DARK AND STORMY DEBUTS AT ONCE UPON A CRIME

When you are in south Minneapolis, meandering along Lyndale Avenue, you pas beyond the complex interchange of freeways into a mixed commercial neighborhood. When you arrive at 26th, if you look to the east, you'll see a large imposing sign at ground level beside  a canopied stairway. The stair lead down to a basement doorway. It's the basement level entrance to one of the finest bookstores in the state of Minnesota. In fact, ONCE UPON A CRIME is one of the best bookstores in the entire nation.

I don't go there too often. I can't afford it. Their inventory which focuses on mystery and other crime fiction, would bankrupt me in thirty seconds. Tens of thousands of crime novels and anthologies by just about every good crime novelist in the English language are ready for sale and on display in their bookshelves.

This Saturday I was there for the debut a a fine anthology presented by local members of the Twin Cities Chapter of Sisters In Crime. The eighteen stories in IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT, DONTCHA KNOW, by eighteen good writers will capture your attention, make you smile, laugh, nod in satisfaction, and even bring a tear to your eye. I'll have a more detailed review after I finish reading the anthology. Meanwhile, get over to ONCE UPON A CRIME. It they are new to you, you'll discover an amazing collection of careful thoughtful. excellent books for your definite reading pleasure. 

Happy Reading.

FREE SPEECH NOT TO BE TAKEN LIGHTLY

 William Cooper is the author of a thoughtful examination of the structure of America, especially our "freedoms." titled "How America Works. . . and Why it Doesn't" It's worth a read in our parlous times. His column carried by a news platform called "The Fulcrum" focuses on Free Speech and the current trends, especially on educational campuses to suppress free speech. We all understand that at times we are hard-pressed to not just scream SHUT UP at what we may consider idiotic and dangerous commentary. This is particularly true today on college and university campuses where threats of riotous behavior have too frequently been successful. One can understand how an administrator, faced either way with budget considerations, might quickly decide to avoid potential confrontation. And we should all remember, if we are talking across a table with an enemy, we aren't shooting or dodging bullets from the opposition.

FREEZING WEATHER IN MINNESOTA AND OTHER NORTHERN STATES

 It's a cold morning again here in Minnesota. If this is an unfamiliar season to you who may read this curmudgeonly comment  KNOW THIS: Ice on lakes and ponds is still way to thin. It will NOT hold an adult or most children. Icy water shocks. People drown in frigid water. Stay on land for at least two more weeks of below freezing weather.

Another thing: Driving normally on snow and icy roads can be a killer. SLOW DOWN. Learn how your vehicle responds to hard braking or attempts to make sudden turns. The number of fender benders and vehicles in ditches on the freeways is a good indicator of too many driving too fast for current condition!

Increases following distance and slow down. Stay safe as winder descends on all of us!

THE VIEW ON ABC AN UNUSUAL PACKAGE OF FEMALE CURRENT EVENTS VIEWS

 Got my vision back after weeks an two surgeries. So I'll be back to more regular writing/commentary. To bgin. If you have the time/interest and want to learn more about the mixed political attitudes of a few bright, accomplished women, watch THE VIEW daily on ABC 10 am locally. It can be frustrating, irksome, but they are bright and honest in their conflicting views. The first half-hour is the best current affairs piece.

CHIAROSCURO QUARTET PERFORMS EASILY AT OR ABOVE STORIED PREDICTION

Not so very long ago, women were not allowed to study in the fine arts, much less perform on stages other than bawdy houses. Today, we have better understanding that women are possessed of far more richer and varies knowledge and talent than only bearing and raising children. The musical talent of women is richly and widely welcomed today, not least is a more recently formed (2005) sting quartet called Chiaroscuro Quartet. Violins, viola and cello in the very capable hands of four young well-schooled, richly talented women, the Quartet mad ea brief stop in Saint Paul to perform a concert of Mozart and Schubert as the opening in the new schedule of the Julie Himmelstrup Music In The Park series,

They played instruments carefully maintained and strung with gut strings, rather than the manufactured strings found on most such instruments these days. Rich, nuanced, multiple-interpreted scores brought to life with passion and care. The four young women demonstrated enormous talent and understanding of the music under their care. 

A young quartet, formed in 2005, the four are being scheduled across the world's concert venues and they are building a discography that is to be admired. Find them, hear them, and you will be transported to a world of classical music rare in today's world. It was a richly satisfying afternoon of some of the world's most significant instrumental music performed as it should be by this talented young quartet..

