Category Archives: murder mysteries

Gods and Goddesses of Bronze Age Crete

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From the preponderance of female figures on seals and in frescoes, archaeologists believe Crete worshipped a Supreme Goddess, probably a fertility Goddess from Neolithic times. (Similar to Astarte.)There is some dispute whether the statuary depicting women with snakes in their hands are representations of the Goddess or Priestesses engaged in a ritual.

note the tiered skirt, the short-sleeved jacket and the tight belt around the waist.

Besides the Supreme Goddess, there was a pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. Poseidon, the God of the Oceans and Earthquakes, is one. (He was adopted by the mainland Greeks with almost no change.) Dionysus is another God, a very old one. A vegetation God, he is the God of wine as well as the Master of Animals. Unlike the Gods and Goddess of Classical Greece, Dionysus is not immortal. He is born each spring, grows to manhood throughout the year, and dies in winter.

One particularly interesting feature of Dionysus is his birth, in a cave and nourished by nanny goats. Sound familiar? The Cretan Zeus, a relative latecomer to the pantheon, is ascribed the same birth story. In Classical times, the same tale is told of Zeus’ birth, (although with a myth about the Titans surrounding it.) Zeus, of course, was elevated to the major God for the Classical Greeks.

The Goddesses are more complicated. Were they individuals or aspects of the Supreme Goddesses? Maybe a mix of the two? Aphrodite is connected to the Bronze Age and her name is pre-Greek. Artemis was a virgin, and the hunt was sacred to her, just as the Classical Greeks believed. Hera was another important Goddess. Shrines to her have been found in Crete. She was responsible for childbirth, a task she shared with Artemis. In the Classical Greek pantheon, she was reduced from being an important Goddess in her own right to Zeus’s jealous wife.

Britomartis meaning Sweet Virgin or Sweet Maiden, was worshipped by the fishermen. Her other name is Diktynna for the nets the fishermen used. I took her name and used the second half, Martis as the name of the protagonist in In the Shadow of the Bull and the sequels.

What about the Minotaur? Was the bull-headed man a God?We know that bulls were very very important in Ancient Crete. The statuary and frescos of bull leapers and the many representations of bulls is proof of that. But, was the Minotaur sacred? I choose to believe that the Minotaur was a creation of the Mainland Greeks, representing something they did not understand – rituals involving masked priests.

As excavations and study of this amazing culture continues, I’m sure we discover more about their religion.

Currently Reading

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This week I read two books, and they couldn’t be more different.

Jane Harper’s The Dry is the first using Aaron Fulk as the protagonist (followed by Exiles.) I read them out of order but it didn’t matter.

Aaron returns to his small Australian town for the funeral of his childhood friend, Luke. When young teens, their good friend was found drowned – murdered and Aaron has always been blamed for the murder. Some of the townspeople, in fact, still blame him.

Aaron plans to leave immediately after the funeral, but he is sucked into investigating Luke’s murder. As he does so, he slowly unwinds the events of that long ago summer, and the identity of his friend’s murderer.

Amazing!

The second book is Joanne Fluke’s Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder.

When Mayor Bascombe is murdered, Hannah’s sister Andrea is the primary suspect. She was involved in a very public argument with the mayor that ended with Andrea slapping the Mayor and knocking him to the floor.

Since the Mayor is unlikeable, Hannah is sure there are other suspects in town.

Hannah’s investigation is interspersed with meals, recipes included.

The mystery is very light but the recipes look interesting and fun, as usual.

Murderous March

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On March 8, the Mavens of Mayhem will host Murderous March, a conference for both readers and writers.

I will be on the first panel on Saturday: Creating the Reluctant sleuth, with several other authors.

Panel 1
Panel 2 – Female PIs
Finding an agent of a publisher -query letters and your pitch.
Impact of setting
The title says it all.

Registration information will come out soon. Typically, the Mavens also schedule Master classes that pinpoint a particular writing issue, taught by a well-known author or expert. More about the Master classes in a few weeks.

Currently Reading

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I missed a few Mondays because I went on a vacation to Europe. I always find it interesting to walk the streets of France, Germany, or any of the Scandinavian countries. Houses built 500 or even 1000 years ago are still in use. Humbling. Because of my passion for history, I take many excursions. (Although I admit I quickly tire of the plethora of churches).

But I digress. I read three books while traveling. On the plane to Amsterdam, I read Storm Watch by C.J. Box.

On the trail of a wounded animal, Joe Pickett comes upon a small nondescript building in the middle of the woods. The building is humming with fans and, stuck into one of them, is a man with the top of his head sheared off. Joe takes pictures and then heads home, to avoid the blizzard settling down on the mountains. But when he shares the photos with the Sheriff and they investigate, they do not find the dead man. Murder mixes with cryptocurrency, Chinese spies, and political corruption. Another winner!

