Summer of Angela: Death on the Nile (1978) Without spoilers

July 25, 2025July 29, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 13 Comments

Angela Lansbury once said in an interview that one of the more exciting moments of her career was working with Bette Davis in Death on the Nile (1978).

That’s the movie I watched this week for my Summer of Angela feature.

The movie is full of A-list movie stars: Angela, Bette, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Mia Farrow, and, of course, Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot.

I’m not a fan of Ustinov as Poirot since David Suchet plays the part so brilliantly, and I can’t see anyone else as Poirot, but the movie is still okay overall. I only added it to my watch list because Angela is in it. I had fun watching her be absolutely over the top as an eccentric romance writer and Maggie Smith be an overall jerk throughout, which is a role that she seemed to always play well.

Mia Farrow was …er…creepy as always.

Let’s talk about the plot a little for those who aren’t familiar with this one from either the book by Agatha Christie or the movie.

The online description:

“On a luxurious cruise on the Nile River, a wealthy heiress, Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles), is murdered. Fortunately, among the passengers are famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) and his trusted companion, Colonel Race (David Niven), who immediately begin their investigation. But just as Poirot identifies a motley collection of would-be murderers, several of the suspects also meet their demise, which only deepens the mystery of the killer’s identity.”

Angela portrays an eccentric romance writer named Salome Otterbourne who based a character in one of her books on Linnet. She and Linnet confront each other on the boat and Linnet tells Salome she’s going to sue her for libel. Just about everyone on the boat seems to have an issue with Linnet, which makes me wonder how they all ended up on the boat together. Planned or just coincidence, I don’t know, but they all seem to know each other and Linnet is angry with just about everyone and they are angry with her.

Salome is on the boat with her daughter Rosalie who is embarrassed by her mother’s behavior.

Angela’s character isn’t in the movie as much as other characters, but when she is, she certainly fills the screen with her crazy personality and outfits.

She makes all kinds of semi-suggestive comments about possible couples or what people need to do to feel more relaxed. Some of the characters refer to her books as “lurid.”

At one point, she and her daughter talk about whether or not Poirot would know her from her books. Rosalie says, “Somehow, I don’t think Monsieur Poirot is a very keen reader of romantic novels, Mother.”

Mrs. Otterbourne responds: “Well, of course he is! All Frenchmen are. They’re not afraid of good, strong sex!”

She is such an obnoxious character that after the murder occurs David Niven’s character comments to Poirot: “What a perfectly dreadful woman. Why doesn’t somebody shoot her, I wonder?

Poirot responds, “Perhaps one day, the subscribers of the lending libraries will club together and hire an assassin.”

The film was shot on location in Egypt so many of the experiences the characters had were actually had by the actors and actresses. I think some of the reactions that were filmed when they were climbing on the donkeys and camels were totally adlibbed because they were so authentic and funny.

According to TCM, makers of the film were trying to cash in on the success of the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, also based on an Agatha Christie book. That cast was also star-studded with Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, and Anthony Perkins.

Unfortunately, while Murder on the Orient Express brought in $27.6 million, this movie only grossed $14.5 million in the U.S. and Canada. Despite the lackluster success at the time it was released, many Christie fans see it as one of the better adaptations of the book — at least according to the many comments about it that I read online.

One thing that might have made the movie less of a success was the filming locations.

TCM.com stated this in an article about the movie: “Despite the exotic locale, split between Egypt and London, filming conditions for the movie were less than ideal. Filmed on a little boat called The Carnock, the actors took a speedboat back and forth each day from their hotel in Aswan down river to the shooting location. The Carnock was also apparently too small for all the actors to have their own dressing rooms. One unpleasant incident involved Bette Davis, Olivia Hussey and some Eastern chant records Hussey liked to play early in the morning. After Davis asked Hussey not to play her music, it was reported that the actresses did not speak to each other again while aboard The Carnock. If tensions weren’t high enough, the temperature climbed well above 100 degrees everyday and filming often was halted at noon.”

What Angela said about the movie:

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, Angela remembers what a delight it was to work with Bette Davis.

“She was a very fascinating woman,” Angela told Studio Canal. “I got to know her quite well on that occasion. She had been a great, great Warner Brothers star and I had been a fan of hers as a child. She was a great deal older than me and I remembered her and all her great roles.”

Angela remembered Bette as being a “special and unique” actress.

“Unique looking and sounding and I was delighted to meet her and work with her.”

Angela also reflected on working with Ustinov who was her ex-brother-in-law.

“My role was such an interesting, farcical character anyways and there was so much comedy involved,” she said. “David Niven and Peter Ustinov and myself and my husband and I, we were all great friends and knew each other from other times.”

As for the conditions, Angela confirmed that they were not very nice at times.

“We were billeted in a hotel in the middle of the Nile,” she said. “To get to it, we had to get on a boat, having to cross water. We all lived in this luxury hotel in the middle of the Nile in Egypt and that was a special and wonderful experience I would say. I mean you couldn’t have been more comfortable. Swimming pools, wonderful food, everything you could possibly want and then we would get 4 or maybe 3 in the morning because of the heat at the time in Egypt. We had to do the shooting before noon. Otherwise, it would be too hot. So, we were dealing with that and also an old riverboat we were working on which was trundling its way down the Nile, pulled by little boats and sometimes under its own steam.”

The boat made so much noise, though, that it was often tugged along by the little boats, she said.

The only dressing room in the bottom of the boat in a four-bed cabin.

“It was a bed up and a bed down, so the fittings had to take place between the two beds,” Angela said. “I remember that Bette would lie down on one bunk and Maggie Smith was on the other and I was on the third. We would take turns being fitted in the ‘well’, in the middle. It was one of those extraordinary circumstances where we forced to not be the stars we were supposed to be.”

The costumes in this movie were amazing and were designed by Anthony Powell, who won an Oscar for his work on the film (the film’s only award). Angela had nothing but praise for him.

“My costumes on that film I thought were absolutely extraordinary and quite original and marvelous,” she said. “They were built in New York City by my friend Barbara Matera and he worked with her and we all worked together and we came up with this extraordinary look but Anthony was at the root of it all.”

