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► Oak Park Village series
The third Oak Park book, Murder of a Recluse, finds Fred and Elizabeth newly married, and living with his aunt Lucy, near the new house they’re having built. Fred is undertaking the defense of a woman who is suspected of killing her unfriendly, unpopular mother.
Both Fred and Elizabeth work tirelessly to uncover the real murderer. Spoiler alert: at the end of the book, Elizabeth is experiencing occasional stomach upsets. Hmm…
► Dorothy Martin
The next Dorothy Martin book was to be set in the lovely Yorkshire Dales, but plans changed when I took a two-night cross-country train trip, Chicago to Seattle, and thence the ferry to Vancouver Island. By an interesting coincidence, Dorothy and Alan decide to take the same trip.
On the way they encounter a most unpleasant man who, without justification, ousts a service dog (a harmless little Chihuahua) from the dining car. The next day the man is seen falling from the train, and Dorothy and Alan become involved in tracing him and his criminous past, seeing a good deal of America and Canada on the way. This one, titled Terror on the Train, should be out in the late summer or early fall of 2025.
The photo below is taken from the train as we passed by Glacier National Park in Montana.
In a departure from my usual pattern of alternating series, I’m working now on another Dorothy. This one is set in Dorothy and Alan’s home town of Sherebury. The main character is their next door neighbor and good friend, Jane Langland, who experiences a stroke in the first chapter. She’ll recover fully (I wouldn’t dare harm Jane badly), but it’s going to take time, and meanwhile she can’t speak, can’t tell Dorothy and Alan what she desperately wants them to do. Trying to read her face, they conclude it’s some treasure in her house that she wants them to find—but what? Get set for a treasure hunt.
► Other News
As you may recall from my last update, I had recently decided I needed a kitty to come home to and found Rosie at the local shelter. When she started rubbing her head against my hand the moment I approached her I knew. Obviously my cat! Rosie is a beautiful tuxedo cat, and very well behaved. She’s about 10, a senior cat for a senior person. Here's a new picture of the love of my life. Whoever said that cats are always graceful never met Rosie!
I like to call my books "cheerful mysteries." For despite all signs to the contrary, I continue to believe the world is a good place and most of her people are trying to do their best. So my books reflect that philosophy and I hope this site does, too.
Winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Novel (1995)
“Fans of the English cozy will put the kettle on, snuggle under a lap rug, and sigh contentedly...” - Kirkus Reviews