Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
I couldn’t find any history for this particular Catholic Church but it is a well known church and the one my mother and I first attended when we arrived in Johannesburg from the UK. I was 1 year old at the time and my mom rented a flat near this area because my aunt, my mom’s sister, lived nearby.
This church is affectionately called the Lemon Squeezer because of its interesting arcitecture.
A man keeping King Arthur’s dream of Camelot alive. A Robin Hood battling in a drastically different Sherwood. A young man facing eternity in the desert. A genteel southern lady besting a powerful order of genies. A woman meeting her father decades after his death.
These are but a few of the intriguing tales waiting to be discovered in Things Old and Forgotten. Prepare to be transported to realms of folklore and legend, where magic and wonder linger around every corner, and fantastic possibilities are limited only by imagination.
My review
I have read previous novels by this author and enjoyed their unique flavour and excellent insights into human emotion and behaviour. Mae Clair has been able to apply these same great writing attributes to this collection of short stories and each one is a polished and shining gem in its own right.
My three favourites stories were as follows:
1. Robin of Sherwood – This is a different take on the traditional story of Robin Hood, but retains certain of its best features such Robin’s entertaining ability to run rings around villainous authority figures, and his simmering romance with a maid called Marian. Set in a post-purge future world, the descriptions and settings are fresh and interesting.
2. Desert White – An unusual story about an elderly man and his large white dog who save the life of a youngster, Micah, who has attempted to commit suicide by slitting his wrists in his car parked in the middle of the desert. Over the course of the story, the events of Micah’s life unfold and the circumstances that drove him to attempting suicide are revealed. This is a story of self discovery, forgiveness and redemption.
3. Mrs. Conway – This is the story that touched me the most, perhaps because I know a lot of women who have battled chronic illness. Some have won and some have lost, but all of their fights have been worthy and heroic. In this story a disillusioned art teacher rediscovers his inspiration through the actions of such a woman.
This collection also includes a moving and beautifully written partial memoir about the author’s father and the impact his chronic illness had on her life.
If you like well written, varied, and entertaining short stories, this book is for you.
At the edge of the Seventh Circle of Hell, Virgil and Dante are greeted by a terrible stench. It is so overpowering, they must sit down and wait to adjust to it before moving forward. Dante sees a headstone with an inscription, “I guard Anastasius, once Pope, he whom Photinus led from the straight road.”
Virgil explains that the structure of hell and that there are other, smaller circles within the next three circles [7th, 8th, and 9th].
Seventh Circle, which is for violence, is divided into three smaller circles. These three small circles punish sins of violence against one’s neighbour and includes robbers, murderers, and plunderers, sins against one’s self which include suicide or recklessly gambling away one’s possessions or property, or sins against God which include sinners who curse, deny or defame God, as well as usurers and follows of Sodom [the city of Sodom represented unnatural vice].
It is interesting to me that Dante does not distinguish between a sinner who takes another life i.e. a murderer, and someone who damages property, i.e. a arsonist or robber. It also seems rather harsh that a person who charges interest on a loan is treated in the same manner as a murderer.
An extract from Canto 11:
“All the first circle holds the violent;
but since against three persons force is used,
its shape divides it into three great rings.
Both against God, one’s neighbor, and one ’s self
may force be used; against themselves, I mean,
and what is theirs, as clearly shown thou ’lt hear.
By force both death and painful wounds are given
one ’s neighbor, and thereby his property
is ruined, burned, and by extortions robbed;
the first ring, hence, torments in separate troops
Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
I am late again! This happens because I only plan a few of my blog posts each week so when life [or work] happens my plans go out the window. I don’t really know what happened to Thursday and Friday this past week, they are a blur of meetings and reading long weighty documents.
Anyhow, I recently took some pictures of my house which is the original farm house in my area and was built in 1929 which is old by South African standards. I also took some pictures of my favourite pieces of furniture. I have collected these over the past 20 years since I got married.
Original front door with sectionalised glass panels. The two fly screens against the walls are also original.