I have to agree that her costumes were dazzling and something else. Not sure I’d ever wear them, but they fit her character for sure.

You can see the full interview here:

My thoughts:

I watched this one in pieces because it comes in at a whopping 2 hours and 20 minutes!! I didn’t remember it being that long when I first watched it with my husband, but, thinking back, I seem to remember we watched one half one night and the other half the next night.

While I did enjoy the movie, and watching Angela’s antics when she was on screen, the movie was really too long for my taste. I know they needed to take us down some twists and turns to keep us guessing but two and a half hours? Gah!

Also, what always gets me about these movies is how a bunch of people can die (the number of deaths in this one was excessive if you ask me and I’d like to read the book to see if Agatha wrote that many deaths) and at the end everyone just shrugs it off. I won’t give it away but there was one death in particular that just got waved off as no big deal at the end with the characters smiling and walking away arm in arm. So bizarre and left me wondering if the person they said killed that person wasn’t actually someone else.

In addition to Angela’s performance, I loved the witty and sarcastic banter between Maggie Smith and Bette Davis’ characters.

Maggie’s character, Miss Bowers, was supposed to be Bette’s nurse and companion. Bette portrayed Marie Van Schuyler, a socialite. Maggie was horrible to Bette’s character, though! It was sort of crazy but also hilarious. They had some of the best exchanges.

“Mrs. Van Schuyler: Come on, Bowers, time to go. This place is beginning to resemble a mortuary.

Miss Bowers: Thank God you’ll be in one yourself before too long, you bloody old fossil!

***

Mrs. Van Schuyler: Shut up, Bowers. Just because you’ve got a grudge against her, or rather her father, no need to be uncivil.

Miss Bowers: *Grudge*? Melhuish Ridgeway ruined my family!

Mrs. Van Schuyler: Well, you should be grateful. If he hadn’t, you would have missed out on the pleasure of working for me.

Miss Bowers: I could kill her on that score alone!

***

Mrs. Van Schuyler: How would a little trip down the Nile suit you?

Miss Bowers: There is nothing I would dislike more. There are two things in the world I can’t abide: it’s heat and heathens.

Mrs. Van Schuyler: Good. Then we’ll go. Bowers, pack.

Miss Bowers was definitely not a respectful employee, but I think that Mrs. Van Schuyler liked that.

One other observation: This movie seems to feature a lot of scenes of rich people sitting around in drawing rooms, all dressed up with nowhere to go. I’m very confused why they got all dressed up to sit around every night together and then just go to bed. Didn’t any of them own clothes that weren’t fancy? Of course, I’m teasing here because I really did love the outfits for the women. The dresses were all so eye-catching.

Trivia or Facts About the movie:

According to producer Richard Goodwin, Bette Davis brought her own make-up, mirrors, and lights to Egypt. (source IMdB)

Peter Ustinov was David Niven’s personal attendant during World War II. Ustinov was a private and Niven was a Lt. Colonel (various sources)

Location shooting in Egypt consisted of four weeks on the riverboat “S.S. Karnak” and three weeks filming in places such as Luxor, Cairo, Aswan, and Abu Simbel. (various sources)

Ustinov portrayed Poirot five more times. (various sources)

Albert Finney was initially asked to reprise his role as Poirot from Murder on the Orient Express (1974). However, he had found the make-up he had to wear for the first movie very uncomfortable in the hot interior of the train, and on realizing that he would have to undergo the same experience, this time in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), he declined the role. (source IMdB)

Angela Lansbury had never seen the finished film until she attended a 40th Anniversary screening on November 9, 2018. (source IMdB)

Dancer Wayne Sleep, relatively unknown at the time, choreographed the tango scene. He reported in 2018, “I was being paid an hourly rate, which was great as nobody turned up to the rehearsal and I had to go and find David Niven and persuade him to come.” (source IMdB)

Producer John Brabourne said no telephones were available while on-location in Egypt. They had to communicate by telex. . (source IMdB)

Agatha Christie was inspired to write the source novel in 1937, during an Egyptian vacation. The hotel scenes were shot at the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan, where Christie stayed. The hotel’s front had to be “redressed” to appear more 1930s, and the furniture on the hotel’s terrace was replaced with custom period-authentic pieces. (source IMdB)

Notable quotes:

Jacqueline De Bellefort: Simon was mine and he loved me, then *she* came along and… sometimes, I just want to put this gun right against her head, and ever so gently, pull the trigger. When I hear that sound more and more…
Hercule Poirot: I know how you feel. We all feel like that at times. However, I must warn you, mademoiselle: Do not allow evil into your heart, it will make a home there.
Jacqueline De Bellefort: If love can’t live there, evil will do just as well.
Hercule Poirot: How sad, mademoiselle.

***

Mrs. Van Schuyler: [Remarking on Linnet’s pearls] Oh, they’re beautiful!

Linnet Ridgeway: Thank you.

Mrs. Van Schuyler: And extraordinary, if you know how they’re made. A tiny piece of grit finds it’s way into an oyster, which then becomes a pearl of great price, hanging ’round the neck, of a pretty girl like you.

Linnet Ridgeway: I never thought of it that way.

Mrs. Van Schuyler: Well, you should. the oyster nearly dies!

***

Jim Ferguson (to Rosalie): Karl Marx said that religion was the opium of the people. For your mother, it’s obviously sex.

***

Miss Bowers: I think a shot of morphia will meet the case. I’ve always found it very effective when Mrs Van Schuyler is carrying on.

***

Mrs Otterbourne: I suppose that uncouth young man will appear now and attempt to seduce you. Well, don’t let him succeed without at least the show of a struggle. Remember, the chase is very important.

Rosalie Otterbourne: Oh, mother!

Mrs Otterbourne: I tell you that I, Salome Otterbourne, have succeeded where frail men have faltered. I am a finer sleuth than even the great Hercule Porridge.

Have you seen this one? What did you think?

