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.