Original front door bell
Original patio doors and the door to the side is to the bathroom. Very convenient for entertaining.
I bought this grandfather clock and, sadly, it stopped working. I’ve tried, but I can’t get it repaired.
Doors to the original built in linen cabinet
Original Boer cabinet – see below
Antique dining room server from Belgium
Vintage book case made from stinkwood
Antique sideboard from Belgium
Some of my furniture, and a few of my books, featured in my book, A Ghost and His Gold.
“Glancing around, she also thinks the room is attractive. Against the right-hand wall is an antique sideboard. Michelle recalls her delight when she found it in a local antique shop soon after their move. She’d questioned the owner about its origins.
“It is believed to have belonged to Pieter van Zyl, one of the original Boers in this area,” the shop owner told her. “It comprises of two pieces. A large kist, originally used to store clothing and linen makes up the bottom piece, and a glass fronted display cabinet makes up the top piece.”
She pointed at the legs of the kist which ended in the large paws of a lion. “Just look at the beautifully carved legs of the kist, such wonderful detail.”
The fact that the two pieces came apart interested Michelle, and she asked about it.
Delighted at her interest, the shop owner shared a bit more about the history of the Boers. “A lot of Boer furniture was designed so that it could be easily disassembled and packed into an ox wagon when they trekked from one area to another.”
***
“The dining room also holds an eight-seater Rhodesian teak dining room table and matching chairs, as well as a vintage book cabinet made from stinkwood. Michelle’s taste runs to the old and unusual and stinkwood furniture is now rare. Owning a piece of furniture made from this endangered wood, native to South Africa, appealed to her and she’d paid the high asking price unhesitatingly.
Behind the glass inlayed doors of the cabinet, her prized books, including a vintage copy of The Collected Works of Herman Charles Bosman, a well-known collection of short stories about the Transvaal at the turn of nineteenth century, stand in a neat row.
Michelle smiles when she remembers Tom gifting her this heavy book for Christmas.
It is wonderful when your husband knows exactly how to please you.
Tonight, the dining room table is covered by an antique tablecloth, gifted to Michelle by her grandmother. Candles in a pretty silver candlestick holder, a wedding present from her mother, illuminate the room. The highly polished wood of the table and cabinet gleams softly in the mellow light which also picks up the embroidered detail on the cream silk curtains and the rich patterning of the floral tablecloth.
The curtains, made to her specifications by her father, are deeply satisfying.”
My blogging friend and talented author, Liz Gauffreau, recommended this book to me as an excellent depiction of a slow descent into madness. It is a short read, but very worthwhile.
Overview
The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story by American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman and first published in the New England Magazine in January 1892.
Narrated in the first person through a series of journal entries, The Yellow Wallpaper is the story of a young middleclass woman’s gradual descend into psychosis.
The story opens with the narrator, who remains unnamed, describing her move into a rented country estate for the summer. Her husband, John, who is a physician of high standing has prescribed this move so that she can have complete rest and overcome her post-natal depression. Her husband’s controlling nature quickly becomes apparent as she is not allowed to choose their room but is subjected to John’s choice of a disused nursery on the top floor. He imposed his decision despite her telling him that she does not like the wallpaper in the room, a strange and damaged paper of various shades of yellow. The nursery is described in terms applicable to a prison and has bars over the windows and a large bed that is manacled to the wall.
His treatment further entails taking her baby away from her and confining her to the nursery. He tells her not to read, write or do any other form of ‘work’ and only to rest so that she can become well again.
During her countless hours in the nursery, the narrator becomes more and more obsessed with the yellow wallpaper, imagining she can see things in its pattern. Gradually she sees a woman, just like herself, trapped behind the first layer of wallpaper.
Origin of The Yellow Wallpaper
The Yellow Wallpaper is considered to be an important early work of American feminist literature for its illustrations of the attitudes of men towards the mental and physical health of women during the 19th century.
