One day I was at the grocery store, and I kept hearing someone whistling and sounding very cheerful. It seemed that the whistler was always one aisle ahead of me. I finally turned up another aisle, and there was a very little, very old woman, whistling “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean,” and grinning from ear to ear. I stopped her and told her that her whistling had brightened my day.

This chance meeting also sparked an idea for a story. “The Trouble with Whistling” was hatched that day and it’s now available on Amazon.com.

Sandi Webster, P.I., is having a memorable week. The cases are piling up, and she has an eighty-something woman, Tillie, and a teenage boy, Mike, suddenly left in her care. All of the distractions have left her feeling clumsy and accident-prone. 

Tillie seems to have a song to whistle for every occasion, and the young man, while mature for his age, might be a liability. However, they both aspire to the same thing; to go on ride-alongs with Sandi.

While investigating a burglary case, a man is murdered in the same neighborhood. Should Sandi take on this latest case? Or are her hands full with burglars, elderly victims and stalkers?

And why would whistling be a problem? Afterall, it’s just a form of entertainment for a happy senior citizen.

I’ve been off the grid, in a manner of speaking, for a while now. Between covid and the lockdowns (thankfully mostly over), health and family issues, and moving across the country, things haven’t been normal. It’s time for things to settle down and get back to normal (whatever that is), for all of us.

My daughter and I have moved to Mississippi and I’ve found that I love it here! I don’t think I’ll ever regret the move. Sometimes we have to make a change in our lives when led to do it. And who knows? Maybe life in this beautiful, wonderful, slower-paced life might lead to another story.

The quieter life has given me plenty of time to think and I believe it’s about time for Sandi and her husband, Pete, to make a return trip to Wolf Creek. (“Old Murders Never Die”) One of my older books was about Sandi and Pete being stranded in a deserted ghost town where Sandi dared to solve an old murder. What if she returns to the town and discovers another secret? It could be fun. I’ll have to give it a lot of thought.

Sandi solves current day cases, as in the latest story, but she has the most fun and the biggest challenges when someone approaches her with a vintage case that’s just begging to be solved.

The characters I write about are fun to work with and they seem to evolve into whoever and whatever they want to be, without much help from me. Tillie was definitely fun to create, and she reminds me of a number of seniors I’ve known throughout my life. Her great-grandson, Mike, has been involved in mysteries with his parents in The Bogey Man Mysteries. He’s grown into a mature thirteen-year-old who’s more savvy than anyone gives him credit for.

Thank you for joining me today and for letting me tell you a little about “The Trouble with Whistling” and an idea for a new story. Life is good here in Mississippi and getting better every day!

Until next time, I wish you good health and joy in your day-to-day lives.

The Sandi Webster Mysteries, The Bogey Man Mysteries, and The Accidental Gumshoe Mysteries are available from Amazon.com, along with a couple of standalone mysteries. I hope you’ll check out some entertaining stories.

Click here to take a trip to Amazon.com

 

Let me start off with the book news. “The Accidental Gumshoe – A Sandi Webster Mystery” is free to download on Amazon from 7/23/22 through 7/25/22. I’m offering this book so that if you buy the new release, “One Night in May – An Accidental Gumshoe Mystery,” you’ll know how the Sioux Simms story began. By the way, the stories take place in 1920, and the second story involves seven murders, and interestingly, they span about seventy years and the crimes aren’t all related to each other.

                           

I’ve been off the grid, in a manner of speaking, for a while now. Between covid and the lockdowns, health and family issues, and moving across the country, things haven’t been normal. It’s time for things to settle down and get back to normal (whatever that is), for all of us.

My daughter and I have moved to Mississippi and I’ve found that I love it here! I don’t think I’ll ever regret the move. Sometimes we have to make a change in our lives when led to do it. And who knows? Maybe life in this beautiful, wonderful, slower-paced life might lead to another story.

