Tag Archives: Midsommer Murders

Thursday Thoughts

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Never Forget
Eighteen years ago yesterday (can that really be?), we all woke up and began our day as though it was like any other day. It wasn’t. I arrived at work around 7 a.m. For reasons I can’t recall, I telephoned Bill shortly after I arrived. We talked about whatever I called for, and then he said, “Have you heard that a plane flew into one of the Twin Towers in New York?” I remember being stunned by that news. But before I could say anything, he said, “Oh my God, another plane just flew into the other tower.” And so our day, and weeks, and months, and frankly, years began. Because nothing has ever been the same since. Not really. Terrorists struck other places, but not the United States. As the day — and the horrors — progressed, Americans — and really the whole world — set out on a new era. Everyone said NEVER FORGET —  that was the buzzword of the days ahead. I don’t think anyone has. There is not a September 11 that goes by that I don’t cry for at least some of the day. And that’s without watching the tributes on mass media. God bless America.

More Beezness
As I have documented in the past, our 13-year-old granddaughter is a beekeeper. A month or so ago, she and her dad (her fellow apiarist) gathered and bottled their honey…..

It’s as delicious this year as it was last year. This past weekend, Dagny (who is an entrepreneur as well as an apiarist) set up a lemonade honey stand, and she and her sister Maggie Faith began the big sell. This sweet team made a total of $370 in two hours!…..

 

 

 

September is an R Month
I have been so hungry for oysters on the half-shell. So the other night, I convinced Bill that we should go to a neighborhood restaurant that offers a fabulous happy hour featuring lots of different fish and shellfish, including oysters at a buck a piece. It wasn’t a hard sell, because Bill likes them as much as I. Oysters are supposed to be more delicious in months that include an R. These certainly were…..

 

It’s Murder
I recently wrote a blog post about my television binge watching habit, and mentioned Midsommer Murders in particular. I want to alert my readers that to my chagrin, this program is being eliminated from Netflix’s offerings as of October 1, 2019! Yikes. I better get going. I’m only on Series 13, and there are 19 series. Gotta go!

Ciao.

Friday Book Whimsy: The Sentence is Death

Posted in Book Reviews, Whimsies by

Author Anthony Horowitz is one of my favorite writers. He is the creator of and writer for two of my favorite Brit mystery programs: Foyle’s War and Midsommer Murder. He has also joined the legion of folks who have written Sherlock Holmes mysteries, but done a much better job of most. With his  2018 novel The Word is Murder, he came up with one of the most clever story ideas I’ve ever come across as a reader. He continues this clever idea in The Sentence is Murder.

What is the idea? With a wink at Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Horowitz writes himself –not a takeoff on himself, but actually his very own person — as a character in the book. In fact, he is Dr. Watson to London private investigator Daniel Hawthorne’s Sherlock Holmes.

London attorney Richard Pryce is found dead in his home, having been hit over the head with a bottle of expensive wine. It seems clear from the get-go that one of his clients — a famous, if odd writer is the murderer. After all, she threatened to kill him with a bottle of wine in front of a restaurant full of people. Still, just like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, nothing is as it seems.

though Horowitz (the character) is getting much better at figuring out the nuances of the mystery, he still is pretty klutzy when compared to the much-more astute Hawthorne.

The mystery is good, but the real fun is reading about Horowitz’s insecurities and problems around writing and producing real-life shows like Foyle’s War as part of the story line. And it was fun to get to learn a bit more about the heretofore secret life of the brilliant detective Hawthorne.

I loved this book, and can’t wait for the next.

Here is a link to the book.