Here is what is left of my Summer of Angela:

August 1 – The Court Jester

August 8 – The Picture of Dorian Gray

August 15 – A Life At Stake

August 22 – All Fall Down

August 29 – Something for Everyone

If you want to read about some of the other movies I watched you can find them here:

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

The Manchurian Candidate

National Velvet

The Pirates of Penzance

Gaslight

Please Murder Me

Additional resources:

TCM.com

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16698/death-on-the-nile/#articles-reviews?articleId=87814

Interview with Angela about the movie:

https://youtu.be/6vmY6_WMbeU?si=zZIs2jq3mVZGofZi

IMdB listing: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077413/trivia/

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find her on Instagram and YouTube.

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot July 25

July 24, 2025July 24, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 4 Comments

Welcome to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot, where we offer a place for bloggers to link up and get a fresh set of eyes on their posts. We also feature one blog a week, letting our readers know about the blog and providing a link so readers can learn more about it. Please feel free to post new blog posts or old ones you want to bring attention to again.

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

This has been an interesting week for me with bear sightings on my back porch! (I’ll write about that in a future post), some cooler temps, choosing homeschool curriculum and .. well…that’s about it! Ha! I said interesting, not exciting!

I hope you have been having a more exciting week!

Now, let’s introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Marsha from Marsha in the Middle started blogging in 2021 as an exercise in increasing her neuroplasticity. Oh, who are we kidding? Marsha started blogging because she loves clothes, and she loves to talk or, in this case, write!

Melynda from Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household – The name says it all, we homestead in East Texas, with three generations sharing this land. I cook and bake from scratch, between gardening and running after the chickens, and knitting!

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

Sue from Women Living Well After 50 started blogging in 2015 and writes about living an active and healthy lifestyle, fashion, book reviews and her podcast and enjoying life as a woman over 50. She invites you to join her living life in full bloom.

We would love to have additional Co-Hosts to share in the creativity and fun! If you think this would be a good fit for you and you like having fun (come on, who doesn’t!) while still being creative, drop one of us an email and someone will get back with you!

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: Serenity You

A little about Natasha: “A married mum with three teenagers and three cats, bookworm, tea drinker, cake lover and weirdo.”

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up, Natasha!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

I enjoyed this post about Nancy’s Lifestyle changes!

(Joanne had an awesome birthday full of great food!)

(The Apple Street Cottage has a new cottage!)

Lisa’s review of a book about algorithm hit home for me

Important things to know about the link-up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books Set in Pennsylvania

July 22, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 12 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today’s prompt: Books Set in/Take Place During X (Pick a place, time, era, etc. Examples: Books set in Europe/Italy/Australia/Chicago, books set in Regency England, books that take place during the 1900s, books set in imaginary worlds/post-apocalyptic/dystopian worlds, books set on the ocean, books set it castles, books that take place during WW2, etc.)

Today, I thought I’d list books that took place in Pennsylvania. This is a mix of books I have read, want to read, or have simply heard about.

The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz

This book is based on a true story. Set in 1784 on Hamilton Hill, Washington County, Pennsylvania, near the Monongahela River some 20 miles south of Pittsburgh, this historical novel for children features ten-year-old Ann Hamilton. The Hamilton family has settled in “The Western Country” from the other side of the Allegheny Mountains from Gettysburg, and Ann is homesick for her friends and the comforts of civilization. Ann’s only friend on Hamilton Hill is Andy McPhale, the son of squatter, and she takes on the project of teaching Andy to read and write. The story concludes with a visit by George Washington himself, who is inspecting his properties in the region and looking for a place to sup.

(Read it and liked it.)

2. Miracle on Maple Hill by Virigina Sorensen

Description: Marly and her family share many adventures when they move from the city to a farmhouse on Maple Hill

(Read it twice and loved it.)

3. American Rust by Philip Meyer

Description: Set in a beautiful but economically devastated Pennsylvania steel town, American Rust is a novel of the lost American dream and the desperation–as well as the acts of friendship, loyalty, and love–that arises from its loss. From local bars to train yards to prison, it’s the story of two young men, bound to the town by family, responsibility, inertia, and the beauty around them, who dream of a future beyond the factories and abandoned homes.

Left alone to care for his aging father after his mother commits suicide and his sister escapes to Yale, Isaac English longs for a life beyond his hometown. When he finally sets out to leave for good, accompanied by his temperamental best friend, they are caught up in a terrible act of violence that changes their lives forever.

Evoking John Steinbeck’s novels of restless lives during the Great Depression, American Rust delves into the contemporary American heartland at a moment of profound unrest and uncertainty about the future. It’s a dark but lucid vision, a moving novel about the bleak realities that battle our desire for transcendence and the power of love and friendship to redeem us.

(Have not read it. Maaaybe interested. Looks a bit dark for me.)

4. My Heart is on the Ground: the Diary of Nannie Little Rose by Ann Rinaldi

Description: Beginning in broken English, Nannie tells of her incredibly difficult first year at the school, including entries detailing her previous life as her ability to communicate in English grows. From December, 1879, to October, 1880, readers follow a remarkably resilient girl, uprooted from her home and culture, trying to find a place for herself in a rapidly changing world. Loyal, caring, and creative, she is able to see a spirit helper in a kitchen mouse and willing to defy regulations in mourning the death of her dearest friend. Rinaldi depicts widely divergent cultures with clarity and compassion. Captain Pratt, founder of a school that forcibly strips children of their native culture, also provides vocational training and field trips, and responds to his students as true individuals. The body of the text is followed by an epilogue telling of Nannie’s later life, an extensive historical note, and black-and-white photos. The period, the setting, and Nannie herself all come to life. An excellent addition to a popular series.

(Have not read it, but probably will with my daughter for school)

5. A Cord of Three Strands by Christy Distler

Description: As 1756 dawns, Isaac Lukens leaves the Pennsylvania wilderness after two years with the Lenape people. He’s failed to find the families of his birth parents, a French trader and a Lenape woman. Worse, the tribe he’s lived with, having rejected his peacemaking efforts, now ravages frontier settlements in retaliation. When he arrives in the Quaker community where he was reared, questions taunt him: Who is he—white man or Lenape? And where does he belong?

