It is cold and dark this Monday morning, but compared to tomorrow’s forecast, it is balmy. Once again, winter’s frigid breath will make its way down from northern parts and blow into Arkansas and Oklahoma. In talking with my brother in Minnesota last night, I asked about the below zero temperature. “Do you have enough books?” I asked. “A whole shelf full,” he answered. So, all was well.
Instead of asking if someone has enough fire wood, now I ask if they have enough books to tide them over a cold spell. Drawing the drapes (don’t draw the drapes if snow is falling), lighting the fireplace, settling in with coffee and a book–a wonderful way to spend a winter day. At the moment, I’m reading Two Down, Bun to Go by H. Y. Hanna. This is the third of her Oxford tearoom series. The other two were so interesting, I couldn’t wait to delve into this one.
Other recently read books I would heartily recommend are What Child Is This? by Alice Boatwright and Murder at Lowry House by Leighann Dobbs.
The Mystery of the Altared Murder by Blanche Day Manos is a work-in-progress. It centers around three friends who are well past middle age into what some young whippersnappers might consider old. But, don’t mention old around these three feisty women. The mystery begins when one of them, Della, is about to get married. Della is pretty experienced at weddings, having been wed four times already, but never, in all her experience, did a marriage end like this one. This abrupt beginning and ending of a fifth wedding catapults the three friends into an alarming adventure fraught with a mountain blizzard and horrifying attempts to put a period to their prying into the untimely death of Della’s intended.
As the morning moves toward daylight, lights pop on in my neighbors’ houses. People are putting on coffee pots, getting ready to go to work and begin the day. Hopefully, at some point during the day, they’ll find time to pick up a cozy mystery. Some of my best friends are books, and I hope they are your friends too.
Manos Mysteries
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