This week we have reviews and giveaways of some more mysteries for the new year-Murder on the Class Trip: A Maya and Sandra Mystery by Lee Hollis, On Spine of Death: A By the Book Mystery by Tamara Berry, and The Secret of the Lost Pearls: A Useful Woman Mystery by Darcie Wilde.
Martini is a Cairn mix that came into Col. Potter because his elderly owners died. They had originally adopted him from a local rescue and, over the years, provided him with a loving home. Martini at about twenty-five pounds is larger than the Cairn standard and has longer legs. He is about five years old.
As frost and fog envelop the Central Valley in the ghostly shroud of winter, thoughts drift inward to the warmth of family, home, and the holidays. But as the Christmas tree is lit and the New Year rung in with loved ones, the season’s longest, darkest nights recall a time when ghost stories and spooky soirees were the otherworldly order of the day.
Finally getting time to relax after all the holiday bustle? Use your gift cards to buy books. Here’s a few suggestions.
Masterpiece Mystery is a popular PBS series bringing excellent mysteries and thrillers set around the world and in various time periods. Your PBS station can be found through many locations: KQED is the Bay Area, KVIE is Sacramento/Stockton, and KVPT is the Fresno area. No membership requirement, although each station takes frequent pledge breaks during the year and some have special access opportunities. PBS KVIE Passport is available to members donating $60/year or more or $5/month or more.
Hope Sze is sometimes referred to as “detective doctor” due to previous encounters with suspicious deaths. In actuality, she’s a resident physician at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, along with her good friend Tori Yamamoto and fiancé John Tucker, who prefers being called Tucker.
2022—The Great Food Search family (“Dad,” “Mom,” forty-two-year-old “Child”) went through urgent care visits (D, M), dentists (D, M, C), ankle replacement surgery (M), physical therapy (M), five 5K (3.1 mile) walk/run races (D—I walked), and year-ending Covid (D, M, C). Somehow, the three of us are still alive and talking to each other. Still, 2022 was a pretty good year for food in The Great Food Search—twenty-seven different restaurants and eateries.
My favorite time of year is here at last: discussing my favorite games of the year. This year was amazing for video games, and it will be so tough to pick my top five, but I am up to the challenge.
Life as a ballerina isn’t all tutus and tiaras. By the end of each day, a typical dancer has sweated off her makeup, starved her way through hours of rehearsals, and fended off challenges by rivals young and old. The world of dance is one that’s filled with inherent drama, and the fragility of a dancer’s life lends urgency to the most mundane details.
Since Christmas Eve falls on a Saturday this year KRL is taking a weekend off! But don't worry we will be back December 31 with another full issue. We will still be posting some midweek articles next week. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season!
