Soggy Saturday Morning

Who’s awake this morning? The only movement on my quiet street is a ruffle of leaves in my neighbor’s yard as a squirrel whisks into sight. A friend joins him and they disappear somewhere, intent upon squirrel business. We had more rain last night and the thirsty earth soaks it up. Soggy leaves lie scattered […]

Questions and Answers

All of my mysteries are–well–mysterious. Some could be called downright spooky. In fact, they have been called that. But, guaranteed, the spookiness has rational answers. I think they do, anyway, usually. Here are some questions to jog your memories if it has been a while since you’ve read any Manos Mysteries. Have fun! Pour another […]

First Day of Fall

Well! It’s here again–fall, that is. Summer 2024 is a thing of the past and now we’re into a brand-new season–new, but as old as time. The earth turns, keeps spinning, and here we go, right along with it. The giant marigolds in front of the porch shine golden this morning and a few zinnias […]

Gravely Speaking

My friend Joy recently said she might want me to write her obituary. She said this jokingly as a compliment. “Well, after all,” she said, “you are in the cemetery business.” Gravely speaking, I guess I am, but it’s only in a fictional way. For example, The Cemetery Club, Grave Shift, Best Left Buried and […]

A Gold Mine of Information

Ned McNeil wanted to know about Marvie and she found the person who was a gold mine of information! Excerpt from Murder By Moonlight. It was one thing to say I wasn’t interested, but it was another to actually mean it. All that trouble at the deserted farm had happened a long time ago. Mrs. […]

Tea and Cake

A frog and a toad have inspired generations of children and adults.  Although they existed only on the pages of books by Arnold Lobel, these small amphibians taught real life lessons. Frog and Toad were friends and never a day went by that one didn’t go visit the other and, over a piece of cake […]