It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
Yesterday Little Miss had a friend over and it was a somewhat busy day of running through sprinklers, jumping on trampolines, and making snacks.
Today I am taking my time deciding what to do since I didn’t have a great night of sleep. Whatever I do I am grateful to have a nice, cool, and sunny day to do it in.
In my post yesterday I mentioned that I have started a YouTube Shorts channel and a paid Substack. Today I started thinking about how much of a bad idea that was. *snort laugh*. I hate social media. What was I thinking?!
So, they are there and I do plan to post some interesting stuff on Substack, but I do not plan to get obsessed with YouTube because I just don’t have time. I waste too much time on social media as it is.
What I/we’ve been Reading
Currently:
The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene
The Women of Wyntons by Donna Muma
The Real James Herriottby Jim Wight
Just Finished:
The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson (romantic comedy)
Up next:
The Sentence is Death by Anthony Horowitz
What We watched/are Watching
The kids have been making their way through all the Harry Potter films so I’ve been sort of watching with them even though I’m not that interested in Harry Potter. These last films are super depressing in parts with team members just dying left and right without much time to mourn them. My son says that is how the books were too.
Last night I watched Dead Reckoning with Humphrey Bogart and Lizabeth Scott with The Boy. We did not enjoy it.
Tonight The Husband and I are watching the season 4 premiere (finally) of The Chosen.
What I’m Writing
I am working on Gladwynn Grant Shakes the Family Tree and on edits for Cassie. Still. Yes.
I am still listening to Around the World in 80 Days and I would love to finish it this week.
As for music, I am really enjoying Anne Wilson’s new album. Here is a sample of it:
Photos from Last Week
Blog Posts I Enjoyed This Past Week
I am behind on collecting blog posts for this feature but I plan to work on this this summer because I have been reading some really interesting blog posts lately. Now it’s your turn
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.
Our temps have remained mild this week which means I can still enjoy a warm cup of tea without making myself overheated. Today I am sipping peppermint tea with honey. Yes, I am a creature of habit.
Yesterday was one of the weirdest days I have had in a long time. It was one stressful thing after another and it didn’t let up all day. I won’t detail all of that stress here because some of it relates to private matters for others but I would literally hang up the phone and someone else would call with another situation. Thankfully none of it was at an emergency level and everyone is fine physically and no one is in the hospital. But, still, wow!
The other weird thing is that everyone I talked to was having a weird day too or my weirdness rubbed off on them. It was … to keep using the same word … weird.
By last night I was just sitting and staring at a type of emotional numbness from it all.
One good thing yesterday had going for it was that it was a beautiful day.
Little Miss and I traveled 20 minutes north to pick up our groceries and stopped by a couple of little libraries on the way back. Unfortunately, I only found two books and neither of them was very exciting. One is the autobiography of Michael J. Fox.
I was able to unload some of my books too, however.
The one little library is located along the Susquehanna River, on a river walk.
The other is an old British phone box and I’m really not sure where it came from but it is the makeshift library in the little town I went to school in. Their very old library was washed away in a flood several years ago. Little Miss wanted to pose in the little library so I snapped a photo of her.
Thankfully the weather is beautiful again today so hopefully I can perk up some.
Little Miss has a friend over and they have already had some fun jumping on the neighbor’s trampoline, sliding on the Slip N’ Slide, throwing water balloons, and just hanging out together.
The Boy helped my dad lift a headstone at the little cemetery down the road from Dad’s house and then helped a man who restores and cleans some headstones at another cemetery.
The Husband is, sadly, working.
Later I hope to be reading, which I tried to do a lot of this week. I didn’t even watch a lot of TV but I do hope to watch an old movie tonight because I miss old movies. I haven’t watched any in the last few months.
Thursday was our last day of homeschooling and I’m grateful for the break. I will probably start a few lessons in July but nothing too major until August.
The Boy’s technical school is out but he has a few English and History assignments to finish up for me. He will be a senior next year and Little Miss will be a fourth grader.
I haven’t yet told all of you that I’ve started a YouTube channel (just shorts for now) and a paid Substack – so I am telling you know now because I have to admit to all my regular readers that I have no idea what I am doing. I also have no specific goals for the channel or the paid Substack. You can also follow me for free on substack, which will be where I post my monthly writing update (which is free), and will soon be posting sneak peeks and other goodies for paid subscribers.
