I got out of my car. The place looked deserted but as I approached the nearer house, a tall, bony dog appeared around the corner. It growled. I stopped. The animal didn’t look in the least friendly. It bared its teeth, snarled and started toward me. Everything I had ever read about unfriendly dogs […]
Aug 19, 2020
The Menace in the Middle
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Do the first lines of a new book tell you whether you want to read the whole thing? First lines are important. So are final lines, but how about the middle? The middle of a mystery is important too. These are middle lines from my seven cozy mysteries. Can you identify the book each is […]
Aug 16, 2020
When There’s Nothing Else To Do
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Reaching across the table, I squeezed her hand. “Oh, Mom, think of it! Think of the people we’ve always looked up to, so respectable and virtuous, so God-fearing and honest. How’d they get that way? Maybe it’s because they came through some tough times. Maybe it’s because they strayed from the Lord and He brought […]
Aug 12, 2020
The Figure on the Stairs
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Murder By Moonlight is finished, except for tweaks, edits, and a general buffing. Here’s a snippet. I hope you like it. Why had I listened to Daisy Stanton? “You don’t have to take this assignment, Ned,” she had said when we met for coffee at Grandy’s last week.” Here she paused and sighed. “I […]
Aug 9, 2020
On the Trail
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“Our last night in Amarillo,” I said and sighed. We three women huddled under warm afghans tucked around us in Sophie’s wicker rockers on her front porch. The starry sky seemed almost close enough to touch. The lonely cry of a coyote rose and fell on the wind. A Crossfire Roadster wheeled into Sophie’s driveway […]
Aug 8, 2020
When the Earth Shifted
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We went down the steps and around the corner of the house to watch such strange behavior on the part of these usually gentle animals. Still squealing, the horses and mule ran into their barn and immediately began to kick the sides of the wooden structure. A loud crash came from the far side of […]