In the meantime, I’ve had time to think about some of the other stories I’ve written. For instance, my husband and I visited a ghost town. There were plenty of visitors, and I found myself wondering what it would be like if we were the only two in the town and for some reason we couldn’t leave. And further, what if we discovered a mystery. Hmm. This led to “Old Murders Never Die,” where Sandi Webster and her partner, Pete Goldberg, are stuck in a ghost town with not much to do but try to solve a vintage murder.

The imagination can be such a fun way to fill time.

I’m a Humphrey Bogart fan and my imagination took off again. What if Sandi met a Bogey look-alike? “The Bogey Man” was born and came to life when he tried to learn the biz from Sandi. Of course, that’s the private detective business. This also led to a five-book series starring the look-alike who – surprise, surprise – I call The Bogey Man. Chris Cross, his wife and their young son always seem to be right there when someone needs a mystery solved.

Back to Sandi, she enjoys her work as a Private Eye and wouldn’t want to change professions for any other line of work. Among other cases, the first one she solved was “A Well-Kept Family Secret,” involving a relative who was accused of a murder in the late 1800s.

She also ran into trouble when her mother and stepfather bought a house in the desert in Arizona that hadn’t been lived in for years. The interesting thing about this story, “What Are the Odds?” is that everything about the house really happened, including the fact that a murder was actually committed in the real life house. The story itself is fiction, but the things about the house are real. In real life, a pile of boxes fell and knocked a hole in the garage wall. Behind that hole was a… Well, you’d want to read the book to find out what was behind that wall. There was even a tarantula migration on the property, both in the book and in reality. The house provided so much material for a fertile imagination.

Sandi solves current day cases, but she has the most fun and the biggest challenges when someone approaches her with a vintage case that’s just begging to be solved.

The characters I write about are fun to work with and they seem to evolve into whoever and whatever they want to be, without much help from me.

Now I’ve got to get back to work on a new Sandi Webster story.

Thank you for joining me today and for letting me reminisce about a few of the storylines. I’ll be back as often as possible. Life is good here in Mississippi and getting better every day!

Until next time, I wish you good health and joy in your day to day lives.

The Sandi Webster Mysteries, The Bogey Man Mysteries, and The Accidental Gumshoe Mysteries are available from Amazon.com. I hope you’ll check out some entertaining mysteries.

Click here to take a trip to Amazon.com

One Small Boy

This has been such a rough year for so many people. I guess that’s kind of an understatement. Hmm. No guessing. It’s an understatement. And now we’re in the holiday season. Christmas will be so different this year in homes around the world.

I usually post about writing, reading, and anything that’s related to those activities. There are times when I set all of that aside and think about my faith. This is one of those times.

Christmas has been neatly deleted from schools, public buildings, stores and all types of places, but the joy of the Lord is still in my heart. Someone might wish me Happy Holidays, but I’ll always wish them a Merry Christmas.

I know not everyone believes the way I do, and that’s okay. Celebrate whatever you want to in any way that pleases you –  and I’ll do the same.

If you couldn’t tell already, I’m a Christian and I love the Lord with all my heart. And I celebrate Him each and every day. I pray for people. I try to do the right thing, but often fail miserably. Am I perfect? Absolutely not. I make more mistakes and wrong choices than you can imagine, but I am forgiven thanks to the birth of one small boy.

Someone might think, “But, hey! She writes murder mysteries. How could a Christian write about something like that?” Well, there really are murders and there really are mysteries. My intent isn’t to gross someone out, but to entertain. While there is drama in my books, there’s also some humor. My characters, for the most part, have heart. They’re just ordinary people who sometimes find themselves involved in extraordinary circumstances. Although my books aren’t “religious,” you will find some funny and lovable Church Ladies in a few of the stories.

However, this post isn’t about my books. It’s about hope, faith and peace, given lovingly by our dear Lord.

Hope is a positive expectation that something good is about to happen any moment in your life! Peace is what we need more of right now. And faith is knowing that things are going to change for us because of that small boy’s birth.

So what is the reality of Christmas? It’s about Jesus and the ways in which He’s changed the world over the last two thousand years.  