I will be sharing my main blogging here, however, because I feel like WordPress is my safe little haven where I’m just free to be weirdo me. Not that I won’t also be weird on Substack because I can’t get the weird out of me.
(Today’s post is sponsored by word weird. We’ve all been weird or known someone who is weird. If you too would like to be weird, then visit this blog often and learn more about how you too can be weird.)
One thing I don’t really like paying attention to with all these social media sites is stats. Stats are very suffocating. I just want to have fun making videos or sharing about what books I’m reading or – yes – sharing about the books I’ve written. After doing a little analyzing and looking at stats this week I was reminded again that numbers don’t mean anything if connections are not made and relationships are not formed. I was also reminded I’d rather have the connections and relationships than the numbers, which is why I’m going to post only when I feel like it and not think I have to post all the time to “build a following.”
The only one who should be followed is Jesus and he doesn’t keep track of his stats in numbers but in hearts so I think I’ll just follow him and worry less about numbers on a screen.
Now that we are out of school, I don’t know what we are doing.
Nope. I don’t know what we are doing next week at all.
The week after this upcoming week we will be going to meet with the kid’s homeschool evaluator and then the rest of that week there is an art class being held by the local 4-H. There will be a horse and pony club meeting that Friday night as well.
So that week will be fairly busy.
I’m a hermit in the summer sometimes because I don’t handle the hot temps well. Or my body doesn’t at least.
I lock myself up in air conditioning as much as possible to avoid, well, fainting. Ha.
I do hope we can get to a couple outside events this summer – including a pool or two and maybe an aquarium that Little Miss has been asking to go to.
How was your week last week?
Are the temps warm or cool where you are?
What are you drinking these days? Warm or cool drinks or a mix of both like me?
Today’s prompt was:Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read.
So I have a lot of books I could probably put on this list but today I am going to share three books I grabbed up at used book sales but still haven’t started. I know – I am supposed to share ten but I didn’t have ten! I am so bad at the whole “top ten” theme but hopefully I’ll get better at it.
These books won’t be on the “popular” lists of today because this week I realized I don’t read popular books. I read books not many people have heard of, I think. I’m like a little old book lady stuck in a middle-aged lady’s body.
Anyhow, here are my three books:
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie.
This is the first book in the Grantchester Mysteries, which is the book series that the British TV show is based on. The series follows the vicar turned amateur sleuth, Sidney Chambers.
Originally, I wanted to read these books because I thought they were older mysteries but when I picked up this book I realized it had been written in 2012, making it much more modern than I expected. I also learned (well just today, if I am honest) that the books are a collection of short stories, somewhat like G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown Mysteries.
I still want to read the book(s), however. I will have to compare it with what I have already seen of the show, which isn’t much.
There are six books in this series with the fifth, the prequel having been written in 2019.
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death (2012)
Sidney Chambers and The Perils of the Night (2013)
Sidney Chambers and The Problem of Evil (2014)
Sidney Chambers and The Forgiveness of Sins (2015)
Sidney Chambers and The Dangers of Temptation (2016)
Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love (2017)
The Road to Grantchester (2019)
The next book I snatched up at a library sale that I wanted to read was Let The Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor.
This is the sequel to Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, which I read as a kid. Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry is a sequel to Song of the Trees and all are part of the Logan family saga.
I want to eventually read this entire series but before I start this particular book, I want to go back and reread Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry since it has been *mumble mumble* years since I first read it.
If you are not familiar with this series, here is a quick description of the first book:
Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family’s struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice. And it is also Cassie’s story – Cassie Logan, an independent girl who discovers over the course of an important year why having land of their own is so crucial to the Logan family, even as she learns to draw strength from her own sense of dignity and self-respect.
And this one:
It is a frightening and turbulent time for the Logan family. First, their friend T. J. must go on trial for murder – and confront an all-white jury. Then, Cousin Suzella tries to pass for white, with humiliating consequences. And when Cassie’s neighbor Mrs. Lee Annie stands up for her right to vote, she and her family are driven from their home. Other neighbors are destroyed and shattered by the greed of landowners. But through it all, Cassie and the Logans stand together and stand proud – proving that courage, love, and understanding can defy even the deepest prejudice.