HEALTH CARE PROGRESS AND NATIONAL ELECTIONS

As a child in a previous century, I sometimes got to go with my dad on his visits to farmers in central Minnesota. I learned to drive a stick-shift car on those country roads. We often had supper with small gatherings of local farmers' families. I recall on one trip the local people were commiserating over the loss of a neighbor farmer to an apparent heart attack. When he collapsed in his field there were no EMTs or an ambulance service to rush him to a clinic or hospital, and possibly save his life.

Today, more than seventy-five years later, we read about new hospitals, services, health insurance and clinics and enormous executive salaries. And there is still no ambulance or EMT service within 100 miles of that farmstead. Why is that? Ask your federal, state and local candidates that question in this election time. Isn't that just as important as who goes to the White House?

MORE DEAD BY GUNFIRE

It is my considered belief that those who resist strengthening our gun laws, those who favor allowing anybody 18 and over in age carrying loaded weapons in public, and anybody ever convicted of a felony or serious misdemeanor, owning and possessing a rifle, shotgun, pistol and ammunition, is responsible for the deaths today, September 4, 2024, in a Georgia high school. It is very clear from the language of the Constitution and the language of the debate over the Second Amendment, that possession of weapons is related to being part of an organized militia, such as the National Guard and is Not designed to offer pesonal protection. Moreover, it is very clear that the possession of pistols and rifles by the civilian population contributes greatly to the random and criminal loss of life in this country. Everyone who supports the Second amendment as it is now stated IS RESPONSIBLE for every death by gun in this nation.

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! YES, IT IS PRIMARY VOTING DAY.

Even if there are no contests in your precinct, go and vote. It is our right and our obligation. We are privileged  to have the opportunity to vote in a peaceful legal setting. To retain the right we are obligated as citizens to invest in our election system. So please, exercise your right and VOTE!

DOWNSIZING, SAVING, SHREDDING AND HISTORY

I read an interesting piece in The Star Tribune Monday. Freelance writer Tod Nelson writes about how to manage your records as you move into smaller facilities and possibly a simpler life.. The idea apply to young adults moving into full independence and to people making mid-life alterations. Nelson also applies his recommendations to oldsters, like me, who may be able to glimpse the terminal at the end of the line.

The one missing element in the story that I found quite disturbing, and, I suspect, is disturbing to many historians, is to at least thoughtfully consider history. It's true, most of us will live and pass out of this life without making newsworthy contributions to the fabric or the perseverance of humankind. However, the lack of documented life is a constant source of frustration to researchers, especially those who lie to include context in their work.

Perhaps its my close and long association with an assistant director of publications and research at the Minnesota Historical Society that has influenced my position here. I recall learning of a political leader who's family and staff deposited twenty linear feet of documents with the MHS! Of course, most of us won't have that kind of record, but we should all recognize that ordinary daily life provides vital context for almost all historical research, writing and presentations.

I've been present many times, listening to the the intense frustrations of historical researchers who seek well-identified photographs of local folks and local events to give depth and understanding of daily life in ordinary towns and villages. And it isn't just the big archives like the National Archives or the MHS that are interested. Local, city town and county societies  employ trained historians who may be excited to consider and evaluate what you consider ordinary and useless documents and photographs.

So, before you turn on that shredder, contact your local historical society and find out what they are interested in preserving. Do it before you find yourself traveling that path through a dim landscape into the next possible obscurity.

WHITHER THE WEATHER

I often have more than one news souce running early mornings while I scan late news and early disasters. In this morning's darkness, listening to the steady downpour that used to signal an all day rain, I realized that it's already August and I haven't been to the lake.  Normally by this late in the season I've had an early morning swim in Lake Johanna a dozen times.

Not this year. Only once so far this summer. What happened to summer and heat? I keep hearing from the fast-talking weather people on local media about climate getting warmer, about hot spells and storms. Mother Nature, in this part of Minnesota, apparently missed that memo.

It's been cool to warm most days and there's been a lot of rain. Good for the flowers, but the kind of stalled heat waves?--Not in my neighborhood. Right now, it's raining really hard. The only persistent heat is of the political kind and while that seems to radically change every week, it stays hot and volatile. Hope you, dear reader, are having a happy summer, filled with hope and warm positive beliefs.

RUMINATION ON POLITICS OF THE TIMES

 

When I was a child courses in American History included several units on the history and construction of the Constitution and on the governance structure of the nation. Politics and political structure were barely mentioned. Today I looked at a textbook in which political structure and opweration overshadowed the organization and operation of our government.

Political organizations rule the roost. Candidates are chosen mostly as a result of technical evaluations from paid consultants, not by what they stand for. They get a political label. Media reports focus as often on their political affiliations as they do on the stated positions of the elected officials.

