The Shape on the Stairs

The Shape on the Stairs

Thunder growled, ever closer. Those empty rooms of the house must surely be too dark for a proper photographing session, which was a relief, because I didn’t relish the idea of being inside them.             The Saunders Place hadn’t been lived in, since, who knew when. With no heirs, and no living person to lay […]

Moms, Daughters, and Mysteries

I’ve heard women say, “I don’t want to become my mother as I grow older.” What? How sad. If someone  tells me I’m like my mom, I consider it a huge compliment. My mother and I were best friends. I think you’d have liked her. If you never had that privilege, you can get just […]

Dangerous Encounter

The sun played hide and seek with the clouds, casting flitting shadows across the overgrown lawn as I got out of my car and walked to the back. Amazingly, remnants of my old rope swing still clung to a sturdy limb of the oak. The rope was frayed and gray, looking like it would disintegrate […]

No Such Thing

No Such Thing

In a book, there is no such thing as unimportant characters. They are all important and crafting them is a meticulous, fun job. In the Ned McNeil cozy mystery series, Ned, of course, is the protagonist. Then, there’s Cade, Pat, and Jackie. Another person in this series who insisted that I take care to describe […]

Premonition

Premonition

She was a likable older woman, very rich, opinionated, out-spoken, but friendly. Not an aristocratic bone in her body. She was generous too, providing a home for her relatives who had hit some hard times. She was the kind of person you would like to see continue throughout a book of fiction, lending color and […]

March Madness Murders

The book could have been called March Madness Murders and that would have fit. Instead, the title is Moonstruck and Murderous which is a good description too. But, what, exactly is “moonstruck”? Another word for moon is luna. And, from that comes lunatic. So, you get the idea. Moonstruck is a somewhat lesser way of […]