It is with heavy hearts that Lynne’s family shares the sad news of her passing on November 20, 2022. Her obituary can be found below and at this link: https://www.jconline.com/obituaries/ljc061775 Lynne Carol Handy, 84, of Yorkville, Illinois and formerly of Indiana, Texas, Michigan, Florida . . .

(I started this blog in October, but was felled by Covid-19 for several days. Because I’d had the original vaccine and four boosters, my experience was mainly nasal congestion and tiredness, but I now test negative and am good to go.) From October—The first frost fell a few days ago. Leaves are . . .

Last week, I attended the five-day Anthony Boucher (rhymes with voucher) Memorial Mystery Convention, better known as Bouchercon, in Minneapolis, which annually draws creators and readers of all sub-genres of mysteries: Classic/Traditional; Crime; Police Procedural; Noir; Gumshoe; Cozy; and Capers. . . .

Visiting Ireland a few years ago, I went to the Cobh Museum, which overlooks Cork Harbor, the point of departure for millions of Irish people fleeing the Great Famine. A large part of the museum was devoted to a stunning sensory exhibit of Irish men, women, and children forced to leave the family . . .

I grew up on a midwestern farm located between the Wabash and Illinois rivers. An anonymous writer described that vast prairie as follows: “the gentle wind moved the supple grasses like waves of a green sea under the summer’s sky.” Some are born into the world with a determination to flee their . . .