Elisabeth Alden, Isaac’s dearest childhood friend, is left to tend her young siblings alone upon her father’s death. Despite Isaac’s promise to care for her and the children, she battles resentment toward him for having left, while an unspeakable tragedy and her discordant courtship with a prominent Philadelphian weigh on her as well.

Elisabeth must marry or lose guardianship of her siblings, and her options threaten the life with her and the children that Isaac has come to love. Faced with Elisabeth’s hesitancy to marry, the prospect of finding his family at last, and the opportunity to assist in the peace process between Pennsylvania and its Indian tribes, Isaac must determine where—and with whom—he belongs.

(Read it and enjoyed it. Recommend it.)

6. The Killer Angels : A Novel of the Civil War byMichael Shaara

Description: After 30 years and with three million copies in print, Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War classic, The Killer Angels, remains as vivid and powerful as the day it was originally published.

July 1863. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia is invading the North. General Robert E. Lee has made this daring and massive move with 70,000 men in a determined effort to draw out the Union Army of the Potomac and mortally wound it. His right hand is General James Longstreet, a brooding man who is loyal to Lee but stubbornly argues against his plan. Opposing them is an unknown factor: General George Meade, who has taken command of the Army only two days before what will be perhaps the crucial battle of the Civil War.

In the four most bloody and courageous days of our nation’s history, two armies fight for two conflicting dreams. One dreams of freedom, the other of a way of life. More than rifles and bullets are carried into battle. The soldiers carry memories. Promises. Love. And more than men fall on those Pennsylvania fields. Bright futures, untested innocence, and pristine beauty are also the casualties of war.

The Killer Angels is unique, sweeping, unforgettable, a dramatic re-creation of the battleground for America’s destiny.

(Haven’t read it. Interested.)

7. Tea with Jam and Dread (A Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery Book 20) by Tamar Meyers

Deciding that the PennDutch Inn needs to go more upmarket, Magdalena Yoder is delighted to welcome the Earl and Countess Grimsley-Snodgrass and their family as honoured guests, looking forward to the challenge of introducing English nobility to traditional American culture. But, as Magdalena is about to find out, the Grimsley-Snodgrasses are by no means the easiest of guests, and at the same time she has to contend with the discovery of a mummified corpse trapped in her elevator shaft.

Then tragedy strikes during a traditional Pennsylvania-Dutch picnic at Stucky Ridge, when one of the Grimsley-Snodgrasses disappears over the edge of Lovers’ Leap. Did he fall – or was he pushed? And where is the body…?

(Have not read. Interested and looking for the first book in the series.)

8. The Quilter’s Apprentice: A Novel (The Elm Creek Quilts Book 1) by Jennifer Chiaverini

Description: When Sarah McClure and her husband, Matt, move to Waterford, Pennsylvania, she hopes to make a fresh start in the small college town. Unable to find a job both practical and fulfilling, she takes a temporary position at Elm Creek Manor helping its reclusive owner Sylvia Compson prepare her family estate for sale and after the death of her estranged sister. Sylvia is also a master quilter and, as part of Sarah’s compensation, offers to share the secrets of her creative gifts with the younger woman.

During their lessons, the intricate, varied threads of Sylvia’s life begin to emerge. It is the story of a young wife living through the hardships and agonies of the World War II home front; of a family torn apart by jealousy and betrayal; of misunderstanding, loss, and a tragedy that can never be undone. As the bond between them deepens, Sarah resolves to help Sylvia free herself from remembered sorrows and restore her life—and her home—to its former glory. In the process, she confronts painful truths about her own family, even as she creates new dreams for the future.

Just as the darker sections of a quilt can enhance the brighter ones, the mistakes of the past can strengthen understanding and lead the way to new beginnings. A powerful debut by a gifted storyteller, The Quilter’s Apprentice tells a timeless tale of family, friendship, and forgiveness as two women weave the disparate pieces of their lives into a bountiful and harmonious whole.

(Haven’t read this one but have read other books in the series and enjoyed them.)

9. Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes (A Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery Book 1) by Karen Rose Smith

Description: Daisy, a widowed mom of two teenagers, is used to feeling protective–so when Iris started dating the wealthy and not-quite-divorced Harvey Fitz, she worried . . . especially after his bitter ex stormed in and caused a scene at the party Daisy’s Tea Garden was catering. Then there was the gossip she overheard about Harvey’s grown children being cut out of his will. Daisy didn’t want her aunt to wind up with a broken heart–but she never expected Iris to wind up a suspect in Harvey’s murder.

Now the apple bread and orange pekoe is on the back burner while the cops treat the shop like a crime scene–and Daisy hopes that Jonas Groft, a former detective from Philadelphia, can help her clear her aunt’s name and bag the real killer before things boil over . . .

(Haven’t read by now I want to.)

10. Gladwynn Grant Gets Her Footing by Lisa R. Howeler

Description: A little bit of mystery, a dash of romance, and a whole lot of heart

After being laid off from her job as a librarian at a small college, Gladwynn Grant isn’t sure what her next step in life is. When a job as a small-town newspaper reporter opens up in the town her grandmother Lucinda Grant lives in, she decides to take it to get away from a lot of things – Bennett Steele for one.

Lucinda has been living alone since Gladwynn’s grandfather passed away six years ago and she isn’t a take-it-easy, rock-on-your-front-porch kind of grandma. She’s always on the go and lately, she’s been on the go with a man who Gladwynn doesn’t know.

Gladwynn thought Brookstone was a small, quiet town, but within a few days of being there, she has to rethink that notion. Someone has cut the bank loan officer’s brakes, threatening letters are being sent, and memories of a jewelry theft from the 1990s have everyone looking at the cold case again.

What, if anything, will Gladwynn uncover about her new hometown and her grandmother’s new male friend? And what will she do about her grandmother’s attempt to set her up with the handsome Pastor Luke Callahan?

Find out in this modern mystery with a vintage feel.

(Read it. Wrote it. Yes, this was a cheesy pick and not why I did the list, but then when I started down through the list, I thought, “Oh! My book takes place in Pennsylvania! Haha!”)