The third book I grabbed and wanted is Trouble Shooter by Louis L’Amour.
I grabbed this one because my mom and brother used to read Louis L’Amour when I was a kid and a blogger I follow reads him and was talking about his books. I thought this would be something different to try – out of my normal realm of genre reading.
L’Amour writes westerns and the only other books I’ve read that I would consider westerns are The Walt Longmire Mysteries by Craig Johnson.
So have you read any of these books or even heard of them? Let me know in the comments!
Apple Cider Slaying is the first book in the Cider Shop Mystery series by Julie Anne Lindsey and I can say right off the bat that I will read more in the series after reading this one.
The mystery starts with a murder in the apple barn of Winona “Winnie” Mae Montgomery and her Granny Smythe. The discovery of the body of Nadine Cooper, Granny’s nemesis, would have been unpleasant at any time but was especially unpleasant to find when Winona was in the middle of an interview with the bank’s loan officer while trying to secure a loan for her cider making business.
Winona has been helping Granny with her orchard for years and had hoped to expand the business. That will be hard to do, though, without some extra money. Getting that money won’t be easy when horrible things keep happening in front of the man who can give that money.
When the new sheriff, handsome Colton Wise, lists Granny as his number one suspect, Winnie knows she needs to clear Granny’s name. To clear her name she will have to do some investigating of her own because she thinks Sheriff Wise has made up his mind to prove Granny is guilty.
As if trying to keep the orchard afloat and start her own business, working at the local diner, and having her grandmother accused of murder isn’t enough, Winnie’s ex-boyfriend shows up back in town after dumping her the year before. Luckily, she has a best friend and people in her small community to lean on and support her and her grandmother.
There is a ton of humor in this book even in the midst of some very tense moments – especially between Winnie and Colton.
The one minor issue I had was that I would have liked the grandmother to be a little more flushed out – such as having even more of her personality and backstory showcased, but I think that will happen in future books. There was some of that in this first book, don’t get me wrong, but I loved her character so much so I want more. I am sure I will get that more in book two.
I loved Granny so much that I almost cried during one scene but I’m not going to spoil the reason for my emotion. You’ll have to read the book.
This series is on Kindle Unlimited or available for purchase in ebook, audiobook, or paperback.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
The Secret of Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene (Another fluff read by “Carolyn Keene” this week.)
The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson (A romantic comedy – much needed, though there is some seriousness thrown in so I’m reading it sort of slowly.)
Just Finished:
Strawberry Girlby Lois Lenski
I almost abandoned this one because of how odd it was when I first started but then I had to find out what happened with the Slater family – who are so mean to the Boyler family. If you’re not familiar with this one it is about farming families in Florida in the early 20th century. Their accents are, I guess, very authentic. Or mocking. Not sure which, but I think they are meant to be authentic. (I know they are meant to be authentic. I’m teasing a bit here.)
It honestly had a lot of disturbing stuff in it so I don’t think this will be a book I’ll read over and over. The librarian at our local library said this one had sentimental meaning for her like the Little House books but I don’t remember neighbors poisoning the Ingalls’ mule like the neighbors in this book did. Yikes. It did have a good ending, but I would not call this a “cozy read.”
It was, however, an interesting one.
Abandoned: I planned to start a new book by author Maddie Day and then found out that she is a cozy mystery writer who pushes politics in her books. No thanks. I read to escape from all that – not to have it shoved at me in books that are meant to be fun. And, by the way, I don’t want politics even if it is politics I “agree with.”
Soon to be read:
The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of my Father by Jim Wight
The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
The Boy and I are reading Around the World in 80 Days Together.
Little Miss and I are reading Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes.
The Husband is reading . .. oops. Forgot to ask him and he’s laying down for a nap. I’ll let you know next week.
What We watched/are Watching
It was a mixed bag of things on tap to watch this week. I watched an episode of Dick VanDyke, one of the old Carol Burnett Show, a couple of YouTube videos from Just A Few Acres Farm and I think that’s about it. I read and wrote more this week than watched things. What I’m Writing
I am still working on corrections to Cassie and on writing the third book in the Gladwynn Grant Mysteries.
