The Unfriendly Woods

This is an excerpt from the latest Ned McNeil cozy, Murder By Moonlight. Usually, Ned enjoyed a walk through autumn woods, but today something went painfully wrong. I sang as I drove, windows rolled down. Ulysses didn’t object, so I took that as a sign of approval. My mind was on the events of the […]

The Clock Is Ticking

The clock is ticking on the four-day countdown deal of the four DARCY AND FLORA COZY MYSTERIES at Amazon. This is Day 1, the only day all four books will be $4.99. Price will increase one dollar for each of the four days. Darcy and Flora are the intrepid mother/daughter sleuths who get stuck in […]

A Listening Ear and Good Advice

Clues: a partial message on a scrap of wallpaper, a ghostly figure on the stairs, a book of curious poems, a murderer who had done a disappearing act. Sleep was hard to come by that night. My dreams were riddled with ghosts and scraps of paper which kept floating just beyond my grasp. When a […]

With Death in Pursuit

A drop of blood dripped from my nose and I flicked it away. I felt terrible and couldn’t imagine how I looked. If our lifeless bodies were ever found, would anybody recognize me?  “I’m in no condition to die,” I told Mom. “Just look at my hair. If Minda Stilley could see me now.” I […]

Ancestry and Its Mysteries

Ancestors are fascinating people. You have them. I have them. Each ancestor has a story and, from their stories, we arrive and write our own stories to pass on. I’ve always been fascinated by past generations. Finding out more about how they lived, what they considered important, how they spent their days is an engrossing […]

The Best Is Yet to Be

I have a sun dial in my flower garden. On it is an inscription from a poem by Robert Browning, “Grow Old Along With Me; The Best Is Yet To Be.” I’ve always liked that line. I suppose Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning had a wonderful marriage and did grow old together. Some of us […]