Trace

Patricia Cornwall
Trace:  A Scarpetta Novel
435 pp.
New York:  Putnam, 2004

Thumbs down for this mystery!  Cornwall did not develop her characters, leaving the reader wondering why and what would be their motivations.  The parents of the murdered 14 year old girl are totally unbelievable in their peculiar relationship and their feelings toward other people.  Scarpetta is yet another forensic medical examiner performing stellar autopsies under bureaucratic pressure. Her side-kick, a former rough cop, never leaves her side, even when she attends professional meetings. It's just not done in the real world.  This particular novel is also disjointed, jumping from story to story, with the secondary story not being understood or developed in conjunction to the main narrative. Because I enjoy mystery novels I may read another of her many published novels.  Perhaps she has done better work.

A Cold Christmas

A Cold Christmas                                                                                              

Susan Wren Mysteries

by Charlene Weir

244 pp.

New York, NY:  Thomas Dunne Books, 2001

  
It's Christmas and Caley James has no money, no working furnace, and she's sick with the flu.  Her three children are left to their devices and her no-good, no-account, low-life ex husband and his mother. Dragging herself from her bed to play at the organ at the local church, she has to earn money to pay for Christmas. That is, until the furnace man turns up dead in her basement.  This starts a police investigation which Police Chief Susan Wren must undertake alone as most of her staff have been stricken with influenza.  Through in a few nosey neighbours to complicate matters and the pathos runs to comedy.

   The author has developed a cast of characters are who believable and sympathetic.  Her settings are every day homes, which demonstrate that murder can happen anywhere - even in your basement. Some characters have criminal pasts, whereas others are simply nasty individuals. A precocious child who must protect his adoptive mother and his dad pulls at the heartstrings. Who among us has not had a Christmas go awry?

Also by this author:  Murder Takes Two, Family Practice, Consider the Crows, The Winter Widow

Hotel Catalonia May 2010

Why do Canadians live in the North?

PhD complete!

After three years of courses, classes, and writing papers, my doctorate in educational administration has been achieved! Graduation is May 8, 2010 from the University of South Carolina, however, Lorne and I will be on the road home to Nova Scotia via the Outer Banks.

Warm Sand, Cold Drinks and Latin Music

What a great way to escape the mundane tasks of everyday life! Mexico is an incredibly beautiful country, with the character of an indulgent parent. Our resort was a mini-paradise that offered a week of relaxation, sport, pleasure.

City of Lights juin 2009

A mother and daugher holiday in the City of Lights was just enough

to make us want to return another time for another season. The architecture was grand beyond any expectation. City parks are designed for people to use - lunches, rendez-vous, mothers strolling babies, business people on the bicyles as they commuted to work. Mastery of the metro was easy enough, even with suitcases in tow. Our little apartment was located close to Le Louvre and had a small balcony which allowed us to overlook Place Colette with its fountain and cobblestones. A trip to Versailles still makes us remember The Sun King with fondness, while motocycles and tour buses lined up outside.

I'm On A Boat

One sea cruise is not like the other. This Bahaman cruise consisted of 80 per cent undergrads drinking unlimited alcohol on their spring break. My cellulite never stood out so much in my freedom 55 life. Energy, good looks, and fun were all around us. What an experience! Throw in Nassau, Freeport, and the Space Shuttle and you have a recipe for success. Never mind the occassional sea sickness.

Support Breasts, um, I mean Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer Awareness has never been so whimical. Great exhibit at the museum in Columbia. We toured the museum with friends, learning about the Civil War and Carolinian art.

.

John Prine in Asheville, North Carolina

A fan for thirty years, it was a special concert for me to attend a concert by this amazing musical storyteller. Many of my favourites were performed, as a few newer selections. Amazing!

Linda Goes To Mars©John Prine

I just found out yesterday that Linda goes to Mars

Every time I sit and look at pictures of used cars.

She'll turn on her radio and sit down in her chair

And look at me across the room, as if I wasn't there

Chorus:

Oh My stars! My Linda's gone to Mars

Well I wish she wouldn't leave me here alone

Oh My stars! My Linda's gone to Mars

Well, I wonder if she'd bring me something home.
Something, somewhere, somehow took my Linda by the hand

And secretly decoded our sacred wedding band

For when the moon shines down up on our happy, humble home

Her inner space gets tortured by some outer space unknown.

Repeat Chorus:

Now I ain't seen no saucers 'cept the ones upon the shelf

And if I ever seen one I'd keep it to myself

For if there's life out there somewhere beyond this life on earth l

Then Linda must have gone out there and got her money's worth.

Repeat Chorus:

Yeah, I wonder if she'd bring me something home.

From the Oceans to Outer Space

The cruise on the Norwegian Majesty left Charleston for stops in the Bahamas and Florida. With a passenger manifest showing that 2/3 of the guests were under 21 years of age, it was quite a ride! Never take a holiday on the American spring break.

The ports of call gave us new sights to see. Freeport is smaller and not as developed as I expected. Celebrity homes worth millions dot the shoreline while many residents must get their water from a local communal tap, then carry water jugs to their homes. Naussau is defintiely larger. The port is a very busy place, indeed with many cranes and containers involved in the shipping industry. Like Freeport, there is the disconnect between wealth and poverty, with no social safety net available to citizens.

All dressed up and no where to go -except the m any bars and cafes available on board. Since I rarrely drink and Lorne only has a beer or two, we left the drinking up to the young passengers who bought beer by the bucket - to take to their rooms, the hot tubs, or the upper deck. The casino was also a busy place all day long. I'm too cheap to let one quarter out of my purse! But, it's fun to watch others, and many games are intriguing.

Feelings of clautrophobia overtook me at times, as there is no getting off the ship, unless you want to swim 100 km to shore. Even the cabins do not lend themselves to wide-open spaces.

Food was plentiful, and I enjoyed the asssortment of desserts. However, I did miss Chocolate Night, due to the lateness of the hour. I do regret that now. Food was a way to keep people occupied. One could be as busy as they wished. We read a lot on deck, catching some sun with the many other sun worshipers.