Have you read any of these books?

Also, if you have any book-related posts you would like to add to my monthly link-up A Good Book and A Cup of Tea, you can do so here or you can also link to the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot on Fridays!

Book review: The Clue in the Diary (A Nancy Drew Mystery)

July 21, 2025July 21, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 4 Comments

I didn’t read much Nancy Drew when I was a kid so it has been fun to read through the books as an adult. Right now, I am on the original books, which were published in the 1930s, with revisions made later.

I have read some of the books in order but have also been jumping around. I already knew that Nancy’s boyfriend was Ned Nickerson but he wasn’t in the first six books. He was in later books I had read, though. When I recently read The Clue In The Diary I found out that it was the book where he first appeared.

His appearance was one of the reasons the book is now one of my favorites, but also because the mystery held up well even all these years later.

Ned’s introduction in the book is so cute. It is clear from the start that he is taken with Nancy and hopes to become more than friends. She, of course, is also very smitten, but does her best to pretend she isn’t. What interests her right away is how he becomes interested in the same mystery she is interested in.

That mystery involves a fire at a house that she and her friends, Bess Marvin and George Fayne stumbled upon while driving home from a carnival. At that carnival they met a little girl and her mother and felt both of them looked malnourished and poor. They are talking and worrying about the little girl when they see the fire at a large mansion on the hill.

They pull over to see if they can help. Nancy runs toward the house and tells Bess and George to find a nearby house where they can call the local fire department.

Nancy yells to see if anyone is in the house but there is no answer. She hopes that no one is inside and when she runs toward the back of the house, she sees the shadowed figure of a man in the bushes, but he disappears before she can speak to him. She also finds a journal lying in the driveway and she thinks it might be a clue. The journal is written in Swedish though so she can’t read it.

The fire department arrives and begins putting out the fire and Nancy strikes up a conversation with a neighbor who says the house has been shut up all summer and she doesn’t think anyone is inside. She isn’t too thrilled with the neighbors either. Their names are Raybolt and they aren’t very nice, the neighbor says.

When Nancy goes back to her car she finds a young man climbing into it and moving it. She thinks he’s stealing it, but it turns out he’s actually just moving it out of danger.

“The young man pulled as close to the edge of the drive as possible. He was about nineteen, Nancy decided, surveying him critically. His hair was dark and slightly curly, his eyes whimsical and friendly. He wore a college fraternity pin.”

Nancy is suspicious of him but later he begins directing traffic to help people get around the fire and her mind is changed. During the rush to get away from the fire, another car rearended her and she pulls off the road to inspect it. The young man pulls off too.

That’s when he introduces himself as Ned Nickerson. As the book goes on there will be more chance meetings and some that aren’t by chance as Ned makes it a point to visit Nancy and help her with finding out what happened at the fire.

One reason Nancy wants to find out what happened at the fire is because of the suspicious man who was outside and because Mrs. Raybolt later says her husband was inside and is dead. Nancy isn’t so sure if this is true or not.

Nancy also learns that the husband of the woman with the little girl was the man sneaking around behind the burning house. Could he have set the fire and caused the death of Mr. Raybolt? If so, why?

As I said above, I enjoyed this one. I wasn’t as pulled in by the cover for some reason so I, for some silly reason, had it in my head I wouldn’t like it. I did, though. I’d put it right up there with The Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes, which was my favorite book of the original Nancy Drew’s before I read this one.

I loved the romance part of it. It was subtle and sweet.

Here are some of the cute romance parts:

“After Ned had hung up, Nancy fairly danced back into the bedroom. He sent one slipper flying toward the bed, and the other into the far corner of the room. The young sleuth attempted to convince herself that her jubilant spirits were the result of Ned’s discovery. The ring might be a clue to the identity of the person who had set the Raybolt house on fire. Bess and George, she knew, would have interpreted her reaction very differently!”

“The suggestion was not displeasing to Ned, for he had mentioned the show merely as an excuse to spend the evening with Nancy.”

Have you ever read this particular book?

What did you think?

Murder, She Wrote and Jesus

July 20, 2025July 20, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 19 Comments

It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, what the rest of the family and I have been reading and watching, and what I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.

My blood pressure was high this week. It’s been an on and off issue for a few years now but seems to get better when I relax and take my time to take the reading the correct way.

It doesn’t want to go down at all when I am anxious, however, no matter what I do.

I’ve been anxious a lot lately, for a variety of reasons, one being the fact I needed to go to the doctor this week.

Long story short, I canceled the appointment when I found out a doctor I’ve heard very good things about actually takes my insurance. I’ll probably end up on medicine but at least I’ll feel like I can talk to this doctor about it unlike the other doctor I had the appointment with.

That appointment is a couple of weeks away, so I plan to monitor my blood pressure until then and do all I can do reduce stress (that might not be possible with a couple of situations going on but I’ll see). I started monitoring it off and on in June.

This week I couldn’t get it to an acceptable level until Thursday night after I’d been praying about it and after I sat down to watch Murder, She Wrote.

That’s right, readers.

I am crediting the significant drop in my blood pressure Thursday night (more than 15 points on top!) to Murder, She Wrote and Jesus.

I was so wrapped up in the mystery I didn’t focus on my worry about my blood pressure. It’s almost as if Jesus reminded me that I hadn’t watched Murder, She Wrote in a few days simply so I would finally stop worrying about everything all of the time and finally relax.

That’s my tip for any of you with high blood pressure: Pray to Jesus and watch Murder, She Wrote. (*Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I only play one on my blog. Do not actually consider this medical advice. Please consult your actual doctor. *wink*)

I just finished Spill the Jackpot by Erle Stanley Gardner. It was a Cool and Lam Mystery and I didn’t like it as much as the first book in the series I read a couple of years ago. Getting it through it was a bit of a slog actually. I will try another book in the series, but this one was not a favorite of mine.

I’m reading Murder She Wrote: Killer in the Kitchen by Donald Blain, The 100-Year-Old man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, and Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.

The 100-Year-Old man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared is . . . uh . . . weird, but I have to find out what happens.