Now it’s your turn
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 week our prompt was: Authors I’d Love a New Book From (These could be authors who have passed away, who have retired from writing, who have inexplicably gone quiet, or who might just not be able to keep up with how quickly you read their books!)
I knew right away what I would answer for this when I looked at the list of prompts last week.
This weekend the first author I thought of – Jan Karon, author of The Mitford series — announced she is actually writing a new book! What?! So excited right now!
In addition to Jan I would love new books from Lilian Jackson Braun (alas she is dead) and L.M. Montgomery (also dead).
Back to Jan, though.
This weekend Jan attended a tea at the Mitford Museum and announced that at the age of 87 she is writing the 15th book in the Mitford series, after originally deciding that the book she released in 2017 would be the last.
I am terribly excited for the new book but even if it never comes out for some reason, I will be okay because there are already so many books that I can read over and over again.
And I do read them over and over. I am always finding something new in them each time I read them.
If you don’t know what The Mitford series is, it is a series of books about Father Tim Cavenaugh, an Episcopalian Priest in his late-60s who starts to experience a lot of firsts – the first time falling in love, the first time becoming a father (you’ll have to read to find out what this means) , and the first time being diagnosed with a serious illness. He lives in the fictional town of Mitford, N.C. where there are a variety of wonderful, eccentric, sweet, bullheaded, hilarious, and loving characters. Those characters include Father Tim’s friends who he meets every morning at the diner, his church secretary, his housekeeper, his doctor, his sweet congregation member Miss Sadie, and then later his charming neighbor Cynthia.
Mitford books are written in a series of short snippets from a few points of view but somehow the story still comes together cohesively. Each character is so endearing and Karon writes them so perfectly and authentically that it is impossible not to fall in love with them and want the best for them. There are plotlines that carry over from each book but the main plotlines are usually resolved in the installment they begin in.
There is at least one plotline that does not resolve in several of the books and it had me heartbroken and worried as I waited for it to completely resolve. It was an amazing way to keep readers coming back for more.
I know some people might start the series and be annoyed by how the points of view jump here and there, but for the most part, the POV is Father Tim. If that jumping does bother you, I encourage you to still give the books a chance because I truly feel you will find yourself as enchanted by the character’s stories as I always was.
I remember how shortly after I married, I would sit in the tub at our new apartment (or it was new for me) and read the books while I was in the bathtub. Weird. I know. I was always worried I’d get the pages wet because back then I only read paperbacks – no e-readers. Yes. I am old.
The first book, At Home in Mitford came out in 1994. I was in high school at the time. I don’t believe I started reading them until I was in college. I read them because my mom was reading them. The last book, To Be Where You Are, came out in 2017.
Mom has said more than once that picking up a Mitford book, even years after you’ve read it, feels like coming home. She’s so right. It feels like you are walking right back into your friendly hometown with people who you know so well and they somehow know you too.
Last year my mom had her gallbladder removed. She was in the hospital for a week and for a while we weren’t sure if she was going to be okay or not. She needed something to read so I took her Bathed in Prayer, which is a collection of little sayings or excerpts from previous Mitford books. One night on the phone, when I’d called to check in, she told me how comforting that book was to her while in the hospital.
“It was almost like a little devotional,” she said.
Some of my favorite lines, scenes, or excerpts have come from Mitford books, including:
“Perhaps, he thought, we should all live as if we’re dying.”
***
“When it comes to feeling his sheep, I’m afraid my sermons are about as nourishing as cardboard.”
“Are you resting?”
“Resting?”
“Resting. Sometimes we get so worn out with being useful that we get useless. I’ll ask you what another preacher once asked: Are you too exhausted to run and too scared to rest?”
Too scared to rest! He’d never thought of it that way. ‘When in God’s name are you going to take a vacation?’ Hoppy had asked again, only the other day. He hadn’t known the truth then, but he felt he knew it now—yes, he was too scared to rest.”
***
“He’d learned that one obstacle to childlike faith in a heavenly father was bitter disappointment in earthly fathers. No, not everyone had that obstacle to faith, which was clearly a favorite of the Enemy, but Miss Sadie had had it, and he had had it and come to terms with it, and forgiven his father, long ago.
