LaGuardia is currently mayor and on a mission to clean up the city.

Lane has been his assistant for six months. Life is exciting as she rushes around, trying to keep up with his schedule. But then she is thrust onto the subway tracks right in front of an oncoming train. Then she realizes a gangster is following her. He doesn’t trouble to hide it, grinning at her and making threatening gestures.

What is going on? Lane had to understand her own past, and the mystery of her parents’ deaths, before she can figure out why the gangsters have targeted her.

An illicit romance with a mysterious many further complicates Lane’s life.

This is a lot of fun. Recommended.

Curetes (Kouretes)

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One of the challenges of writing historical fiction, especially historical fiction that takes place as long ago as Bronze Age Crete, is the difficulty of sorting through the various myths – and the various iterations of the myths. I’ve already discussed the conflation of Zeus and Dionysus in that they share an origin story. When the tribes of mainland Greece swept over Crete after the Santorini volcanic eruption, they adopted much of the Cretan culture. Then they adapted what they’d taken to suit themselves.

Since we are familiar with the Classical Greek myths, so familiar in some case we have internalized them, we think of them as the ‘correct’ stories. Dionysus’s origin story, which became Zeus’s, is one such.

The outlines of Zeus’s story are this. Since it was predicted that one of Cronus’ children would kill him and take his position, he swallowed all of his children as soon as they were born. To protect Zeus, his mother Rhea wrapped a stone in a swaddling cloth (which Cronus swallowed) and the baby was hidden in a cave in Mt. Ida.

In the Cretan myth, it is Dionysus that is hidden in the cave. Each was described as suckled by either a nanny goat or a sow. To hide the baby’s cries, Kouretes made noise.

Who are the Kouretes? If you google the name, they are described as crested, armored warriors who clash their shields together so Cronus can’t hear the baby crying.

But this is not the whole story. According to an earlier myth, the Curetes were the first inhabitants of the Greek island of Crete. They were mythical creatures, specifically legendary benign deities who lived prior to the Minoans. According to an early Greek myth, the Kouretes were not born. They sprang out of the earth of Crete when the infant Zeus wept and his tears fell on the ground.

In this version, they made a hanging cradle for Zeus so he was not of the Earth, the sky, or the sea. He was therefore well protected from Cronus.

Because these are myths, and all things are possible, the Kouretes are supposed to have invented hunting, the first bow, dance, and even the Olympic Games.

The Minoans and Human Sacrifice

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For a long time, the image of Bronze Age Crete was of a pastoral and peaceful society. Since theories about the culture were developed from excavations, as well as the archaeologists’ own opinions, the truth about the details of this civilization has been difficult to ascertain.

Several years ago, an excavation revealed what appeared to be the sacrifice of a young man. His body was placed on a platform and an older man, theorized to be a priest, stood next to it with a bowl in one hand and a knife in the other. The remains of a woman were found a few steps behind the priest.

Since they were killed during an earthquake, when the building in which they stood fell down around them, it is thought the human sacrifice was designed to stop the earthquake and/or propitiate the God sending the earthquake.

Human sacrifice was not uncommon in the past. It was a serious event, designed to placate a God and prevent terrible occurrences such as famine, disease, and yes, earthquakes. A human life was the most valuable gift that could be given.

The Aztecs worshipped a violent God and sacrificed hundreds, possibly thousands, of captives to him. Joseph Campbell discusses the practice in Europe of ritually sacrificing the king so that his life could nourish the soil. Recently, more evidence of human sacrifice on Crete from the Mycenaean period (approx 1280 B.C.E.) came to light in Chania, Crete (old name Kydonia.)

Dr. Vlazaki disclosed the information during a lecture titled “Chania during Minoan Times”. Bones of many animals, ibexes, young pigs, sheep, goats and cattle were discovered. Among them was found a young girl’s skull, broken into fragments exactly like the animal skulls. Dr. Vlazaki indicated that the find should not be considered strange since Greek mythology describes many examples of sacrifices of virgins during periods of great disasters.

Since this latest find was dated to the Mycenaean period, after the Minoans, it seems that human sacrifice was being practiced hundreds of years after the Minoan culture had been conquered by the Mycenaeans. Put together with the previously discovered example of human sacrifice, the case for this practice by the Bronze Age Cretans seems strong.

Weather in Crete

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Since Crete is near the equator, it stands to reason that it is a hot country. That is partially true. During the summers, the weather is hot and dry. Winters, with temperatures in the fifties, are rainy. That is when the olive groves and the vineyards are watered. (Excavations have shown that the Ancient peoples did practice irrigation in the hot dry summers.)

Horns of consecration on a summer day.

Their clothing, loincloths for the men and short-sleeved jackets for the women, also suggest hot weather. (I often think those tiered skirts, probably made from wool, are very heavy and hot.)

Does that mean the Bronze Age culture never saw snow? No. Crete is a mountainous country. Two mountains, Jutkas and Ida, are even now pictured with snow.

Most of the population lived in the lowlands, (although not all) but the snow capped mountains were visible from communities on the plains.

Currently Reading

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The Final Heir by Faith Hunter is number fifteen, the final entry in this series.

Mainet Pellisier, grandfather of Leo, is in New Orleans. His mission is to capture the magical objects Jane has, killing her in the process. Leo, three times dead and reborn, tries to help but he is bound to Mainet and struggles to tell Jane what she needs to know.can’t help Jane.

The null prison has been destroyed by witches using death magic and Lacklash, head witch, has been captured. Although Molly, Evan, and her sisters are in New Orleans, they have so far been stalemated by Mainet’s witches. Jane’s brother and fellow shape changer and her friend Rick La Fleur are far away and out of communication so she can’t rely on them for herp.

Worse news, it appears that Mainet has bound a demon and partially bound an angel. Leo manages to tell Jane that if Mainet manages to finish the binding, and collect the magical items, he will be too powerful to beat.

When Jane uses several of the magical items to see the future – or rather – the multiple futures, it looks as though she dies and her allies lose in every one.

Besides the action and the fantasy elements, the characters are captivating. I really cared about them and wanted them to be happy.

Highly recommended. BUT it is crucial to read these in order. Besides the evolution of Jane’s character – she evolves from a loner and a hired killer to a wise and compassionate woman – the change in Leo is striking. A scarily powerful vampire in the beginning, he becomes something totally different. (No spoilers here.)

What did people do all day in Bronze Age Crete?

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Women, as expected, took care of children. And they were famous as spinners, weavers and dyers, as the previous posts demonstrate.

But what did the men do?

Well, farming was certainly a profession. Even many of the people who lived in Knossos owned farms. Besides goats and sheep and cattle, the farms grew grains and vegetables as well as the very important olives and grapes.

There were other professions, such as gold smith, jewelry maker, mosaic maker, but the primary job for men involved the sea. Minoan Crete had the best navy in the ancient world at this time. It was so superior that an Egyptian Pharaoh (one of the Ramses) sent a request to Crete for help pushing back the Sea Peoples. These people were sailing from Anatolia and attacking the rich cities of Egypt.

Besides the Navy, the men roamed far and wide, exploring the Mediterranean Sea and trading. (This was certainly a factor in the importance of women. The wives provided the woven goods for trade. As well, the women left behind ran the businesses while their husbands and other male family members were gone.)

Minoan fishing boat

Finally, fishing was an important part of this culture. The people who lived on the island ate from the sea. The mosaics show octopi, dolphins, and a variety of sea creatures. Fish bones, sheep bones and beef bones have been found during archaeological excavations.