Gilman was writing about her own horrible experience in this short story. Five years prior to penning this story, she experienced chronic post-natal depression following the birth of her daughter. She was sent away for treatment to Dr. Silas Weir, America’s leading expert on women’s mental health at the time. His ‘rest’ cure involved strict bed rest with no reading, writing, or painting. He was of the school of thought that if women could be forced to be happy with their lot in life and stop hankering after things like education, the vote, and work, their discontent and mental ailments would be cured.
Gilman wrote later that her treatment was like a prison sentence and she ‘came perilously close to losing [her] mind.’
Themes of The Yellow Wallpaper
The themes of The Yellow Wallpaper are set out below with a quote to demonstrate their application in the story.
Women’s role in marriage
“There comes John’s sister. Such a dear girl as she is, and so careful of me! I must not let her find me writing. She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which made me sick!”
Identity and self-expression
“I always fancy I see people walking in these numerous paths and arbors, but John has cautioned me not to give way to fancy in the least. He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making, a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies, and that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency. So I try.
I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me.”
The Rest Cure
“So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am well again. Personally, I disagree with their ideas.”
Symbolism of The Yellow Wallpaper
The narrator is disgusted and fascinated by the yellow wallpaper and these feelings grow over the course of the story.
The yellow wallpaper becomes her primary object of analysis and stimulation as all other stimulus is forbidden to her by John. The pattern eventually takes on the appearance of bars and the narrator imagines that she sees a woman trapped behind them.
The narrator’s deteriorating mental condition in relation to the yellow wallpaper is demonstrated by the following three quotes which are in order of appearance in the story:
Quote 1: “It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough to constantly irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide—plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard of contradictions.
The color is repellent, almost revolting; a smouldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight.”
Quote 2: “This paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it had! There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside-down.”
Quote 3: “There are things in that paper which nobody knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern. I don’t like it a bit. I wonder—I begin to think—I wish John would take me away from here!”
Remembrance Day was first observed in 1919 throughout the British Commonwealth. It was originally called “Armistice Day” to commemorate armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.—on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
I am currently writing about the entrance of the USA into WW1 in April 1917. I thought today would be a good day to share a small extract of what I’ve been working on.
Enlisting in haste, repenting at leisure
The diary of Jake Tanner
16 October 1917
It’s raining. It’s always raining in this godforsaken place miles away from home.
I’m sitting propped up against my bulging backpack with my inadequate covering tucked around my shoulders. The rough grey wool of the army-issue blanket reeks of mold and feels clammy to the touch, but these small discomforts ceased to bother me days ago.
The light of my small piece of candle flickers and dances in tribute to the icy wind sidling through the gaps caused by the ill-fitting tent flap. Fat droplets drum steadily on the waterlogged canvas exterior of the tent, and I shudder at the thought of the icy rivulets I know are streaming down its sides. The trenches Mike and I dug to stop the water from flooding our sleeping quarters were already full to overflowing last night.
The five other inhabitants of the tent are still asleep. Their noses, closed eyes, and greasy hair are poking out of the tops of their rolled-up blankets. Heavy breathing, punctuated by occasional snorts, blends with the rain into a dull and monotonous duet.
Pigs in blankets. That’s what they are.
Hands clenched so tightly my ragged nails dig into the soft flesh of my palm, I choke back the laughter.
They’ll be really pissed if I laugh and wake them.
I would prefer to be asleep. When I’m asleep I don’t feel cold or hungry, but this morning the rumbling of my empty belly dragged me reluctantly from its comforting embrace.
We have been here for six days already and most of the fellows are anxiously waiting for the order to entrain for Southhampton Docks.
“We want to get to France. We’re missing all the action sitting around here waiting for transport,” they cried.
I don’t mind being here. There are a lot of British ‘Tommies’, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand troops convalescing at the base hospital. They are happy to share about their experiences at the front and how they were wounded.
There was also a young man from South Africa. He was in the Somme offensive last year.
“I was part of the infantry brigade which captured Delville Wood on the 15th of July. I lost some good friends in that battle.” His dark eyes stared unseeing into the distance as if he were watching out for the return of his fellow combatants.