His research for the paper on Lewis revealed this had been a major obstacle for the apologist. One commentator had said, “For years, Lewis had not been able to forgive himself for his failure to love his father, nor had he been able to appropriate God’s forgiveness for this sin. But when finally enabled, he was almost incredulous of the peace and the ease he experienced.”
***
“There’ll be times when you wonder how you can possibly thank Him for something that turns your life upside down; certainly there will be such times for me. Let us, then, at times like these, give thanks on faith alone… obedient, trusting, hoping, believing.” (In This Mountain)
***
“At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him…. Watch where God puts you into darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet…. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.” ― (In This Mountain)
When Jan announced at a recent Mitford Tea at the Mitford Museum in North Carolina that she would be writing a 15th book, she reflected on why she had felt like she might not be able to write again.
She lost her mother in 2016, her daughter in 2021, and her brother in 2022.
“You’ve got to have something left to write with and I had nothing left to write with.”
Her aquifer was dry, she said.
So she began to write an autobiography but it wasn’t going anywhere. She wasn’t feeling it, so to speak.
She dug into her drawer and found a Mitford-related short story and began to play with that to try to get her creative juices flowing again, she said. Not only did her creative juices start flowing but she fell in love with Mitford again.
And now it looks like we will have another Mitford book – another story with Father Tim. Once again, she promised her fans what she has said in the past – she will never kill Father Tim off. I certainly hope she doesn’t kill anyone else off. A couple integral characters did die over the years and I sobbed like someone in my own family had died.
Have you ever read the Mitford books? Don’t worry – I understand if they weren’t your cup of tea.
It’s time for our Sunday morning chat. On Sundays, I ramble about what’s been going on, whatthe rest of the familyand I have been reading and watching, andwhat I’ve been writing. Some weeks I share what I am listening to.
I rambled about what’s been occurring in my post yesterday if you want to read that.
Today I have to drive 45 minutes one way to pick up The Boy from his friend’s house and then we will have lunch at my parents afterward. Then I’m bringing him home to mow our lawn which is crazy high from all the rain we have been having.
The temps are supposed to be hotter this week which I am not actually looking forward to because I don’t enjoy the heat and our AC isn’t ready to go yet. We have to install an extra pipe into the window and set up this whole contraption because we have odd vertical windows. It’s a whole process.
What I/we’ve been Reading
Just Finished:
The Mysterious Affair At Styles (The first book in the Hercule Poirot series) by Agatha Christie.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Do the New You by Steven Furtick
Operation Restoration by Kari Trumbo
This week I read that The Secret Garden was written by Burnett after her son died of tuberculosis. This helped me appreciate the book more because I just finished it for the first time with my daughter and I didn’t like the ending. I didn’t hate it but I wanted more. Now that I know the story behind the book I like the ending more because for Frances Colin being able to walk and be alive – like her son couldn’t be – was all she needed us to know.
To be started today or tomorrow:
The Fast Lane by Sharon Peterson (a romance)
And
Murder At the Rusty Anchor by Maddie Day
Soon to be read (or eventually at this point):
The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of my Father by Jim Wight
The Deeds of the Deceitful by Ellery Adams and Tina Radcliffe
Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander
The Husband is reading London Rules by Mick Herron
The Boy just finished listening to 1984 by George Orwell (nope, I didn’t make him), is almost done with Horus Rising and is also listening to Around The World in 80 Days.
What We watched/are Watching
This week I watched episodes of Newhart, Midsomer Murders, and Brokenwood Mysteries – some with The Husband and some alone.
I am still listening to Around the World in 80 Days.
Photos from Last Week
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.
Today we were to share book quotes so I decided to share ten quotes from Agatha Christie’s books.