And we voters have largely bowed to those patterns. We have stopped choosing candidates on the basis of what they stand for (or say they do) and instead we look at their endorsement labels from a political party. In many place you can’t have your name as a candidate on an official ballot without meeting certain political party status. Party status has become more important than position on issues.

For a majority of voters, it appears to be more important what political labels you wear, than what you say you stand for. And will work for.

The real question that becomes so very important in the coming presidential election is not which political party will win the White House, but whether democracy will suffer another possibly seminal blow to its future. Presidents do not have the power of CEOs, but the Congress of these United States do carry that power and that responsibility.

A SATURDAY AFTERNOON

It's almost three on a sunny afternoon. Feeding time. The green rustling canopy overhead has nearly reached its maturity. above it, on silent still wings, hawk and eagle soar silently on the gentle updrafts.They peer down, seeking prey. One, my friendly striped and long-tailed critter, pauses, hearing or smelling the danger signs I cannot dcipher. Then she continues cautiously from spilled seeds to spilled seeds, filling her pouches for unseen children in her den. The predator birds soar away and as always happens in our green yard at about the same time every day, the songbirds appear for afternoon tea. One can almost see the downward departure of the feed from the hanging feeders. A lone hummer comes by to check out the new sugar water tube. Crowded on the branches of the oak black walnut trees are four or five varieties of sparrow, six kinds of woodpecker in line at the suet cage and orioles, cardinals, and a host of  other small birds in for afternoon tea. In the background, the purring sound of a distant mower, and a lone black bird with shining head dive bombs the big wind chime, providing musical interlude against squacking jays and goldfinches. Peace abounds in the neighborhood. All is well in the valley.

lITERARY STAR, ALICE MUNRO DIES

 Canadian author, literary Nobel Prize winner and tireless women's advocate, Alice Munro has died at 92. She was a wonderful writer, master of the language, especially the short story. She published collections of her work and was just a lovely person to boot. Everybody who ever reads short stories will miss her contributions. R.I.P. Alice Munro.

ST. MICHAELS AND TWIN CITY SISTERS IN CRIME EVENT

Today, Saturday, April 20, The Library staff of St. Michaels and members of Twin Cities Sisters In Crime, joined in happy collaboration of an excellent book event. City Hall in St. Michael was the venue today for a bright panel discussion and then circulation among 30+ authors prepared to comment and sell their best books. A good day in a fine venue.

BLESSED ARE THE DEAD

Author: Kristi Belcamino ISBN: 9780062338914 2014 releases by William Morrow Gabriella Giovanni is a young reporter on the West Coast. She's assigned to the Crime Beat on her medium-sized daily newspaper in the California Bay area. Her time is is mostly spent chasing down law enforement calls and tryung to get background and context from distraught citizens who are crime victims. What her editor and others around her don't know is she is driven by a horrible crime, like those she reports. Moreover, its an unsolved crime. Her professional life is complicated by others at the newspaper who want her removed from the crime beat. It's apparent that author Belcamino knows the landscape in which she writes. In this story, Giovanni becomes entangled with a man incarcerated for a lengthy series of murders. She is focused on his background for reasons that gradually becom clear, but the reporter's concentration on the murderer's history interferes with current events. Ultimtely, family elements, job pressures and the emotional power of the killer come together in an overlong but powerful and satisfying climax. I look forward to reading the next in her continuing series of crime novels.

BRASSY CONCERT FROM MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA

As a former brass player, it was delightful for me to experience the recent Thursday and Friday concerts by a fine orchestra. Guest conductor Domingo Hindoyan brought out the Latin focus of the music selections, from the Sienna Fandango to Dvorak's Eighth. An enthusiastic audience clearly appreciated the offerings of the orchestra and those of guest trumpeter, Pacho Flores. He offered an array of virtuoso pieces on four separate instruments including a four-valve trumpet and two cornets. Mr. Flores demonstrated excellent control, double and triple tonguing, and wide-ranging tonal control. The music selections were lively, rhythmic and called forth substantial appreciation from both audience and members of the Minnesota Orchestra. A fine, up-tempo program.

STATE OF THE UNION

 President Biden's State of The Union speech Thursday evening was (IMO) more campaign than report to the nation. I suppose that's where we are going. Instead of a respectful fact-filled presentation, accepted quietly by friends and opponents alike, as used to be the atmosphere, there were Britt-like cat-calls and loud objections from conservative members, a few of whom dressed for a day raking the yard. Well, so be it; you elect rabble, you get rabble-rousing. I think it was primarily a campaign speech. "Here's what I have done (actually a lot of people, both right and left politically) " and "here's where I intend to take our nation." As a small aside, note that the President talks in personal terms--we, us our-- whereas GOP speech-makers talk mostly about "the American people," as if we are some group out there somewhere and the GOP is separate.

