by Barry H. Wiley
"You're John Randall Brown, the mentalist, aren't you?"
Surprised, I looked up from being lost in a Jorge Luis Borges short story. My career has not yet included much television or cable work–not from any lack of effort however–so that recognition by a stranger was still a novel experience. I nodded. It had been about an hour of relaxing quiet since take-off from Seattle
We left Bangkok early in the morning to travel the 100 miles to the border between Cambodia and Thailand by bumpy bus. Once at the border, we crossed with dozens of hand-drawn carts and trucks, all carrying goods into Cambodia. Traffic going to Thailand seemed to be just pedestrians. After clearing Thailand immigration, we had to walk about a block into Cambodia to get our visas. Along the route, large casinos lined both sides of the road, evidence of Asians’ love of gambling.
If you choose to see the New Year in with amateur sleuths Lord Peter Wimsey, Christine Bennett or professional Edward X. Delaney, count on a body turning up for the holiday. Whether our investigators’ services are requested or they just happen to be in the neighborhood where a body is discovered, each is relentless in pursuit of the truth in his or own fashion. As he tells Harriet Vane when they meet in prison, Lord Peter simply enjoys “investigating things.”
The new Annie movie is loosely based on the original Annie musical from the 1930s. In this version of the story, Annie is a girl in Foster care in New York City with three other girls. Their foster mom is Ms. Hannigan and is very similar in character from the original movie in 1982 but has a modern twist to it.
I have a habit of viewing life as a screenplay. It happens when you spend twelve years teaching film studies to university undergrads. You start to view most things as fodder for a movie script. Take tonight, for example, a week before Christmas. I’m here at the Study Break Cafe, a local hole-in-the-wall on the edge of campus. A place I’ve spent many significant moments. First job. Study dates. Surprise proposal. Uh, let’s not explore that proposal back-story.
With Christmas just around the corner, what could be better than sitting down with a good book filled with holiday cheer and murder? Yes, these are Christmas mysteries. So many options, so little time was never a more true statement because the season will be gone before we know it. Until then, why not grab a nog or a coffee and sit down with one (or more) of these seven holiday tales? We may not have a Christmas wedding in this batch, but we’ve got all the trappings: sometimes old, sometimes new, plenty of food, and someone blue.
To some people, Billie would appear to be the least likely dog anyone would want to adopt. She was old, in her last years, and sitting in the stray building at the Fresno SPCA. Her breath did not resemble the sweet smell that puppies blow in your face, nor would she be the best exercise partner with her tired legs. Yet, Pablo and Melani saw only a beautiful little dog that had endured a hard life, and who so badly needed a loving home.
Geri Sullivan and her partner Pepe have solved two murders, competed on the hit reality competition show Dancing with Dogs, and even stopped a dog-napping ring. These aspiring detectives-in-training operate under the license of the Seattle Gerrard Agency, whose questionable owner is Jimmy G, a third-person speaking, knockoff of a forties’ noir detective.
Although San Francisco contractor Melanie Turner has developed an ability to see ghosts, she’s not yet ready to admit to the existence of omens. It would be hard to argue that the Wakefield project hasn’t seen its share of bad luck though; contractors walking off of the job, a series of accidents, and even angry protestors have all been plaguing the site.
This year, Christmas Tree Lane continues its delightful tradition, celebrating the Lane’s 92nd anniversary and making it one of the longest-running holiday events in our nation. Christmas Tree Lane’s spectacular sparkling display was born in 1920 with the decoration of one single tree, as a way to honor a young boy who had died in a home on the Lane. Who could ever have imagined that the lighting of that one residential tree would grow into a spectacular display that now stretches for two miles, includes well over 100 homes and each Christmas season captivates one hundred thousand visitors.
