Comfort–it’s something we long for, work for, search for, and when we find it, we wrap it around ourselves like a warm blanket on a chilly night and feel that all is right with the world. It’s strange that many, many dollars are spent, many miles are traveled, and many hardships are endured so that we or the people we love, can be comfortable.
I’ve always found a great deal of comfort in the familiar, predictable things–places I’ve been, people I know and love, and books that bring up happy memories. I’ve finished reading some good, exciting mysteries recently but they didn’t leave me feeling comfortable. I didn’t want to begin another, not knowing where the story would lead me; I wanted a familiar book, one that I’ve read a few times , a book that reminded me of where I was the first time I read it, so I pulled out a well-worn copy of Mary Roberts Rinehart’s mystery, The Red Lamp.
Of all the books Mrs. Rinehart wrote (and she is one of my favorite authors) The Red Lamp is the best loved. I met this particular mystery in a used book store one summer in Minnesota many years ago. My sister-in-law Carlene, my mother, and I browsed through an attractive little shop, housed in a small, log building that was owned by one of Carlene’s friends. There, tucked away on a shelf was a book by Mary Robert Rinehart. Wonder of wonders, I hadn’t read it! So, that book went home with me.
Mom and I stayed in Tracy and Carlene’s guest house, a few yards from their big house, practically on the shore of the lake. That night, a fierce storm came up. Lightning flared, thunder echoed and rain pounded the roof. If you’ve never heard rain tearing through the birches and pines and spruce trees, you’ve missed something in life. Inside our little cabin, Mom and I were snug and, as it turned out, safe, but during the height of the storm, I had no assurance of that. I couldn’t sleep so I read. Once I started reading The Red Lamp, I couldn’t stop; after all, who could sleep when the storm of the century threatened to fell trees and squash buildings? But, if the night had been serene with silver moonlight, I wouldn’t have slept anyway. I had to finish that book!
Finally, the storm grew still and I read the last page of the mystery. Sighing, I put it down, completely happy with the outcome and with the fact that my mother and I were still alive and, as the morning light showed, all the trees and buildings were still firmly rooted to the ground. Comfort!
So, now I will begin again to read The Red Lamp. I don’t expect a storm will keep me awake all night but the book may. I’ll enjoy every page and even though there are plenty of chilling situations and mysterious moments, it will be a most pleasant read. All the way through, on each page, I expect I’ll have plenty of cozy shivers and feel quite warm and comfortable.
Mary Roberts Rinehart is one of the authors who inspired me to try my hand at writing mysteries. Her books are chock-full of the cozy shivers and I hope you find a few in the books I write as well.
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