“I survived unscathed but took a bullet in the leg in West Flanders. My leg is healing well, and I’ll be going back when my convalescent leave ends in three weeks.”
“Where will you be going?”
The disconnected look returned, and his strangely dead eyes sent shivers down my spine. “Back to the Western Front I expect.”
The South African would say no more about his experiences in either Delville Wood or West Flanders, but he did confirm that France is also muddy and cold.
“Very different from South Africa. The sun shines most days in my home city of Pretoria, even during the winter.”
The Australians are friendly, but they do exaggerate. Their stories about life in the trenches are dramatic and we don’t believe it can be that bad.
The downside is that we are billeted in tents and this place is a sea of mud.
“This is typical English October weather,” one of the Tommies said. “It’ll be the same in France so prepare yourselves.”
We are wet and dirty all the time and I’ve become used to going to bed in my wet, muddy clothes and sleeping between damp blankets.
There is also a shortage of rations. We’ve explored several of the nearby towns looking for more food. We don’t have a lot of money, but the people are willing to trade our small trinkets for food, so it all works out well.
Yesterday, I gave my food away to a kid on the side of the road. His tired, hungry looking face tugged at my heart and I gave him what I’d managed to barter.
My buddies laughed: “You’ll be sorry”.
I’m hungry this morning, but I’m not sorry.
This beautiful cover reveal picture was created for me by Teagan Riordain Geneviene who designed the cover.
Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time).
Last week, I wrote about my visit to the South African Military Museum and shared pictures of the aeroplanes I saw there. This week, I am sharing pictures of the tanks. They are amazing and so huge! Best of all, they all have doors.
Terence next to the wheel of a tank. It’s nearly as big as him.
“Tanks, which used to be objects of ridicule, have become a major weapon. They come rolling forward in a long line, heavily armoured, and they embody the horror of war for us more than anything else.
We cannot see the gun batteries that are bombarding us, and the oncoming waves of enemy attackers are human beings just like we are – but tanks are machines, and their caterpillar tracks run on as endlessly as the war itself. They spell out annihilation when they roll without feeling into the shell holes and then climb out again, inexorably, a fleet of roaring, fire-spitting ironclads, invulnerable steel beasts that crush the dead and wounded.”
From All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.
$25 Amazon Gift Card & 1 e-book or paperback copy of one book in the Haunted Shores series (Winner’s choice). Simply leave a comment below for your chance to win!
Inspiration
In 2019, the Wild Rose Press launched the Haunted Shores Mysteries with my story about Darrell, the teacher and coach who sees ghosts and the ghost of a huge black student haunting a high school. BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE was so well received by readers and reviewers that it became a #1 Amazon best seller!
Then, last year, the publisher released CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY in the middle of the pandemic, a story featuring the specter of a bride murdered on her wedding night, who stalks Darrell, still bleeding in her white wedding dress. This second entry has won three national awards and, by now, the series has amassed more than a dozen 5-Star reviews from national and international reviewers. Then, this fall CRIMSON joined BLOOD in the best seller category, hitting #2 on Amazon.
As I pondered the third installment, I realized I wanted to keep all the critical elements of the series—cold case murder, ghost, romance and resort—but I also wanted to give my readers something different. On a break from my brainstorming, I was thumbing through family pictures and came upon a photo of my grandkids playing on a playground.
Staring at the images of the smiling faces, it hit me. What if the mystery was about the death of two kids? Two kids whose ghosts haunt Darrell to find justice for them?
The rest, as they say, is history. Our last trip—pre-pandemic—was to the Florida Gulf coast to find a suitable location for my narrative and I found a great one.
Thus, SCARLET AT CRYSTAL RIVER was born. Well, that and hundreds of hours of writing, revising, re-writing, editing, re-writing…well, you get the picture. I’m pretty happy with the end product and I hope readers are too.
