The seaside town of Filey, a former fishing village on the east coast of Yorkshire between Scarborough and Bridlington, held its inaugural literature festival in May this year. I had the pleasure of taking part. There were walks and talks and a film about the life of Hannah Hauxwell, solitary…
In 1910 Punch magazine declared that feeding birds was a national pastime in the United Kingdom. I know there are pros and cons regarding feeding garden birds but I plead guilty to putting out suet pellets, seeds and peanuts, attracting blackbirds, robins thrushes and starlings as well as a few sparrows…
Two very different Agatha Christie mysteries have in common the guilty party’s choice of digitalis as the method of dispatch for the victims. (Was there any poison Agatha Christie did not reach for at one time or another?) Appointment with Death (1938) begins with Hercule Poirot, on holiday in Jerusalem,…
In May, I’ll be attending the Malice Domestic Convention in Bethesda, Maryland. This year, Malice remembers Reginald Hill who died on 12 January, 2012. Special guest Martin Edwards has been invited to accept the commemorative award. Reginald Hill was such a good writer that unless one has read everything he…
