Right after Thanksgiving, Jewel Moore, my aunt, proclaimed: “What we need is some good old-fashioned Christmas spirit, with lots of peace and quiet, no drama, no chaos, or I’ll have a hissy fit!”
Here is your weekly reminder that there are also new articles up on our other website KRL News & Reviews! Every week there will be book reviews and giveaways, plus sometimes pet articles, theatre articles, and more! And listen to our new podcast!
Baby, it’s cold outside! Time to stay warm and catch up on your favorite series. Check out these delicious and savory mysteries.
Tweet Revenge in Ellen Riggs’ eleventh Bought-the-Farm mystery. Hobby farmer Ivy Galloway and sheepdog, Keats, welcome a songbird to the animal rescue Runaway Farm and Inn. An antique birdcage attracted the bird who has a sad song to sing.
Nelson Penzell is co-owner of the former This and That Shop, now renamed. His merchandise is high end while his partner deals in souvenirs for tourists. Or so Nelson says. He’s got a reputation as a womanizer, too. It’s no surprise when he’s found murdered. The shocker is Coreen, the manicurist at the beauty shop Jessica goes to, is the main and only suspect just because she was on the scene, covered in blood and holding the murder weapon.
December 1941: as Pearl Harbor burned and the United States marched headlong into its second World War, the Sisters of the Holy Cross took up residence at 1050 S. Street in downtown Fresno, a grand Colonial Revival home crowned by a widow’s walk.
Reedley and Fresno County are no stranger to the red-hot US housing market. Your Central Valley highlights the pleas of city officials to get more affordable housing options on the board for residents across the area in response to a market made very difficult for borrowers and buyers.
It was late and the gates were long since closed. The place was strewn with red and green decorations and smelled of fresh-cut pine. The participants were assembling for the party now, most wearing the uniform of their branch of service. Lots of chin rubbing and gentle nodding and subtle saluting, as if to say, this, this is nice. A nice touch. The cool weather. The almost full moon. There had been music earlier and it hung in the air like a found memory.
This weekend the College of the Sequoias Performing Arts in Visalia will be presenting It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry streaming via Broadway On Demand. We took a moment to chat about the show with its director, Chris Mangels, who is Professor of Cinema & Theatre Arts at the College of the Sequoias.
Coco is a very special kitty in our family. Awhile ago I took my granddaughter to CCSPCA, a high-kill shelter, to pick up kitties that our rescue was pulling. While bringing in carriers to pick up the kitties. My granddaughter was looking at the kitties in the stray cattery. She came running out of the stray area and telling me, “Grandma, I found a kitty, and I want to save the kitty’s life. Grandma, come look at the kitty. Can we save this kitty?” I told her let’s go look at the kitty. She grabbed my hand and told me, “Come. Oh, Grandma, come and see the kitty."
It’s that most wonderful time of the year, when an avian-titled holiday mystery from bestselling author Donna Andrews is released into the wild! For this thirtieth entry into the long-running series, blacksmith Meg Langslow is unfortunately not currently on a skiing trip with her husband and twin sons. That is an indirect – and direct – result of her being forced to host wildlife artist Roderick Castlemayne and his subjects in her home.
