You may have noticed the absence of Magpie Moments posts lately. That’s because I’ll be releasing the Sydney Brennan novella, Secrets in Stockbridge, on Saturday, November 22nd. Trying to cross all my Ts to make that happen has kept me pretty busy, and I decided that I’d satisfied the spirit of my Magpie-Moments-until-next-release pledge so I could get everything done. However, I’m also aware that I haven’t talked about Stories I Love in a long time either. And I just happen to be dipping my toes into Season 2 of the delectable Miss Fisher Mysteries right now… Miss Fisher’s Murder Read more…

I’m breaking the mold a bit (if I’ve written enough of these to have a mold; maybe just a slight impression) on my Stories I Love series. Usually these are recommendations for mystery shows long past that you may have missed and are my perennial favorites. This time I’ve chosen a show that is (gasp!) still being broadcast, that I haven’t finished and could possibly go south on me before the end of the first season. Why? Because it’s really good, and I wanted to share just in case, for once, I’m not the last person on the planet to Read more…

Everyone is familiar with the magic of comfort food. Over the weekend, my husband and I felt the need for comfort entertainment, which of course made me think of another installment of Stories I Love. This time, the Nero Wolfe edition. If you read my blog regularly, you’re probably not surprised by the choice. A while back I wrote a post about Book Chi, the idea that years of reader experiences can attach to the physical books you find in libraries and used book stores. The book that prompted this was a library copy of Rex Stout’s, Please Pass the Read more…

July 24th is Private Investigator’s Day. The date was chosen to celebrate the birth of Eugene Francois Vidocq in 1775. Apparently a master of disguise, Vidocq was a criminal who escaped from custody and spent years on the run, only to eventually turn informant and secret police agent. Vidocq founded the French state security police force Sûreté Nationale, and in 1833 he started the first known detective agency. Many consider him to be the father of modern criminology. But there’s another reason today is the perfect day to celebrate private investigators. On July 24, 1916, a man was born who Read more…

I love Game of Thrones, but Season 3 has been staring at me from its box set for weeks, calling me names, daring me to lose several days of my life to its narrative of bloody vengefulness. I’ve sidestepped any real spoilers, but it’s impossible to avoid the pervasive sense of “bad shit’s gonna happen” that permeates the Internets. And I’m just not quite ready for that right now. I need to build up my reserves before I watch them impale a kitten on a baby unicorn, or whatever it is they have in store. In the meantime, there are Read more…