Tag Archives: mystery

Mystery Solved!

My great grandfather was born to a single mother in 1898. She never disclosed who the father was, or if she did, it was kept secret by anyone who knew. She married a man within a few years of my great grandfather’s birth, and my great grandfather assumed his stepfather’s last name. It is unknown if he was ever officially adopted. I first became aware of my great grandfather’s illegitimate birth when I first began diving into my genealogy. There were a few theories as to who the biological father was: a traveling businessman, a married man, or even a … Continue reading →

So Why All the Mystery?

I hope you’re not too fed up with hearing about my uterus. It’s a pretty big deal for me, and a pretty major surgery on the horizon… so I’ve got a lot of processing to do. One lingering question isn’t so much about the health issue itself but about the mystery surrounding it. Why was my regular doctor not willing or able to make a definitive diagnosis when another doctor — faced with the same exact report from the ultrasound — did? I’ve come up with a few possibilities. For one thing, maybe the level of expertise is part of … Continue reading →

Chopping Spree – Diane Mott Davidson

Another installment in the Goldy Schultz catering series, “Chopping Spree” takes place two years after Goldy’s marriage to Tom. Life is going well, with the exception of teenage son Arch, who is shortly to turn fifteen and believes that he’s somehow entitled to all the cool gadgets his rich friends have. The catering business has really taken off, and Goldy is getting more jobs than before, which leave her worn out and starting to lose her health, but after so many years of just barely scraping by, she’s excited to finally be making some headway with her career. She’s also … Continue reading →

A Pocket Full of Rye – Agatha Christie

One of Dame Agatha Christie’s most beloved detective characters is Miss Jane Marple, elderly but spry, and certainly not missing any of her marbles. With her sweet face and gentle disposition, no one would suspect that lurking under her white hair is a brain like a steel trap, able to solve mysteries in a single bound, and bring evildoers to justice just when they think they’ve gotten away with everything. “A Pocket Full of Rye” is such a mystery, in which we see Miss Marple do what she does so well. Our story begins in the offices of Mr. Rex … Continue reading →

Kaleidoscope – Dorothy Gilman

Most famous for her Mrs. Polifax series, Dorothy Gilman didn’t limit herself to stories about the gutsy elderly detective. In “Kaleidoscope,” we see a whole new female sleuth, Madame Karitska. First introduced in Gilman’s book “The Clairvoyant Countess,” Karitska is a displaced countess of former wealth who went through a terrible period in her life and is now virtually penniless, living in a humble apartment from where she does psychic readings. Karitska’s good friend Pruden is on the police force and often comes to her for advice. She helped rescue his lady love in the first novel, and in this … Continue reading →

The Poetry of Murder – Bernadette Steele

“The Poetry of Murder” by new novelist Bernadette Steele is set against the backdrop of the International House at the University of Chicago. Our main character is Geneva Anderson, an African-American poet whose Aunt Victoria is the director at the I-House. Geneva is a resident there as well, on a poetry fellowship. Upon completing some new poetry, Geneva goes to Victoria’s office to get her opinion on her work. When she steps into her aunt’s office, she is completely unprepared for what she sees – her aunt’s body covered in blood. She was close to her aunt and the shock … Continue reading →

The Arthurian Omen – G.G. Vandagriff

Anxious to move on after the sudden death of her husband, Patrick, Maren allows herself to be wooed by the handsome and charming Englishman, Ian Southcott. Now married to him for three months, she has reason to suspect that he’s an antiquities thief, but she’s not sure how to extract herself and her daughter from the situation. When her sister Rachael calls from Great Britain, asking for her help, Maren realizes this could be her way out. Leaving her daughter with relatives, Maren goes to her sister’s aid, thinking this could be the start of her separation from Ian. Rachael … Continue reading →

Thicker than Water (2005)

“Thicker than Water” was originally a made-for-television movie produced by Hallmark. Natalie (Melissa Gilbert) is a leading lawyer in a high-powered firm. Her father is a judge, and a long tradition of honor and respectability runs in their family. When her father passes away, Natalie doesn’t expect skeletons to come tumbling out of the closet, but they do. He left a box full of letters and pictures from his first wife, a wife Natalie didn’t know he’d had. To make matters worse, her name was Maggie May and she was a rodeo queen. Natalie’s not sure what to do with … Continue reading →

Jennie – Susan Evans McCloud

“Jennie” is the story of a young woman who goes to work as a nanny in the town of Concord. As an aspiring writer, Jennie is entranced by walking the same streets as Louisa May Alcott, Thoreau, and Emerson. She enjoys the children in her care, but doesn’t so much enjoy their parents, who are obsessed with work and their position in society. As she looks for friendship in her new town, she meets the delightful Cornelia, who regales her with stories of a bygone era and quickly becomes a good friend. When Cornelia’s grandson Nigel comes for a visit, … Continue reading →

Fool Me Twice – Stephanie Black

I finished this new LDS suspense novel last night and loved every minute of it. It’s not often that a book has so many twists and turns, I can’t stay ahead of it, but this one kept me guessing through the end. Megan O’Connor’s father passed away six years ago, and her needy mother asked her to stay home from college and help get things organized. Her twin sister, Kristen, walked away and never looked back, leaving Megan to pick up all the pieces. As the years passed, their mother became more and more demanding and manipulative, wheedling Megan’s college … Continue reading →