“A ghost story with a twist, Scarlet at Crystal River is a bestseller in the making. Brilliant descriptive narration sucks the reader in and doesn’t let go until the end of the story. Paranormal and mystery readers will love Scarlet at Crystal River. If you’re looking for a spine-tingling mystery, pick up Scarlet at Crystal River. Highly recommend!”5+ Stars—N N Light Bookheaven
Scarlet at Crystal River – A Haunted Shores Mystery
Blurb
When he and Erin track down the artist, they discover the children’s family were migrant workers the next county over. But when they travel there, their questions about the kids gets their car shot up and Erin hospitalized. Torn between fear and rage, Darrell must decide how far he will go to get justice for two young children he never even knew.
All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin, in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida. Only a pair of ghosts decide to intrude on their celebration. And not just any ghosts, the spirits of two young Latino children. Unwilling at first to derail the honeymoon for yet another ghost hunt, Darrell finally concedes when a painting of the kids comes alive, weeping and pleading for his help.
Reviews
“Scarlet at Crystal River is an eerie paranormal mystery I couldn’t stop reading. Randy Overbeck is a masterful writer of the paranormal, drawing the reader in before instilling shivers down the spine. 5+ stars.” –N. N. Light’s Book Heaven
“A rollercoaster of a mystery, hurtling up and down hills and sharp corners until the very end, when the reader is left slightly breathless, waiting for their hearts to beat back to a normal rhythm.★★★★★—ReadersView
“Scarlet at Crystal River is a suspenseful paranormal novel with compelling characters and an enigmatic mystery that drives the story to a riveting conclusion. Overbeck is a master at building tension–-this is easily a one-sitting read.”★★★★★—Literary Titan
“This is another masterpiece from Randy Overbeck. His excellent writing style has left me speechless for one more time. He writes in a way that makes you feel what the characters feel and you have no choice but to partake in the journey with them.” ★★★★★—Ioanna’s Reviews, Greece
Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for four decades in a range of roles captured in his novels, from teacher and coach to principal and superintendent. His thriller, Leave No Child Behind (2012) and his recent mysteries, the Amazon No. 1 Best Seller, Blood on the Chesapeake,Crimson at Cape May and Scarlet at Crystal River have earned five star reviews and garnered national awards including “Thriller of the Year–ReadersFavorite.com, “Gold Award”—Literary Titan, “Mystery of the Year”—ReadersView.com and “Crowned Heart of Excellence”—InD’Tale Magazine. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop. When he’s not writing or researching his next exciting novel or sharing his presentation, “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.
To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the authors’ tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE. Thanks for supporting this author and his work!
In Canto 10, Dante and Virgil begin their journey down a secret part in the VIth circle of Hell. They walk past the tombs of the Heretics, shades who during their lifetimes, pursued pleasure relentlessly as they did not believe the body contained a soul. Many of these shares were Epicureans, followers of Epicurus, the Greek philosopher whose philosophy was the attainment of happiness, defined as the absence of pain.
According to Dante’s idea of retribution, the Heretics’ punishment is to spend eternity in flaming tombs, until Judgment Day, when the tombs will close and the souls inside will be sealed forever within their earthly bodies.
The philosophy of Epicurus (341–270 B.C.E.) was a complete and interdependent system, involving a view of the goal of human life (happiness, resulting from absence of physical pain and mental disturbance), an empiricist theory of knowledge (sensations, together with the perception of pleasure and pain, are infallible criteria), a description of nature based on atomistic materialism, and a naturalistic account of evolution, from the formation of the world to the emergence of human societies.
Dante tells Virgil he wants to speak to some of the shades. Virgil notes that Dante’s has a secret wish but Dante denies it. In fact, Dante wants to see if he recognises any of the shades as being from Florence as he knew certain people who were Epicureans and who he expects to see in this circle. Just then, a shade calls out to Dante recognising him as being from Tuscany. The spirit turns out to be Farinata, whose family is an enemy of Dante’s family, and a fellow Florentine.
According to LitCharts.com Summary & Analysis of Inferno Canto 10:
The local feuds between families in Florence are still a matter of concern for Farinata, even as he spends eternity suffering in hell. This particular feud refers to the fact that Farinata stood on the side of the Ghibellines (supporting the Holy Roman Emperor over the Pope) while Dante was a Guelph (supporting the Pope over the Holy Roman Emperor). This political conflict motivated much of the political strife in Florence and across all of Italy when Dante wrote.