Santa can come to visit. He visited my home when I was a little girl, and he visited when my daughter and grandson were small. But throughout the years, first and foremost in our minds was the birth of Christ. Santa was just the frosting on the cake, so to speak.

I hope you’ll keep coming back here to find out what little tidbit I’m talking about from time to time. I’ll try to keep you entertained and we’ll talk about writing and reading, and who knows what I’ll think of next.

Until next time, I wish you all a blessed Christmas filled with peace, joy and hope.

P.S. There’s one song that I usually only hear at Christmas that can make me cry, no matter where I am. There’s a line that says, “Fall on your knees, and hear the angels voices…” My heart soars and the tears flow when I hear that. CLICK HERE to hear Charlotte Church sing the song that touches the very depths of my heart.

 

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Old Cases, Cold Cases

 Many people are fascinated by old crimes. Think of Lizzie Borden, Jack the Ripper, The Black Dahlia, and think about the infamous Lindbergh Kidnapping. You can look back on them and wonder if things were really as they seemed. At one time it was said there’s new evidence in the Lizzie Borden case that indicates someone else killed her parents. Jack the Ripper? Do we really know, without a doubt, who he was? Do we have all the facts about the sinking of the Titanic?

What is it about old, cold cases that fascinates people? From a writer’s point of view, I think they’re somewhat easier to write about if the story is fictional, or at least partly fictional. I took stock of my own books and realized that several of my books involved crimes that took place in the past. It wasn’t something I did intentionally, but after thinking about it I realize, in their own way, cold cases are easier to write about – especially fictional old crimes that for some reason must be solved today.

I try to include some humor in my books, and it’s more difficult when writing about current times. There’s nothing funny about death, but you can find humor in the people solving the case and circumstances surrounding the event, especially if they’re trying to solve something from the past.

Does it seem too coincidental when a protagonist finds old letters or clues that have been hidden away for a century? It’s not, and I’ll tell you why.

My family has always loved taking photographs. My grandmother, thankfully, never threw any photos away. They date back to the 1800s. I have family photos galore. I have a relative who was in the Navy from 1904-1907. He took photos of all kinds of things, from the officers on his ship to the Great Wall of China.

Something unexpected happened. I was going through the family photos which fill a trunk, and something caught my eye. In the midst of the family photos was an unusual and disturbing one my relative took while overseas. It was a picture of a firing squad shooting people – not the kind of thing you expect to find in among pictures of Great-Great-Grandma. I can’t even imagine how he was able to take it. There was an officer on horseback with troops standing nearby. You could actually see the smoke coming out of the rifles, and… Well, I don’t want to be too graphic. My point is, you never know what you might find mixed in with family things. If I’d put that in a book, and the photo had significance in a case, no one would believe it. By the way, I had an expert look at the photo and according to him it involved foreign soldiers, not Americans.

Cold cases are different from current cases because you don’t necessarily think of them in the same way. Old crimes are more like a legend, and in some cases, that’s what they are. When telling the story, it’s almost like the crime is off stage somewhere, not just across town.

When writing about old cases the author has to do research. The reader needs to know what things were like in the “old days” to understand what those in the past were dealing with in order to solve a crime.

With today’s technology we can do a lot more with clues than they could back in the day. Imagine trying to solve a murder in 1880, or even 1926. You’d have to rely on circumstances much more than you would today. It could become very sticky. Today you can look at DNA, fingerprints, videos and so much more. The technology is mind-boggling.

So, again, what is the pull to cold cases? They involve looking back in time instead of looking over your shoulder. They involve more imagination. They involve a lot of “what ifs.” Things aren’t laid out in an A-B-C easy to read format.

Do you enjoy old cases? Do they stimulate your imagination more than current crimes? What case, solved or unsolved, has kept your interest over the years?

Until next time, look ahead, but look back, too. See if you can figure out some of the answers about Lizzie Borden or Jack the Ripper. Think about what you based your conclusions on regardless of what crime you’re trying to solve, even if you’re not sure you’re right.

