The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is open. The COVID-19 protocols are firmly in place. The best part of social distancing rules is that the museum is limiting the number of people who can visit. Special exhibits require reservations. Employees stand in the doorway, making sure the room does not exceed designated capacity. For a person who does not enjoy crowds, this is the best time to visit the museum. 

We spent a long time in the SUE: The T. rex Experience  exhibit. Although the T. rex was the star, I gravitated toward my favorite dinosaur, the Triceratops. After admiring the best dinosaur, I enjoyed the film and displays imagining life in the time of Sue, and exploring what the fossils of this huge dinosaur tell us about his or her life.   

Driving on one of the busiest streets in my medium-sized city, I have been witness to odd things lately. A giraffe in a convertible was the latest.

Before that was the Subaru carrying a stack of pallets - see below.

I am sorry to report I failed to snap a photo of the grown man in Walmart wearing a bald eagle costume while purchasing Doritos. Or the fellow in the health food store wearing an entire dead racoon on his head. 

I don't get out often, so the chances of these random sightings are low. I can only conclude everyone has gone crazy.

I noticed a pattern in the stories I enjoyed most in this issue of AHMM. They are tales set in different eras. Maybe for me, escaping the reality of modern times requires a hard reset to Somewhere Completely Different.

I became so involved with the characters in the 1950s historical mystery There's Nothing Funny About Murder, by Michael Mallory, that I was upset by the murder. The main character, Jewish comedian Mousie Ross, could carry the story himself. The introduction of well-written secondary characters made the story even more engaging. I especially liked the African American driver, Shifty Gierman. Who wouldn't? The wanna-be actor makes his stage debut with Mousie, until the slapstick turns deadly.

​Being a cozy author, I don't often deliberately delve into noir. Ticking of the Big Clock, by O'Neil De Noux, surely falls in that category. The romantic triangle is set in New Orleans during WWII. Spoiler alert - everyone in the story has an unhappy ending. Everyone. Well, maybe except for the cat. I had every indication the cat had her kittens successfully, and that the landlady will continue to providing her food and water. Other than the cat, the human characters finish this tale in utter disaster. Usually a happy ending fan, I enjoyed this story. Great writing, well-drawn characters, and a logical conclusion. Dark and sad, but logical.

The hungry orphan pick-pocket in A Helping Hand, by R. T. Lawton, has learned hard lessons working the streets of Paris during the reign of Louis XIV. When he is recruited to be a helping hand to a gang by an older thief, he keeps a cynical and suspicious eye on his new partners. The young pick-pocket must stay two steps ahead of the game to avoid being cheated, or landing in prison. In the end, he works out a way to achieve his own goals, one of which is acquiring a loaf of bread and a sausage. Lawton has a way of making the reader cheer for this likeable criminal trapped by circumstance. You can read about the story in the author's own words here.

We return to post-Civil War Montana with author Leslie Budewitz for Coming Clean. Former slave Mary Fields has hitched her wagon to the meager fortunes of the Ursuline Sisters of St. Peter's Mission. Mary uses her invisibility as a older Black woman on the frontier to listen and observe, enabling her to solve mysteries. One of the nuns has a secret, and is using blackmail of another Sister's secret to keep her quiet. Mary adds up the clues and her observations of the players, until one finally comes clean.

Barb Goffman's A Family Matter is set in 1962. Doris is a busybody, a very unpleasant woman sharing her sour comments liberally, and tormenting a new arrival to the exclusive white collar community of The Glen. The husbands work at the pharmaceutical company while the women stay home and follow the rules as Doris dictates them. The story takes an unexpected turn when Doris decides she has to do something positive for a change. She realizes young mother Ginny is the victim of abuse, and that she has to do something about it. 

There are many more enjoyable short stories in the January / February 2021 issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, which do not have historical settings. And, in every issue, there is a non-fiction feature Real World Policing, by Lee Lofland. This month, Lofland explores how criminals are transported. 

I finished the November / December 2020 issue while sitting in a hospital waiting room. This seems appropriate – that 2020 seeps over into the new year with no change of pace. Did we really expect the dawn of a new year to instantly shed all that was crazy about the previous year? All went well with my husband’s out-patient surgery, and he’s recovering quickly.

All is well with Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, too. I received the next issue before I finished reading this one, but that was not for lack of interest in the fifteen short stories. With amazing variety of tone and story-telling style, I was entertained from cover to cover.

Spoiler alert – since the new issue of AHMM is already on the shelves, I’m not going to be as careful not to reveal clues or endings.

A Report on the Ladies’ Playground Committee of Prescott, N.H. by Brendan DuBois – Two armed thieves grow impatient waiting for their partner to arrive with their share of a robbery. A group of nice young mothers look like an easy target. What they don’t know about the Ladies’ Playground Committee is that all are military veterans.