I hope to finish Dave Berry Is Not Taking This Sitting Down at some point, but I like reading a chapter here and there and I haven’t read it in a while because I’ve been wrapped up in mysteries.

Books I want to read soon include My Man Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, A Penny Parker Mystery: Whispering Walls by Mildred A. Wirt (Benson), and another Nancy Drew book but I haven’t decided which one.

Little Miss is reading The Clue in the Diary by Carolyn Keene (A Nancy Drew Mystery).

This past week I watched Please Murder Me with Angela Lansbury and Raymond Burr. I also watched three very good Murder, She Wrote episodes, a movie with William Powell called The Canary Murder, and an episode of Scarecrow and Mrs. King. I never watched Scarecrow and Mrs. King when I was younger so it’s fun to discover the show, even though I’ve heard of it and seen parts of episodes in the past.

I’m actually progressing on Gladwynn Grant’s fourth book. It’s a miracle. I know.

This week on the blog I shared:

I am listening to The Unlikely Yarn of the Dragon Lady by Sharon J. Mondragon on Audible.

I have also been listening to a lot of Harry Connick Jr. songs, including this one:

The piano solo that starts at 1:50 is absolutely brilliant.

Now It’s Your Turn

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.

This post is linked up with The Sunday Post at Kimba at Caffeinated Reviewer, The Sunday Salon with Deb at Readerbuzz, and Book Date: It’s Monday! What are you reading hosted by Kathyrn at The Book Date. Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Reading Reality.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

You can also find her on Instagram and YouTube.

Summer of Angela Summer of Angela: Please Murder Me (with tiny spoilers but not big ones)

July 18, 2025July 18, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 16 Comments

This summer I am watching Angela Lansbury movies for the Summer of Angela.

I switched some things up a couple of weeks ago and slid The Pirates of the Penzance and this week’s movie, Please Murder Me, in place of a couple of TV movies Angela was in. I do have an interest now in watching one of the ones I replaced, so I may do that on my own.

This week’s movie starred Angela with Raymond Burr. It was short, sweet, and to the point, and very good. My husband watched it with me and said this movie would be considered a “B-movie” back in the day, but it was a very good B-movie to me.

I have been remiss in sharing where I have found these movies to watch so I do want to share that this one is free on Tubi and YouTube. The reproduction quality isn’t the best because it is a “b movie” and is now in the public domain. This means people can put this movie up wherever they want and not get hit with a copyright claim. I’ve found a lot of cool movies that way through YouTube and Tubi.

The movie seems to show, no matter where you find it, lines down the middle and sides from the old film. I am not sure if there are cleaner copies out there or not.

The description of this movie is that Raymond Burr portrays a lawyer who finds out his client, who he just got off for murder, is actually guilty. There is a lot more to it than that, but that’s the bottom line.

According to TCM.com, the movie’s screenplay was based on a teleplay by E. A. Dupont and David Chantler on Big Town (CBS, 1954).

It was directed by Peter Godfrey.

The movie starts with Raymond walking down a street, going into an office, and then speaking into a tape recorder (reel-to-reel) telling whoever hears the recording that in 55 minutes he will be dead.

We then have a flashback that will encompass the bulk of the movie.

That flashback consists of us learning that Burr’s character, Craig Carlson, is in love with his best friend’s wife Myra Leeds (Angela). We find this out because Craig tells Joe Leeds (Dick Foran) and says that he and Myra are going to be married and Craig would like Joe to divorce her.

Joe is oddly calm about this and as he leaves Craig’s law office, says he needs some time to think.

Before long we are in the Leeds’ apartment and Joe Leeds has met his maker. He’s under a sheet and Myra is being questioned by a plain-clothes cop who clearly thinks her self-defense story is absolutely garbage.

Myra says that Joe lunged at her, furious that she told him she wanted a divorce, and that she, terrified that he was going to kill her, shot him.

Uh-huh. Are we, the viewers, buying this?

Well, yes, I was because I hadn’t read the synopsis of this film before I watched it so I thought she might actually be telling the truth but…..not really sure.

Craig has, of course, volunteered to be Myra’s defense attorney.

It isn’t too much of a spoiler to say (since all the descriptions online already say this) that after the trial Craig discovers that Myra wasn’t being very truthful.

The problem is that in the United States a defendant can’t be tried twice because of the concept of “double jeopardy.”

Now Craig has to figure out how to make Myra pay for what she did to her husband and his best friend. Craig already felt guilty about having an affair and now the guilt is insurmountable and has a hefty helping of betrayal piled on.

I have only seen Raymond Burr in the old Perry Mason episodes and Rear Window but have enjoyed his acting in both and I enjoyed his acting in this movie as well.

He mainly played villains in the beginning of his career.

Here he portrayed a bit of a darker Perry Mason or as the author at Heart of Noir stated “a three-dimensional, complex lead role” who is “both a home wrecker and a cuckold, which demands of him quite a balancing act of emotions.”

Overall, I liked this movie and I enjoyed both Raymond and Angela’s performance.

I read a piece of trivia that I will share below that involves Angela taking the job because she needed the money and she may have only done it for the money, but she seemed to put her all in it.

I really enjoyed her performance, even if it was toned down from what she would show in films such as The Manchurian Candidate. One might say this role was a good preparation Eleanor Shaw.

I loved the use of light and shadow in the film. I am a huge fan of black and white photography and films that use shadow and light to highlight what the photographer or director wants the viewer to focus on.

In this one, there was a lot of shadow around the subjects with light hitting their eyes or whole face during tense scenes when a secret was about to be revealed or a confrontation was had.

My husband and I agree on some points about the movie.

There could have been more explanation of the plot. There was some missing information throughout which led to rushed scenes.

“Instead of being only an hour and 14 minutes it could have been an hour and 45 minutes,” my husband said.

This would have given us time for a bit more background and exposition. We both agree that these minor issues didn’t take away from the overall story, however.

I like what Heart of Noir said about the movie: “From the pre-credits opening scene of an unidentified man walking the city sidewalk past scummy-looking bars and peep shows, the film oozes with economy, bland interiors and soupy darkness combining with overhead shots and Dutch angles to disorient the viewer and create an occasional dream-like feeling.”