“You gave too much rein to your imagination. Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely.” — The Mysterious Affair at Styles
“The young people think the old people are fools — but the old people know the young people are fools.” — Murder at the Vicarage
Everyone is a potential murderer-in everyone there arises from time to time the wish to kill-though not the will to kill.” ― Curtain
“There was a moment when I changed from an amateur to a professional. I assumed the burden of a profession, which is to write even when you don’t want to, don’t much like what you’re writing, and aren’t writing particularly well.” ― Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
“I often wonder why the whole world is so prone to generalize. Generalizations are seldom if ever true and are usually utterly inaccurate.” ―Murder at the Vicarage
The others went upstairs, a slow unwilling procession. If this had been an old house, with creaking wood, and dark shadows, and heavily panelled walls, there might have been an eerie feeling. But this house was the essence of modernity. There were no dark corners – no possible sliding panels – it was flooded with electric light – everything was new and bright and shining. There was nothing hidden in this house, nothing concealed. It had no atmosphere about it. Somehow, that was the most frightening thing of all. They exchanged good-nights on the upper landing. Each of them went into his or her own room, and each of them automatically, almost without conscious thought, locked the door….” ― And Then There Were None
Now I am old-fashioned. A woman, I consider, should be womanly. I have no patience with the modern neurotic girl who jazzes from morning to night, smokes like a chimney, and uses language which would make a billingsgate fishwoman blush!”― The Murder on the Links
Mademoiselle, I beseech you, do not do what you are doing.” “Leave dear Linnet alone, you mean!” “It is deeper than that. Do not open your heart to evil.” Her lips fell apart; a look of bewilderment came into her eyes. Poirot went on gravely: “Because—if you do—evil will come…Yes, very surely evil will come…It will enter in and make its home within you, and after a little while it will no longer be possible to drive it out.”― Death on the Nile
There is nothing so terrible as to live in an atmosphere of suspicion – to see eyes watching you and the love in them changing to fear – nothing so terrible as to suspect those near and dear to you – It is poisonous – a miasma.” ― The A.B.C. Murders
“Yes, yes-you will give him the earth-because you love him. Love him too much for safety or for happiness. But you cannot give to people what they are incapable of receiving.” ― After the Funeral
Have you read any of these books and any of them your favorites of hers?
Murder Always Barks Twice by Jennifer Hawkins follows a tea shop owner in England and her excitable and cute talking Corgi Oliver. Yes. The dog talks.
I was a little leery of the book at first because I don’t usually read cozy mysteries with magical elements (except the Magical Flowe Shop Mysteries by Amanda Flower).
When I realized that only the main character Emma could understand Oliver I liked the idea a little bit better.
The talking dog doesn’t overshadow the story at all. In fact, it seems pretty natural to the entire book which otherwise is completely realistic and doesn’t feature supernatural or magical elements. I think it also helps that the dog talks like you might imagine a dog talks. He’s a smart dog but not too smart. He’s just smart enough to know that there’s certain things he should tell Emma that he’s seen or smelled but not smart enough that he’s the one solving the mysteries.
Everything he wants to say is exciting to him. So he’s not sitting there and talking like a proper gentleman you might say. He’s sort of adorable really.
The supporting characters in the book are plentiful and that can make things a little confusing at times. Sometimes I had to go back and remind myself who someone was. Emma either works with or knows all the characters in some capacity and even though the town is small there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of people who Emma interacted with throughout the book.
I can’t say any of the supporting characters were that memorable to me other than Oliver. The three women she spoke to most all sounded the same to me in my head. They were sort of interchangeable sounding boards for her, even though one was supposed to be her best friend and the others more like co-workers. They offered a way for Emma to work things out clues in her mind but I part of me feels a couple of them could have been removed and the story still could have carried on just as well. At the same time, having a lot of support rallying around the main character was nice as well.
To clarify – just because I thought some of the supporting characters could have been cut out, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like the characters. I really liked the co-owner of the tea shop – Angelique – and her daughter Pearl but they weren’t super important to the plot for me, other than when Emma helped find some clues.
Emma’s friend Genny offered even more support but I lost track of what her job actually was — I think she owned a restaurant in town. It wasn’t really important to the plot.
I really enjoyed how this book was built around a festival celebrating author Daphne DuMaurier’s book Rebecca, which was made into a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The plot of that book/movie was skillfully tied into the mystery of this book, adding to the complexity of the plot. I was impressed with how much history the author knew about the DuMaurier and the area she lived in.
After a quick search online I learned there is a literary festival in Fowey, England that is inspired by DeMaurier, who wrote many books besides Rebecca.
Rebecca was, however, her most famous, partially because of the movie version of it.
I felt like the amount of red herrings thrown out in this one was enough to keep me guessing and second-guessing right up until the end. I had figured out the culprit toward the end but I still wanted to be sure and see how the author wrapped up how they committed the crime.
I would definitely read future books by this author.