CLICK HERE to visit Amazon.com

You might enjoy reading about Sandi Webster’s Great-Great-Great Aunt Sioux in The Accidental Gumshoe, or you might like to read about a deserted ghost town in Old Murders Never Die. 

 

 

 

Thanksgivings that Live on in Infamy

 

Thanksgiving is going to be different this year. In fact, most of 2020 has been different for many of us. With that in mind, I thought I’d write about some memorable holidays past. Maybe you can relate to them and maybe you can’t, but looking back over the years these things make me chuckle. Most of these stories are from many years ago. 

I remember one year when both sides of my parents’ families were coming to our house, which was something we didn’t do often – too many people to feed. However, that year we had more to worry about than the amount of food. About five minutes before people started arriving, the plumbing quit working in the one little bathroom at our house. There wasn’t a plumber in town who would come out on Thanksgiving. Believe me, with that many people eating and drinking all day, it was a huge issue. So, bless his heart, one of my uncles took it upon himself to load up the car every couple of hours and make a quick run to the local bowling alley. In those days everything except the bowling alley was closed on holidays. That year I was thankful for many things, including my uncle and the bowling alley.

There was another year when a great-aunt kept disappearing. In a way, this is another bathroom story, but I promise this is the last one. Anyway, she made several trips to the restroom. Later in the afternoon I made my way to my bedroom to look for something. The restroom was directly across from my bedroom and my great-aunt had left the door ajar. I was shocked to see her drinking perfume out of a bottle and ran out to the kitchen to let my mother know there was something wrong with my aunt. I mean, who in their right mind would drink perfume? That was the day I learned what an alcoholic is and that she’d filled her perfume bottle with liquor. It was also the day I learned why Auntie always had dark rings under her eyes. No, she hadn’t been in any of the accidents she’d told us about. Among other things I was glad to find out my aunt wasn’t such a terrible driver. I’d been afraid to ride with her since there were so many “accident” stories. I was thankful I had an understanding family who cared about her, even though she had a problem. (She did eventually quit drinking.)

Of course, the turkey was never done by the time everyone was ready to eat. “We’ll give it another hour” was a common Thanksgiving phrase at our house. Four hours later we’d sit down to eat. It was worth the wait though. The only time we had black olives was on holidays. (As an adult I’m addicted to black olives.) I remember picking up five and putting them on the ends of my fingers, and eating them off of those appendages. They were a perfect fit. Of course, as I ate them I had to listen to a lecture from my great-uncle about how I barely ate enough to keep a bird alive. I was eating a little bit of everything else, so why lecture me? Yep, he was the husband of the great-aunt who drank perfume. They’d never had any kids and had no idea how much fun eating olives off your fingers could be. (I’ve since taught the process of finger-eating to my daughter and grandson.) That year I was thankful I had enough to eat, even if I didn’t have a big appetite. I was also thankful that my great-uncle cared enough to worry about my eating habits.

There was the year Grandpa was cutting the turkey and it slid right off the plate and onto the floor. And no one remembered to buy black olives. My mother and my aunt (different aunt) always made me laugh to the point of tears. They were so funny together. And then Grandpa would turn off his battery-operated hearing aid so he didn’t have to listen to Grandma talk about buying a burial plot. More laughter. Of course, in the middle of everything the garbage disposal backed up. And my dad’s head dropped to his chest. I wasn’t sure if he was praying or hoping the day would end quickly.  Does any of this sound a little crazy? Or maybe it sounds familiar. Well, I’m thankful for all of my family and friends and for the memories. They kept the holidays colorful.

Moving on, I remember a Thanksgiving in more recent memory. My husband and I invited friends over and, of course, wine was served. Even though I used a “cooking bag,” the turkey wasn’t cooperating. It wasn’t quite done when we were ready to eat. Well, we had a friend who considered herself a gourmet chef. Unfortunately, she’d had a bit too much wine and decided to explain how to tell when a turkey is done. “You shake the leg,” she said. “If it’s done, the leg will fall off.” Uh huh. So every ten minutes Mrs. Chef opened the oven door and shook the turkey’s leg. Sometime later that night we finally got to sit down to dinner. Mrs. Chef had lost her appetite by then, but she found room for one more glass of wine. I was thankful for the humor of the situation, and for the fact that we had friends and family to invite to our home. I was particularly thankful that I learned how to tell when a turkey is done. Right.