A Pageant to Die For by Shauna Washington – A Las Vegas beauty pageant goes off the rails when the emcee is murdered. No one is terribly surprised the offensive letch has finally met his just end. “He had his hands in every trade and whatever else he could grab, including every female in sight.” But the who-dun-it and why proves a surprise to wardrobe designer Stacey Deshay.

A Matter of Values by R. T. Lawton -  In an era of nickel payphones, a slightly crooked cop tips off a brothel to a police raid. Slightly, because while he liberally bends the rules, he doesn’t take mob money. Unfortunately, a city councilman is found dead in a brothel bed. Our dark hero set about solving the mystery, out of loyalty to friends, in his own sense of values born of the harsh reality of the streets.

On Loan from the Artist by Robert Mangeot – A meek man working for a sleazy payday loan company is inspired by his boss’ illegal acquisition of a sculpture titled BOLD. Bench begins by offering customers fair rates and leniency with repaying loans. He is concerned with how his insufferable boss stole the sculpture from the artist’s widow, and seeks a way to make it right. The meek man’s foray into a life of bold actions does not end well.

Lee Lofland shares Halloween cases in his non-fiction article Case Files – On the Beat on Halloween.

I'm ready to begin the first issue of AHMM in this new year. I am certain it will prove as entertaining as last year's collections of stories. 

A little slice of freedom in the mountains.

When you're writing a pirate-themed cozy mystery and your daughter brings you these.

I'm excited to promote my novel Silent Knife, part of a 3 novel package deal from Annie's Publishing. Mistletoe Mysteries

"Add a little Holiday intrigue to your reading list with these three new Annie’s Mistletoe Mysteries books. They’re easy reads that also make great gifts!

The cozy stories in this book bundle will have you on the edge of your seat as you untangle truth from lies and catch three crafty culprits. Delve into halls decked with clues, suspense, and murder in Silent Knife, Frankincense and Murder, and O Come All Ye Fatal. All available for one great price! Now that’s no humbug."

$24.99 for hardcovers, $19.99 for electronic

A great gift for cozy mystery readers!

​Mistletoe Mysteries

I woke up Saturday morning thinking about my asparagus bed. It has not been producing well. My plan was to weed the plot and remove an unnecessary hail cover. Next, I would dig up the crowns, add soil, rototill, and replant the crowns.

My husband wanted to help, not realizing what he was getting himself into. We decided to move the hail cover next to my pathetic herb garden. Both areas needed to be reworked to make them more productive.

As we removed gravel type rock from soil next to the herbs. I hit metal. A plate with two screws. My husband was curious. Half an hour later, we uncovered an old deck pylon. Two hours later, and we still hadn't unearthed the thing.

This is the way of life in 2020. You start out on one project, and get sucked into another, immeasurably more difficult, sidetrack.

We - well, mostly my husband - finally wrenched the pylon out of the earth. Leonard had a new stress. How to get rid of it.

I decided to repurpose it into a bird bath.
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It ended up being a long day, and we were both tired and sore by the time we were done. Now I only have five months to wait to see whether all our work results in a more productive garden.

The first October snow brought bitter cold temperatures. Those of us concerned about Colorado wildfires are grateful for the moisture, and hopeful the snow will assist firefighters in controlling the burn.

Let's reminisce about warmer days for a moment. The summer of 2020, we spent a lot of time in the mountains. As a result, we saw lots of wildlife. Some were repeaters.

A bunny decided to take advantage of all the convenient hiding places we created on our ranch. I saw it nearly every weekend. The bachelor deer herd enjoyed grazing our field.

Others were new to me, or had been elusive for many years. A fishing trip to Wyoming brought us up close and personal with mountain goats and beaver. 

​I didn't realize how large pelicans are until I saw them standing next to Canada geese.

The first day of our fishing trip, I broke my phone, which is also my camera. I didn't get any photos after that, but my husband did. Below are a few.

I had a dream I could not go inside my favorite natural foods grocery store because I didn't have a face mask. Then I remembered my husband had stocked all our vehicles with masks. I opened my glove box. Every mask in my car was soiled with motor oil. 

Part of this anxiety dream may have been inspired by my forgetting to take pretty home-sewn masks with me, and being stuck wearing the blue paper masks we keep in our vehicles.

Since having that dream, I have stocked my purse and vehicle with masks sewn by our elder daughter and myself.

I used material I purchased over the years with the intention to sew a quilt. That project never left the ground. Instead, the small pieces of material are being put to an unexpected use.

We can argue whether masks are effective or not, but the fact is they are required in my workplace, and at many of the places I shop. Maybe it's a little bit of rebellion to make the depersonalizing face mask a statement of individuality.

How about you? If required to wear a mask, do you go with the institutional look, or do you choose a fun look? Or scary, like my co-worker with the monster-face masks.