I also enjoyed this assessment by PopOptiq: “The picture earns its fatalistic conclusion with a gut-punch plot resolution to Craig’s tireless mission to expose Myra. If anything, the film is yet another reminder of the range both Raymond Burr and Angela Lansbury had as actors. Both became legends through very different projects on television, making this reunion, before their popularity erupted, all the more interesting a time capsule.”

Trivia or facts:

According to Angela Lansbury’s authorized biography, this movie was filmed in an abandoned supermarket near Yucca and Franklin Streets in Los Angeles. Lansbury and her husband Peter Shaw were at a low financial point in their marriage and they needed the money. After the film was finished, she applied for unemployment insurance. (source IMdB) (An insert by me here: her husband was Peter Shaw and she played Eleanor Shaw in a movie? Like…weird!)

The film was made the same year that Raymond Burr auditioned for the role of Perry Mason.

Lamont Johnson’s who plays . . . well, I’m not going to tell you so I don’t spoil anymore of the story …. Is in this movie and this was his last movie as an actor before he became a full-time director. He mainly directed stage and television productions.

The opening credits featured the cast, writers, director and producers. The crew appeared in the closing credits. (source TCM.com)
Please Murder Me was the first film made by Gross-Krasne, Inc., which was run by executive producers Jack J. Gross and Philip N. Krasne. (source TCM.com)

A quote from the movie that I liked, “My whole life has meant just meant three things, my love for Joe, my work, and my love for you. You destroyed them all. How much more is left of me?”

Have you ever seen this one? If so, what did you think?

Cat from Cat’s Wire also watched the movie this past week and wrote about it on her blog here.
For next week, I am switching The Mirror Cracked, based on an Agatha Christie book, for Death on the Nile, based on another Agatha Christie book. I’ve been reading that Death on the Nile is better than The Mirror Cracked..

Here is the full list of movies left to watch for this feature:

July 25: Death on the Nile

August 1 – The Court Jester

August 8 – The Picture of Dorian Gray

August 15 – A Life At Stake

August 22 – All Fall Down

August 29 – Something for Everyone

If you want to read about some of the other movies I watched you can find them here:

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

The Manchurian Candidate

National Velvet

The Pirates of Penzance

Gaslight

The Pirates of Penzance

Sources and additional resources:

Please Murder Me: https://heartofnoir.com/film/please-murder-me-1956/

Please Murder Me IBdB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049621/trivia/?ref_=tt_dyk_trv

TCM.com: https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/86833/please-murder-me/#overview

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Please_Murder_Me!

‘Please Murder Me’ sees underrated greats Lansbury and Burr go head-to-head: https://www.popoptiq.com/please-murder-me/

Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot July 17th

July 17, 2025July 17, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 9 Comments

Look for the post to go live about 9:30 PM EST on Thursdays.

My husband and I celebrated our 23^rd wedding anniversary on Sunday and we had such a nice day. We visited a nearby bookstore (in a village in the middle of nowhere) and then had lunch at a cute café with amazing food.

We watched a movie together at home after that and now my husband has been off from work all week and we’ve been spending time together as a family.

I hope you have been having a great week!

Now, let’s introduce our hosts for the Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot:

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings shares about the fiction she writes and reads, her faith, homeschooling, photography and more.

WTJR will be highlighting a different blogger each week this year! We invite you to stop by their blog, take a look around and say hello!

This week we are spotlighting: Karin’s Kottage

A little about Karin: Collaborating with brands is like adding a sprinkle of excitement to my blogging journey! It’s not just about products; it’s about weaving stories that resonate with my wonderful readers who are mostly over 50.

It’s like throwing a fantastic party and inviting everyone to join in the fun – and who doesn’t love a good party? So, here’s to more brand collaborations that light up our lives and homes together!

Some of the brands I have worked with are Nearly Natural, Shutterfly, Fabric Wholesale Direct, Turtle Fur, Poster Store, Personal Creations and Basic Invite.

Thank you so much for joining us for our link-up!

And now some posts that were highlights for me this past week:

I love reading Cat’s posts about silent movies

(I love these ideas from DIY Party Mom)

(Loved Amy’s trip to Jamestowne!)

I liked this review from Unsolicited Advice – I’ve read Horowitz’s Moriority and this reminded I want to read this one soon.

Important things to know about the link up:

You may add unlimited family-friendly blog post links, linked to specific blog posts, not just the blog.
Be sure to visit other links and leave a kind comment for each link you post (it would be too hard to visit every link, of course!)
The party opens Thursday evening and ends Wednesday.
Thank you for participating. Have fun!

*By linking to The Weekend Traffic Jam Reboot Link Up, you give permission to share your post and images on the hosts’ blogs.

Lisa R. Howeler is a blogger, homeschool mom, and writes cozy mysteries.

You can find her Gladwynn Grant Mystery series HERE.

Hardy Boys Episode Recap: Wipe Out (Did the Hardy Boys just rob the hotel?!)

July 16, 2025July 16, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 8 Comments

Here I am with another recap of an episode from The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries show from 1977.

As I’ve mentioned before, in the first season of this series, the episodes switched back and forth from Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew episodes and in the next season, they started to join together. Eventually, they began to phase out the Nancy episodes and focus more on The Hardy Boys. A new actress also started as Nancy when Pamela Sue Martin became disenchanted with the parts that were being written for her character.

This week I watched a Hardy Boys centered episode called Wipe Out.

This episode was one of the better ones, which I seem to be writing a lot more as I continue through the show. It seems the show got a lot better as it went on. Episodes still have some cheesy moments, sure, but the mysteries are better than in the beginning.

I spent the entire first half of this episode thinking our boys might have gone rogue and had become criminals. Luckily, things started to make sense at the halfway point.

We open this episode with a surfing competition underway and soon learn that Frank is in the competition and the boys are in Hawaii.

