It's been quite some time since I shared any of my knitting with you. I've had posts about going to the Desert Botanical Garden and the Phoenix Zoo and visiting with Daisy and Suzanne that took center stage instead. The lack of crafty posts doesn't mean that I've stopped knitting in the evenings-- heavens, no! I have a backlog of projects to show you, so I'd better get started! This time I want to share a completed baby blanket.   I'm so used to knitting multi-strand, big-needled-- US sizes 13, 15, 17-- adult-sized afghans that this single-strand, US size 8 needled ..read more

  First Line: The house was enormous.   After losing her job, her mother, and her marriage all in one year, divorced neurodivergent, hyperlexic book editor Jo Jones is happy to inherit a family estate in North Yorkshire and leave New York City behind.    Jo is used to not fitting in, and she expected her Americanisms and her autism to set her apart in the English countryside. What she didn't expect was finding the body of the estate's caretaker-- a man she'd fired the day before-- dead on the rug in her cottage. Not only is she in potential danger, but Jo is also a potenti ..read more

  Today, I want to talk about a book that I suspect many of you already have on your wish lists. I've been a fan of Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police series since the very first book, and it's hard to believe that the seventeenth will be released in a few months. If I'm lucky, he'll appear at The Poisoned Pen again. I never will forget the time he sat down with Denis and me for a wonderful chat before his event. Let me tell you more about the book! Available September 24, 2024! Synopsis: "When Abby, an American archaeologist, arrives in St. Denis on the heels of he ..read more

  At this writing, Denis and I are awaiting the results of our doctor visits and doing the usual chores around the house. Yawn-worthy news, to be sure, so I'll share a photo of the mail I've recently received. Those of you who are faithful followers (bless you!), know that I've known about these books for months. I pre-ordered them all, and I've been eagerly awaiting their arrivals. So what happens? Naturally, they all show up at the same time. I need a couple of extra pairs of eyes because I want to read them all simultaneously! May all the bumps in your roads be as "major". Enjo ..read more

  First Line: "Where did all the animals go?" asked Miss Roberts, poking Kaveri with a bony finger.   It's 1922, and Edward, Prince of Wales, is visiting India. Due to rioting in other cities, security has never been tighter in Bangalore. Kaveri Murthy has been busy teaching women to read and solving small crimes that are brought to her attention, but a request for help brings her into the world of jadoo-- Indian street magic-- and a possible plot against the visiting prince.   ~   I really enjoy Harini Nagendra's Bangalore Detectives Club mysteries, but I have to admit th ..read more

Denis and I couldn't resist another visit to the Phoenix Zoo. It won't be long before it's too hot to wander around out in the blazing sun. As usual with me, I was just as happy looking at all the blooming plants as I was watching the animals.   Are you ready to stroll? Come along with us!     On the Arizona Trail. Mountain lions (AKA pumas or cougars) are the largest of the big cats that can purr. Javalinas I have a feeling that bald eagles know how photogenic they are. A turkey vulture getting ready for takeoff. Denis an ..read more

  First Line: Early morning sun warmed the sandstone cliffs around me, and from behind closed eyelids I sensed the orange glow.   After a disastrous mistake cost her her job and almost her life, ex-crime reporter Delilah (Del) Cooper has returned to Sedona, Arizona to rebuild her life. Now working for a company that takes tourists through Red Rock Country, everything is peaceful and calm until she finds a body while hiking in a remote canyon.   At first, Del believes that the murdered man is connected to a proposed land trade that will pave the way for a luxury development on t ..read more

  First Line: On a spring day in 1612, a mill owner called Richard Baldwin, in the Pendle Forest of Lancashire chased two local women off his land, calling them "witches and whores", threatening to "burn the one and hang the other", and, in doing so, set in motion events that led to the imprisonment, trial and execution of nine women on the charge of murder by witchcraft: the infamous Pendle Witch Trials.   As a WPC, Florence Lovelady's career was made when she found and convicted coffin-maker Larry Grassbrook of a series of child murders in a Lancashire village. Thirty years later ..read more

  I need to stop being a scaredy cat. Ever since ParaTransit left Denis and me waiting on a cold, dark street corner for two and a half hours after an author event at The Poisoned Pen, I've been reluctant to attend any evening events at my favorite bookstore. Granted, most of them are available through YouTube, but it's certainly not the same as attending them in person. Of course, I can tell myself that the street corner won't be cold at this time of year... While I'm mulling that over, let me share my picks for the best new crime fiction in July. I've grouped them according to their r ..read more

  First Lines: Wednesday, October 16, 1946. "Twelve dollars and sixty-seven cents?"   Maple Bishop is no stranger to death. Her mother died. So did her brother. Now her husband has died in service to his country. But the discovery that her husband left her penniless puts everything into sharp focus for the grieving woman: she must find a way of earning money so she doesn't lose her home in this small Vermont town.    Maple is the first female Boston City Law School graduate, but no one in town wants to hire her. Fortunately, her eye for detail and her skill have led her to ..read more