I also read Murder off Stage by Mary Miley.

This is the fifth Jessie Beckett Roaring Twenties mystery. Jessie has gone from a vaudeville actor to a movie script girl who works with Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. In this offering, Jesse and her good friend Adele Astaire attend a play. Unfortunately, when the actress shoots the actor, he falls down dead. The actress is immediately assumed to have murdered her colleague, but Jesse isn’t convinced. She just can’t figure out how this murder, and several others as well, were committed. Jessie is almost murdered herself before she solves the case.

I’ve read all five and enjoyed them. Miley says this one will be the last – sadly. I thought this one was the best so far and I wish she would continue the series.

Finally, I read Footprints to Murder by Marcia Talley.

To help out a friend, Hannah attends a Big Foot convention, populated by true believers. The descriptions of the characters are captivating even before the body of the murder victim is discovered. There are no shortage of suspects, the victim is nasty to all and has humiliated several of the attendees.

Is there really such a thing a Big Foot? Certainly some people firmly believe. Even without the mystery, this would be a charming novel. I have only a few left in this series and I will be very sorry when it ends. I feel I know Hannah and her family.

Currently Reading

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This week I read the fourth in a series of time travel mysteries by Carol Pouliot.

A bit of background. Olivia Watson and Stephen Blackwell live in the same house – just separated by eighty years. Olivia lives in the house in 2014 while Stephen lives in it in 1934. One night Stephen sees a woman sleeping in bed. She sees him pass in front of her and disappear into a wall. They discover they can cross from one time to another.

In this fourth offering, Stephen and Olivia have embarked on a relationship. They have been invited upstate, to the Onondaga Cabins for a holiday party. While there, the owner of the camp, as well as a newspaper empire, is murdered. Shortly after, the first victim’s son is murdered as well in a particularly cruel way.

This is, in effect, a locked room mystery. Since they are snowed in, no one can get in or out, although his partner Will and Jimmy Bou snowshoe through the heavy snow to assist.

Pouliot is brilliant in portraying Stephen’s partner, Will, and his questions about Olivia. He’s noticed certain anomalies and does an investigation into her – discovering, of course, that the college she graduated from and the paper she worked for have never heard of her. Pouliot handled Will’s questions, and his inevitable discovery of the secret, brilliantly.

Recommended.

Women’s work in Ancient Crete

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Women have always worked. And up until the modern era, their jobs they’ve done remained fairly consistent.

First and foremost, the care of children. The work that women have done has been tasks that can be scheduled around childcare.

Across cultures, women have been responsible for food production – babies can be brought to the garden – and clothing their families. Although men did some farming, they owned oxen, most of the crops they relied upon were not cereals but orchard crops such as olives and grapes.

Weaving, up until modern times, has always been one of a woman’s primary jobs. Without the textiles the women made, there would be no cloth. Flax – and linen – known since Neolithic times, was joined by wool. Wool is easy to work with since it has a little more stretch than linen. Wool comes in a variety of shades, black gray, cream and more. It takes dyes easily as well How can we be sure they were weavers? Spindles and looms weights have been discovered in the excavations. I saw them myself in Akrotiri, a town buried by ash and now being revealed.

The Minoan men traded these textiles all over the Mediterranean.

The designs were very complicated, so complicated we can only assume a long learning curve, especially if the patterns had to memorized. One of the popular patterns consisted of heart spirals set point to point with red diamonds in the center. Colored spirals were another favorite. How do we know this? Statuary and wall painting depict gorgeously clad women in elaborate clothing dancing, picking saffron, and more. And not just in Crete either. The patterns have been recorded by Egyptian artists.

No wonder Nephele, Martis’s mother is horrified when Martis refuses to become a weaver.

It was not until the Industrial Revolution and mechanization of weaving that hand weaving ceased to be an in-house task and a profession.

Next time: Priestesses.

Currently Reading

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Death Among the Ruins is Susanna Calkins seventh Lucy Campion Mystery. (And I have read the entire series!)

Lucy Campion is a printer’s apprentice, quite a step up for a servant in the Middle Ages. She is engaged to Adam Hargreaves, the son of the family she served, although she is quite nervous about the marriage because of the difference in their stations.

Death Among the Ruins begins with a rag picker approaching Lucy because she has found a dead body. Lucy accompanies her to the ruins, some of the many left by the Great Fire of 1666. It is immediately apparent the rag picker has not told the entire story.

An expensive dress leads Lucite the Mobley family, and the sickly daughter Charlotte. Lucy quickly realizes that all of the family members have secrets. But is any one of them the murderer?

Calkins’ real strength is her depiction of the 1600s in London. The descriptions, the characters, even the writing style puts you right there. Highly Recommended.

