Sam, Candie and the gang are involved in another adventure. In this outing, Hank’s brother Aaron (Hank is Sam’s squeeze) is in town and involved with Joy, the daughter of the owner of the diner. A barbecue contest sees a bank manager make a pass at Joy. Aaron leaves in to defend his girlfriend. When the bank manager is found squashed to death by a pumpkin, Aaron is a prime suspect.
But there are many suspects, all with strong motives for wishing Edgar dead.
Lots of fun. The pet parade with all the pets in fancy costumes was a highlight. And I have to give Kazlo credit for finding some of the strangest methods of murder ever. Not only the 2000 pound pumpkin, but an outhouse, a bag of dogwood and so on.
With the USA’s 250th birthday coming up, there has been several books about the American Revolution.for example: The American Revolution: An Intimate History, by Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns and a new Burns’ documentary. I was particularly interested in the section on smallpox.
Like Covid-19, smallpox was a viral disease and greatly feared.The initial symptoms were similar to the flu, Covid-19 and many other viral diseases: fever, muscle pain, fatigue and headache. Before the distinctive rash erupted, small reddish spots appeared on mucous membranes of the mouth, tongue, and throat.
The characteristic skin rash form within two days after the reddish spots on the mucous membranes. The rash was formed of pustules with a dot (that became filled with fluid) in the center. These spots scabbed over and then the scabs fell off, usually resulting in scarring. In Murder On Principle, Constable Rouge suffers a case of smallpox and becomes terribly scarred.
The origin of smallpox is unknown although the theory says the virus developed in certain African rodents 60,000 or so years ago. The earliest evidence of human illness dates to the third century BCE with Egyptian mummies It is a lethal disease with a fatality rate for the ordinary kind of about 30 percent. Higher among babies. The Malignant and Hemorrhagic forms are over ninety percent fatal. Occurring in outbreaks, it killed hundreds of thousands, including at least six monarchs in Europe. In the twentieth century it is estimated to have killed 300 million alone. As recently as 1967, 15 million cases occurred worldwide.
During our Revolution, General Washington realized that a. smallpox epidemic would kill many of his troops. Accordingly, he had his soldiers vaccinated against the disease. They used a live virus so the risk of contracting smallpox was a possibility although usually the disease was less severe and less fatal.
In 1796, Edward Jenner discovered that milkmaids who had contracted cowpox, a much less serious disease, did not come down with smallpox. He began a trial and proved that inoculation with cowpox prevented smallpox. The cowpox was safer than the live virus..
Later, the vaccine was made of the killed virus. In Great Britain, Russia, the United States vaccination was practiced. However. My father contracted small pox as a toddler and lived to tell the tale. When he volunteered for the Army during WWII, they tried to vaccinate him but of course it never took because he was already immune.
A concerted global effort a to eradicate smallpox succeeded with the last naturally occurring case in 1977. (The last death was in 1978. A researcher contracted the disease from a research sample.) WHO officially certified the eradication of smallpox in 1980.
At Death’s Dough is the fifth in Mindy Quigley’s deep dish mysteries. Delilah runs an upscale pizza restaurant. But it is winter, and custom is slow. She is gearing up for Valentine’s Day, and hoping for a good turn out. Dominick Capone, Delilah’s boyfriend’s cousin, has a plan. But a few days later, his body is discovered frozen in the frozen lake outside.
Even more than who murdered him is the why. As Delilah pokes into it, she discovers his murder leads to a long ago death, and a treasure.
I did not even come close to identifying the killer. The characters are engaging and the recipes are good too. Recommended.
I read the Lace Widow on the recommendation of a friend. This is a historical mystery that takes place just after the American Revolution and involves the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.
Eliza Hamilton, Alexander’s widow, is almost prostate with grief at the death of her husband. But she is convinced her husband was murdered and is determined to bring Burr to justice for it. Her questions bring her into contact with a house of widows on Pearl Street, but also to the notice of a band of conspiracists. A brick with a warning note is hurled through her window. And her son, Alexander Junior, is targeted as the murderer of several other men, all friends of his father.
I found the details of early New York City fascinating. The Hamiltons lived in Harlem, which was the country then! Each trip back and forth takes hours. But I didn’t love the main character who, although she is praised for her strength, is always falling into tears, fainting, and sleeping. I would give this a mixed review. Parts are very good, others not so much.
Carol Pouliot, author of the Blackwell and Watson time travel mysteries, spoke at the Goshen Public Library and Historical Society yesterday to an enthusiastic crowd. A book signing followed. She presented her newest book: Murder at the Moulin Rouge, which was just released a few weeks ago.
It was such a wonderful event that I hope to repeat it with other authors in the future.
The Dog who knew too much is the third in Spencer Quinn’s Chet and Bernie series. I was hesitant to read it since I disliked The Right Side, also by Quinn, so much. But I was encouraged by a friend to try one of the Chet and Bernies and I loved it.