In any case it was interesting, hopeful and sure lays out the prameters for the coming election campaign. 

Y'all be well.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY? improvememnt?

When I was forced, recently, to change Internet providers, I notified over 3,000 contacts of my new email and other contact changes. It appears most , businesses, organizations and individuals, have no procedure for making such changes. They seem to require canceling of the "account" and re-connecting.  So now the number of people and organizations I am connected to has fallen by more than 50%. The time I have spent explaining and reminding those who ignored my message of change, has been enormous. Now I understand the problems of privacy and need for protection from the scammers. However, my loss is large.

Today, I completed a change with a small financial institution that was so clean, neat and quick, it was 1990 again. How did we do it, you ask? We mailed a form back and forth and talked once on the telephone. Just like we used to do in the twentieth century! Clean, efficient  easy. The Internet is not yet the new communications revolution.

CLASSY CRIME NOVEL-A COLD WHITE SUN

 

A Cold White Sun   

By Vicki Delany

ISBN: 9781464201585

A 20013 hardcover release

From Poisoned Pen Press

A fine, judicious blend of action, mystery, thoughtful introspection and exploration of human conditions and motivations marks this novel. The story is a part of the author’s continuing series about the development of a young constable in the police force of a small community, Trafalgar. The town is located in a prime tourist region of British Columbia. That’s a province of Canada. The mountains offer prime skiing, the streams fishing and the forests hunting of various animals. Tourism is big business but that brings troubles as well.

Moonlight Smith, born of a hippie activist American couple, a near-champion downhill skier, much to her mother’s initial consternation has settled, at least temporarily, for a career as a cop. She’s bright, good-looking and not entirely sure of her life direction. Delaney has set this interesting character up with two bosses. She’s basically a patrol officer in the small department, but because the head of murder investigations, John Winters, recognizes her intelligence, Moonlight—Molly—Smith is frequently tasked to participate in his investigations.

This time the crime is murder. Out for her daily walk, high school English teacher Cathy Lindsay is slain, shot in the back. Subsequent investigation can find no plausible reason. Why was she a target? Was it a mistake?

As the investigation winds through Trafalgar, the author takes the opportunity to examine relationships between her principal characters, their family members, and members of the constabulary. Some of the scenes are loving, some are rife with anger and tension. The pace is good and if the threads occasionally fray and lose a little direction, that’s inevitable. This novel has a lot of thoughtful observations and this reviewer felt enriched. I’d award 4.75 stars if that was possible.

 

SECRETS OF WILLOW LANE REVEALED

Minneapolis native J. L. Anderson wrote an entertaining crime novel about the death of a resident of Willow Lane. In the process of solving the crime, the author has revealed a whole host of interesting facts about the sometimes more that ordinary lives of the residents of this neighborhood.

Add to that a conflicted squad of Minneapolis homicide detectives who seem to spend almost as much energy fighting each other as they do trying to figure out who killed the bee in the neighbor's bonnet. The story moves along, builds clue after clue pointing at different suspects and is resolved in eminently satisfying ways. 

This is not a highly unusual neighborhood--it could be yours--or mine. From all appearances the residents of Willow Lane are nice, well-educated, intelligent people, with an exception or two. But somehow the web of deceit has entangled more than is obvious. The author does a fine job of setting up the reader and then precisely and logically solving the puzzle and revealing  many Secrets of Willow Lane, a 2019 publication by J.L.Anderson from Fuzion Press.

A MURDER IN PASSING

 

A Murder In Passing             

By Mark De CastriquE

ISBN: 9781464201493

A 2013 release from

Poisoned Pen Press

History, race relations, and persistent attitude are all blended in this fine story. With sensitivity and care the author has developed a believable inter-race relationship story of love and sacrifice. As the title suggests, murder is also part of the mix.

With few clients in hand, Sam Blackman and Nakalya Robertson need some outlet for their energy. Connecting with an outdoor mushroom-searching band, Sam stumbles over a skeleton that appears to be quite old. The discovery sets in motion inquiries by several agencies and since Robertson and Blackman are at loose ends with almost no business, they join the search for answers on an ad hoc basis. Then a potential client shows up asking them to try to locate a photograph, apparently stolen several years earlier.  Even though the picture was made by a well-known photographer, its value doesn’t seem to reach the level where hiring a detective is appropriate. What’s even more intriguing is that the subject of the missing photograph is a small group of children linked to the skeleton discovered by Blackman.

The story unwinds in a very logical and thoughtful manner. The writing is clean and the characters are interesting in their attitudes and development. Everything about this book is of the level we have come to expect from this publisher and its authors.