A second shade, Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti, the father of Dante’s friend Guido, rises from the tomb during this conversation. He asks Dante why his son is not with him. Dante suggests that Guido has distained God and uses the past tense with reference to his friend. Cavalcante swoons back into his tomb to grieve as he believes his son is dead.
Dante asks Farinata why the souls in Hell are able to see the future but cannot see the present. Farinata responds that the shades can only see distant things in the past and in the future. Dante feels pity for Cavalcante and asks Farinata to tell him that his son still lives.
Virgil then tells Dante they need to move along and they take a path towards the centre of Dis.
Ring the bell for James J. Cudney who is revealing the cover of his new book…
Isn’t it a great cover AND, having read other books in this series, I know it’s also a great story!
The Blurb
When Bell Towers decides to build their newest boutique hotel in Wharton County, Braxton establishes a hospitality program as part of their university expansion. Despite the Ingram and Lynch family ties to prominent citizens, a dispute over the proposed landsite pits citizens against each other.
One takes matters into their own hands and slays the hotel magnate during the campus holiday party. As the list of suspects increases, long-lost family members are anxious to keep their secrets from being revealed, complicating Sheriff Montague’s ability to determine the murderer’s true motive. Even Kellan is forced to cast doubt on his friends and colleagues when it becomes obvious someone he knows committed the ultimate crime.
April and Kellan are also celebrating their first Christmas and Hanukkah together, exchanging gifts based on the classic Twelve Days of Christmas song. While they trim the tree, light the menorah, and experience all the traditional holiday festivities with the kids, Nana D delivers her sarcastic brand of humor and endlessly tortures the town. Among Eleanor’s surprise news, Augie’s new girlfriend, and Myriam’s hilarious demands, Kellan’s dealing with unexpected holiday drama.
The poor guy simply wants to spend the merry season with his family before he’s forced to trek to Scotland to fulfill his promise to the late Constance Garibaldi. What kind of quest has the psychic sent him on now?
My review of Frozen Stiff Drink (Braxton Campus Mysteries Book 6)
Frozen Stiff Drink is another incredibly fast-paced and fascinating murder mystery in this great series by author, James J. Cudney. This one is even more complex as it involves three murders and a couple of close attempts so you have to pay attention and stay on your toes while reading. This book also includes a ramp up in Kellan’s relationship with law enforcer, April, despite some trials presented in the unexpected appearance of her husband, Fox Terrell, who turns out to have some unexpected relationships with the people of Wharton County, and his continued interference in her murder cases.
Kellan’s brother, Hampton, plays a bigger role in this tale and becomes involved in a lot of intrigue. He is accused of embezzlement by his father-in-law, Orin, Read, the founder of the firm where he works, and when Orin is discovered dead, Hampton is the natural suspect in the case.
Nana D, now mayor of Wharton County, but still high spirited and indefatigable in her dealings with family, friends and her constituents. Nana D goes missing during a bad snow storm and Kellan is worried about her. During his search for her he finds her car with another body inside it, but no sign of Nana D.
The story line is exciting with lots of twists and turns and the ending was clever and unexpected.
All the wonderful family elements that make this series so special are present with Kellan’s daughter, Emma, going to Disney Land with his parents and his surrogate son, Ulan. Francesca, Kellan’s on-so-dead mobster related wife who he is trying to divorce, also pops up in a threatening manner as she wants to get her hands on Emma.
James J. Cudney has a very natural style of writing and includes lots of great description in a simple and unencumbering way which does not detract from the pace of the story. I look forward to see what this author produces next.
![Things Old and Forgotten by [Mae Clair]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51SyG5rGYIL.jpg)
![Frozen Stiff Drink: Murder During the Blizzard (Braxton Campus Mysteries Book 6) by [James J. Cudney]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51ctAtlbw9L.jpg)
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