They aren’t only in Hawaii, they have found two girls who are hanging all over them and going to luaus with them. Of course Joe (Shaun Cassidy) is asked to sing at one of them and of course Frank wanders off to investigate something while Joe is singing. Frank’s wandering off continues a series-long inside joke.

After Frank’s competing, which brings him accolades and a chance to compete for a bigger prize, the boys head back to their hotel room and find out they’ve been robbed. This sends them to the police station where a cop sort of brushes them off because he says their stuff is long gone by now.

This will mean the boys will to call their dad, Fenton Hardy, and see if he can wire them some money for the rest of their trip. Joe says Frank has to call him because he’s the one that wanted to come and be in the surfing competition.

Frank has a better idea and the next thing we now the guys are breaking into a room after swiping the key of a couple at the hotel. I watched in horror as our heroes started loading up bags with the jewelry and money of the people and even more horror as they went to dinner and ordered big ticket items, telling the waitress they were fine on money.

She knew they’d been robbed, though, so she was pretty horrified like me, suspicious of how they got the money to pay for their meal.

This episode did a very good job of keeping us guessing what was going to happen next and tossing in characters we thought were going to bust the boys somehow.

We had hotel cops and town cops coming after them and suspecting them of theft. Then we eventually discover there is a burglary ring, and we wonder how the boys got themselves wrapped up in it. Or did they? What is going on?

Even the girls they are seeing are starting to ask questions, like why they have a pair of fancy binoculars that look like some stolen by a couple at the hotel.

Usually I give spoilers in these posts but today I won’t because it might be fun if you want to watch it later on your own and find out what was really going on.

If you like listening to Shaun Cassidy sing you’ll get your chance a few times in this episode, especially at the beginning and end when he is singing Beach Boys songs.

The joke about Frank never hearing Joe sing continues on as Joe keeps trying to play a cassette for Frank so he can finally hear the performance. That was a fun gag but less fun was having to see Shaun’s short-shorts and hair leg every single time they focused on the cassette player in his hand.

The surfing scenes were a lot of fun to watch and I have a feeling that young ladies back then just loved to see Parker Stevenson running in and out of the waves. I will say that they kept the show very chaste because he always wore a shirt. There was one scene where Shaun was shirtless while he was rescuing Parker …er.. Frank and I’m guessing the young ladies would have liked that.

You can find the posts I’ve written about other Hard Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries shows by searching on the search bar to the right.

Up next I’ll be watching a Nancy Drew centered mystery, The Mystery of the Ghostwriter’s Cruise.

Little, used bookstores are the best and an anniversary outing

July 13, 2025July 13, 2025 / Lisa R. Howeler / 20 Comments

Today is my husband’s and my 23rd wedding anniversary, and we went to a used bookstore near us because we are both serious nerds.

Then we visited a small café across the street for lunch.

Dinner and a book. That’s us, although it wasn’t always me. I read some but not as much, or as much variety, as I do now.

My husband has always been a big reader — sometimes a book a day or 3 to 5 a week.

I’m a much slower reader.

At the bookstore, I found three new (to me) Nancy Drew books, three Murder She Wrote books, and a cozy mystery by an author I am not familiar with — Betty Rowlands.

The Nancy Drew books I brought home were Mystery of the Tolling Bell, Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk, and The Clue of the Broken Locket.

The Murder She Wrote books are Killer in the Kitchen, Murder in Red, and The Murder of Twelve. I have a feeling they might be awful and I’m here for it. I started Murder in Red to see what I thought, though, and the first few pages was good.

The other cozy mystery was A Melissa Craig Mystery: A Little Gentle Sleuthing by Betty Rowlands.

There are so many variety of books there. I could have stayed there an hour but The Husband, alas, was hungry so we had to head out for some food which was odd because I am usually the one who needs to leave places for food.

After the bookstore and the dinner we headed home and watched a Frank Sinatra/Gene Kelly movie called Take Me Out to the Ballgame.

Yesterday I shared a bit about our week last week on my Saturday Evening Chat post.

A couple of quick reminders:

I have a monthly book-related link party if you are interested. You can find the A Good Book and A Cup of Tea link party at the top of my page or here.

Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs and I are still holding Drop-In Crafternoons once or twice a month.

We will be holding another one Saturday, July 19 at 1 p.m.

The Crafternoons are events where we gather on Zoom and craft at our respective homes and chat while we work on various projects. We are calling them drop-in crafternoons because you can drop in and out during the time we are on (usually from about 1 to 3 p.m. EST US time). No need to stay the whole time if you can’t. Come late if you want or leave early.

If you want to join in, email Erin at crackcrumblife@gmail.com and she will add you to the mailing list.

I finished The Imitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse this past week and really enjoyed it. It was so much fun and exactly what I needed right now.

I started The 100-year-old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared and I don’t know if I am exactly enjoying it but it’s different. I’ll see what I think.

I also started Spill the Jackpot by Erle Stanley Gardner. It’s a Cool and Lamb Mystery. I am not enjoying this one much at all so I’ll see if I finish it. There were three pages of a guy describing how to use slot machines! Why??? Ugh! The first in the series was so much better. This is number four.

I started Memory Lane by Becky Wade to see what I thought because I have wanted to read a light romance but have not enjoyed the two I tried by Courtney Walsh. I just think she isn’t my cup of tea but I’ve read Becky’s before and have enjoyed her so I thought I’d try this one and … I liked the beginning so I am going to read that when I need a light read.

Before bed I am enjoying Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.

I plan to read one of the Murder She Wrote I picked up soon.

Last week I watched The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), The Pirates of Penzance, and A Hole in the Head.

I don’t recommend A Hole in the Head. It’s a Frank Sinatra/Edward G. Robinson film and it has some cute and fun moments but fell apart hard toward the end and didn’t resolve well at all. It’s like they just ran out of time and said “welp, that’s it! We’re done!”

I also watched an episode of The Dick VanDyke Show and The Husband and I watched Take Me Out to the Ballgame and the Canary Murder Case, a Philo Vance Mystery from the 1930s.

Last week on the blog I shared:

What have you been doing, watching, reading, listening to, or writing? Let me know in the comments or leave a blog post link if you also write a weekly update like this.