I have been a fan of Simon Brett for many years, right from his beginning with the Charles Paris mysteries. Mrs. Pargeter is one of his newer series. Mrs Pargetr’s Patio, which will be released later this month, is number seven.

Mrs Pargeter is enjoying the fine weather on her patio when one of the stones cracks, and reveals a human skull. What to do?

Fortunately, the now deceased Mr. Pargeter knew an array of dodgy characters that will gladly assist Mrs. Pargeter until it is the right time to call the police.

Funny as usual. Even the names: Concrete Jacket. Fixin’ Nixon, Truffler, are amusing. Fun.

Currently Reading

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Before I review my latest book, allow me to urge everyone to join he Fresh Fiction contest. You might win a copy of In the Shadow of the Bull

Plus a copy of A Simple Murder, the first Will Rees Mystery AND a gift card to Amazon.

Here is the link: https://gleam.io/Jghrh/eleanor-kuhns-september

With all the publicity I’ve been doing, I’ve only had time to read one book. The Ninja’s Oath by Tori Eldridge.

Lily Wong is a martial arts master. In this fourth one of the series, she travels to help Uncle, the cook in her father’s restaurant. Uncle was a gang member and is a pretty lethal fighter now. His granddaughter has been abducted and he needs Lily’s help in rescuing her.

I loved the descriptions of the setting – Shanghai. An old city of circuitous alleys and crumbling houses within a thoroughly modern city of high rises and affluence.

J Tran, the child soldier who intermittently assists Lily, makes an appearance just when he is needed most.

So fun. Plenty of action, an exotic setting and hitting of romance with the mystery. What could be better?

Currently Reading

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This week I read the fifth in Charlaine Harris’s Gunnie Rose series: All the Dead shall weep.

The novel begins with a bang; the arrival of Lizbeth’s half-sister Felicia and Eli’s brother Peter. The very next day, a contingent of soldiers arrive in Segunda Mexia. Lizbeth and Felicia realize Peter and Eli have followed the soldiers so of course the women must pursue the men. Lizbeth and Felicia soon come upon the car Eli took, crashed and burning, and with a dead Comanche woman in the trunk. Now in a panic, Lizbeth and Felicia begin to hurry,

I really enjoy this series. It is a both fantasy and a mystery with engaging characters and lots of action.

The second book couldn’t be more different. Missing White Woman, by Kellye Garrett, will be released next April.

Bree is on a romantic weekend with her boyfriend Ty Franklin at an AirBnb in New Jersey. Posters of a young white woman are plastered all over the area. Bree pays little attention as she is too busy trying to lure Ty away from his work on the computer. He promises her a trip to Manhattan if she’ll let him work a little longer. When she returns from her run, he is missing and there is the dead body in the house. The police suspect her.

Garrett is one of my co-panelists on LJ’s Digital Day of Dialog on October 29. More details to follow.

Makeup, Hairstyles and Clothing for Minoan Women

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What do we know about the cosmetics used by the women in Ancient Crete and the clothing they wore? Because we have no written records, archaeologists (and writers like me) are forced to rely on interpretations of murals, statuary and other art work.

Cosmetics were commonly used in the Ancient World: Egypt, the Middle Ages, and Asia. In Egypt and Mesopotamia, they were used by both men and women and all classes. Kohl was the most commonly used cosmetic. Kohl was made from galena, a dark gray ore and crushed charcoal, mixed with gum or water to make a paste. Cosmetics were so important cosmetic palettes were found buried in gold with the deceased’s grave goods.

Kohl was used for lining the eyes, like modern eyeliner. It offered health benefits in the form of protection from disease, bugs and sun rays. Red ochre clay was ground up and mixed with water to create a paste to paint on the lips and cheeks.

The murals also show the hairstyle fashionable at that time. Locks of hair were brought over the front of the shoulders. Most of the hair was drawn back from the forehead and decorated with pearls, gold beads or gems. Both sexes wore their hair in this manner.

Note in the graphic above the white ribbon at the back of the women’s necks. This was a sacral knot worn by the priestesses.

Finally, the murals and statuary depict a certain style of dress. All the women wear long skirts, usually ruffled or arranged in tiers, with a short short-sleeved jacket. Opinions vary about what women wore under the jacket. Were they nude or did they wear a blouse? It is difficult to tell from the artifacts available to us.

Below, a statue of a goddess or priestess holding snakes.


Minoan statue

Notice the elaborate belt around her wasp waist. Apparently, tiny waists were also the fashion and tight belts were worn to accentuate it. These wasp waists and tight belts were worn by men as well as by women.

This is the setting I use for In The Shadow of the Bull, a mystery set in Bronze Age Crete. Martis’s preference for more comfortable clothing, and only a loincloth when she is bull leaping, is frequently mentioned. As she grows up, she too adopts the tiered skirt with its tight belt and the short-sleeved jacket.