Bernie is hired by Anya for an odd body guarding job. Bernie reluctantly takes it, and the job quickly spirals into an old mine, that may or may not still have gold, a kidnapping, and yes, a murder. Anya’s son is away at camp and disappears from an overnight. When the search does not turn up the boy, Bernie is arrested for the kidnapping. Of course nothing is simple and, after several twists and turns, the case is solved. Highly recommended.
Murder takes a vacation, by Laura Lippman, is another fun book. Mrs. Blossom, formerly seen in a Tess Monaghan mystery from 2008, stars in this outing. Muriel Blossom finds a stray lottery ticket in a parking lot which turns out to be the winning ticket for 8 million dollars. She offers her best friend Elinor an all expenses paid vacation a Viking cruise.
From the beginning, the trip goes sideways. First, she meets a dapper man on the plane who is the first man to spark something since the death of her husband. When she misses her plane connection, Allan puts her on the train through the Chunnel to France where she will pick up her cruise. After a day spent in Paris, she returns to her hotel to find the French police waiting for her. Allan is dead, fallen from a balcony in Paris. But that is not what Allan told her his plans were. What is going on?
And who is this Danny who keep turning up and tells Mrs. Blossom one story after another and then turns up on her cruise?
Lots of fun. I especially enjoyed this book because I have taken the very cruise that forms the heart of the book. And, as someone who has struggled with weight since childhood, Mrs. Blossom’s own struggles resonated. Highly recommended, both for the characters and the mystery.
Hana Babic îs a quiet, unassuming woman who works in the library. (Not a librarian, actually. No degree.) One day a detective arrives with bad news. Hana’s best friend Amina is dead under mysterious circumstances. Amina has left her grandchild to Hana.
Hana knows she had to discover the identity of Amina’s murderer or the eight-year-old child will never be safe. Hana has the skills to do it for she is more than she appears. During the Serbian/Bosnian conflict, Hana survived when the rest of her family were murdered. She became a partisan, known as the Night Mora, a lethal mythological creature. Now Hana must become the Night Mora again to protect the child and finally find closure for the horrific experiences she endured during the war.
Simon Brett is a long time mystery author, most famous for his Charles Paris series. Death in the Dressing Room is the 22nd Fethering mystery.
Carole, a very proper English woman, does not care for the theater. But her best friend, Jude, who counts actress among her many jobs, does. She attends a new play based on a classic television show, mainly because she knows one of the principal actors although Jude did watch the show.
But when Jude goes back stage to see Drake, she finds him dead on the floor, smacked in the head by a prop. There are many suspects, both those in the play as well as the stage manager. Together Carole and Jude investigate.
I’m not a big fan of the Fethering mysteries but I enjoyed this one. Carole particularly is a fun character although I think she would be annoying in real life. The mystery connects to an older mystery (originally declared an overdose)and as in all good mysteries, there are a lot of red herrings and the murderer is a surprise. Recommended.
River of Fallen Angels is the latest in Rowland’s Victorian mystery series. It starts with a bang when Sarah, Hugh and Mick find human remains on the bank of the Thames. Not the whole body, mind, but a few pieces. The so-called Torso Killer is back.
Sarah and her posse jump into the investigation. But Sarah and her husband are almost immediately at odds in whom they suspect.And Inspector Reid, who believes the Torso killer and the Ripper are one and the same, takes another tack entirely.
While Barrett investigates suspects from the Ripper murders, Sarah’s sister Sally has the brilliant idea to search the personals. Doing so leads them to a woman who was once missing but now is in an insane asylum. Sarah begins to focus on a strange religion, the Haven of Love, and the charismatic leader who follows it.
Meanwhile, the bitter rivalry between Reid and Sarah intensifies, but results in a totally unimagined twist at the end. Highly Recommended.
Chilled to the dog bone is S.A. Kazlo’s fifth book.As in the previous offerings, the action takes place in Wings Falls, New York. All the familiar characters are in place.
Decorated outhouses (yes, really) with a prize going to the best one are a popular town winter event. The Loopy Ladies have an entry. Gladys, one of the best and funniest characters, will ride the outhouse across the ice. But the morning of the competition, a disliked man is found frozen to death in the outhouse. And both Gladys’s and Sam’s( that’s Samantha) fingerprints are all over the water bottles outside.
But the victim was so unpopular there are many suspects.
Worse, from Sam’s point of view, a new woman is working at town hall, an attractive blonde named Sunny Foxx. And Sam catches Hank, her significant other, with his arms around Sunny in his office!
Light, frothy, laugh-out loud funny in places. My only criticism is that Kazlo uses the same descriptions repeatedly. Hank is always described with crystal-blue eyes, for example, and Candie, Sam’s cousin, has violet eyes.
