The Cozy Mystery List Blog

I have been reading comments and letters from some of you all for several years now. I know that I have stated (several times) that paranormal mystery series just aren’t for me. However, I have read so many comments that make me think that maybe I should try a paranormal mystery and see if I can get on the Paranormal Mystery bandwagon. (I have tried several “unconventional themes” before, from talking cats and dogs to guardian angels…)

The last paranormal mystery author I tried was Nancy Atherton. I was hoping that she could change my “no-paranormals-for-me” attitude. I know that Atherton is a best selling author with many, many fans. Aother reason I chose the first in Atherton’s Aunt Dimity series is that I didn’t want to go from “no paranormal mysteries” to something as “strong” as a vampire theme. I thought I should take baby steps… and ease my way through Aunt Dimity’s “ghost” helping Lori solve mysteries before I tackled blood-thirsty vampires.

I enjoyed Nancy Atherton‘s writing style. >>> It flows easily while telling the story. But, I’m again facing the paranormal theme. I wasn’t quite sure how Aunt Dimity was going to communicate with her best friend’s daughter, so I was very interested in finding that out. I won’t include any spoilers here, suffice it to say that Atherton has come up with a communication process which I see will be easy for her to stick with in the following mysteries of the series.

I just finished the first in the Aunt Dimity series (Aunt Dimity’s Death). and I’m still not sure about my paranormal VS non paranormal mysteries stand. I guess I’ll just have to try another one!

Do you (or don’t you) agree with my “no-paranormals-for-me” attitude?

Here’s a brief update of my trip up north (to Colorado)… I drove the first five hundred miles the first day, leaving the easier (four hundred miles) to the next. It’s not a particularly scenic drive until you get on I-25 from Raton (New Mexico) to Pueblo, Colorado. But, all of that sagebrush and dry, flat land gets a great pay-off when you go on the Raton Pass – through some of the most beautiful mountains. Truly gorgeous.

I don’t mind the drive  (though it is a little long) because I always have my audible.com books with me. This time, I had both Patricia Wentworth’s Miss Silver and Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael in the car with me as “passengers”. Perhaps this is why the trip doesn’t seem so unappealingly long.  I am “kept company” with the words of two of my favorite mystery book authors.  Following along as two of my favorite sleuths put together the pieces of their mysteries is a great road-trip companion.

Of course, as usual, some of the scenes I saw along the way would make me stop my audible book for a few minutes so that I could enjoy the sights and think. I revert to one particular car game from my past, when my children were young. I find myself seeing old brick farm houses and wondering about the lives of the people inside, I see them all sitting around a dinner table – passing the mashed potatoes and thick, creamy gravy. I wonder if they enjoy reading books on cold winter nights, if they preserve their own jams and jellies, in short, I think about all of the generations of families who lived in some of these old farm houses.

Of course, I am busy with my family while I’m here in the Springs. But once I head to my room for the night, I am joined by more of my fictional friends… right now, Nancy Atherton’s Aunt Dimity and Lori are keeping me company…

Yesterday I decided (rather quickly) that I would drive up to Colorado to see  my mother and brother today. Last February, my younger brother had a rather complicated surgery, and then developed pneumonia at the hospital. Both my sister and I went out to be with him.

Luckily, he  had a wonderful recovery, so I was able to go visit him some time in early spring (April?) This time, my mother’s fiancé is in the hospital. She relies on him for almost everything, as she does not drive. I am going up to see if I can talk her into getting someone to help her around the house, who can drive her to her bridge clubs, shopping, etc.

Anyway, I am going up for a week, or maybe a little longer. My husband has set my laptop up so that I can get on the internet… with a T-Mobile “stick”>>> which is great, since my mother found that she was no longer using the internet, so she had it disconnected. Yikes! What’s a person to do without the internet?!? (I think my husband thought I would have “withdrawal” symptoms!) Since I will probably have a lot of time during the next week that will be dedicated to waiting, I shouldn’t have a problem keeping up with you all.

I remember way back in time, before I started using the internet, when I couldn’t wait to get up to the hotel room so that I could get organized and settled in for the night. Not so now! I think my husband might have been right about me having trouble with internet withdrawal symptoms>>> I couldn’t wait to get up to my room at the hotel so that I could turn on my computer… Forget hanging up my clothes or getting my toiletries organized. Get me my T-Mobile connection fast!

Warning: This entry has absolutely nothing to do with Mystery Books, Cozy or Non Cozy!

For the last few weeks, I have noticed the crowds around my bird feeder getting smaller and smaller. I thought that unfortunate incident with the Cooper Hawk might have had something to do with the diminishing traffic, but it has been at least a month since he/she used my yard as his/her private hunting ground.

I have mentioned that since Sprite (our beloved dog) is no longer with us, I moved my computer desk out to the kitchen. >>> Actually, I had my husband and son move my desk… but there’s really no reason to be that technical about it! I felt that as long as we have large windows in the kitchen, I wanted to be able to enjoy sitting by one of them – so that I could watch the birds at the feeders in our back yard.

Unfortunately, the Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, and Carolina Chickadees don’t frequent our feeders very often, but we do have a whole lot of House Sparrows. But as I said, they seemed to have stopped congregating around the feeders a few weeks ago.

However, two days ago I found out why! I looked outside at the feeders and saw dozens of Sparrows out there. They were engaging in their usual activities, pecking at each other to get the best places at the feeders, spending a lot of time making sure no other Sparrows encroached on their “territory” (wasting time not feeding while doing their guarding!), and dropping a lot of seeds on the ground.

Last weekend I mowed the ground in order to mulch the acorns and leaves. >>> Actually, I had my husband mow… but again, there is no reason to be that technical about it! (The reason I mention this it to make sure you don’t think we had super long, over-grown grass.) Getting back to two days ago – I thought I saw movement in the grass, like the grass was sort of hopping and bopping. I got my trusty binoculars out (YIKES!!! I think bird watching with binoculars is the first sign of “old age”!!!) and there, amongst the short grass blades were the most adorable, little, itty, bitty Sparrows I have ever seen. They are so tiny you can barely see them, until they hippity-hop-bop while vying for the best location to get the bird feeder’s falling seeds.

It has been years since I took Biology, but for some reason I thought of Spring as the “official” newborn season. Of course, even though we are still technically in winter, our weather is so spring-like, it borders on being almost insanely summer-like. Either way, I am going to enjoy these little fellows… They grow up so fast…