If my memories don’t sound funny to you, well, I guess you just had to be there. I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving, even if it’s virtual, and that you’ll have some of your own funny memories to share one day.

Until next time, remember that Christmas is just around the corner. Sorry, that reminder is probably kind of mean. You haven’t even had your turkey dinner yet.

CLICK HERE to visit Amazon.com

The Accidental Gumshoe – A Sandi Webster Mystery is available on Amazon.com now. It’s light reading, a mystery, and a lot of fun.

 

Fright or Flight?

 

Halloween came and went quietly at the end of October. We didn’t have any costumed visitors this year. However, the day did make me think about fear. There were so many more hair-raising movies advertised on television than I normally see, although scary movies seem pretty popular in this day and age. Sometimes fear can actually be fun, if you’re reading a book or watching a movie. In real life? Not so much.

When I first started writing I created a book titled Secrets of Holt House, later rewritten and republished as Mysteries of Holt House. I tried to think of what readers might like and came up with a spooky old house (which was transformed into a boarding house), located in the middle of nowhere, and I added secret passages and unexplained events and circumstances. I thought it up, wrote it, and read it. It’s certainly not my best work, but it isn’t bad. Here’s the thing. I received comments from readers that really surprised me. The things that happened in that old house and in the secret passages actually scared people. Who knew? I had no idea that I could cause someone to lock their doors, check the windows and sit on the edge of their seat.

Anyone who was around when Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho was first released remembers the paralyzing fear that the shower scene caused. Believe it or not, there are still women who take a bath instead of a shower because of that movie.

In 1990, two Carol Davis Luce books were released, Skin Deep and Night Stalker. She kept me on the edge of my seat with those stories. Night Stalker took place near the area where I lived at the time. I think knowing the places she referenced made the story scarier, because I could relate to the locations. Sometimes familiarity is all it takes. I’ve never forgotten those books, so they definitely had an impact.

All kinds of things scare people. For some it’s snakes or other reptiles. Big dogs bother others. Things that go bump in the night will set some off because they represent the unknown. I know one woman who won’t read even lighter cozy mysteries because they make her so nervous. The subject doesn’t matter, but the unknown does.

I wrote a post about animals in stories a while back and mentioned dogs making great characters. Remember Stephen King’s Cujo? Dogs can make great villains, too. They aren’t all named Lassie and they aren’t all heroes. I’ve had more than one canine set my teeth on edge, and dogs are my pet of choice. Imagine witnessing a car accident where the vehicle ends up being upside down, and you get out to see if you can help – and a woman climbs out through a window followed by a vicious dog on a leash. That actually happened to me not long ago. It was touch and go for a few minutes.

Ugliness, monsters, clowns, the unknown, surprise, graphic violence; these are all things that can scare readers. However, the list is a lot longer than these few things. Some fear heights, and an author can set a scene where you feel like you’re right there on top of a thirty story building with someone. Mountain driving, bridges, freeways and deep water are frightening to some. What doesn’t give one reader the heebie jeebies will cause another one to lose sleep. How about flying? Plenty of people are terrified of airplanes and flying. My point is that like being on a roller coaster, fear can be both terrifying and fun at the same time.

Thankfully, some writers can spice the fear with a little humor. You’ll see that in some vintage movies. For instance, Abbott and Costello, Bob Hope and Red Skelton add a little humor to their own movie fears.

My mother and I once watched a scary movie on TV from our separate homes, but stayed on the phone while we watched because the movie was too scary to watch alone. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

What scares you? For me, it’s spiders and flying. Oh, and twisted mountain roads. And… Never mind.

 Until next time, have a good week and I hope you conquer your fears.

CLICK HERE to visit Amazon.com for the latest Sandi Webster Mystery.