Eating My Way Through Kerala, Half-Cup Portions Only

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Friends, I am back in India. It turned out that my wonderful October-November visit to India was not fulfilling enough. During that two-week journey, I’d gathered the information to finish one Perveen mystery; but now I was itching to learn more about Kerala for a subsequent book. … Read more

Marine Driven

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. It was just 4:30 in the morning when my husband Tony and I arrived in Mumbai on a middle-of-the-night flight from Kochi. I was tired, but not too tired to notice that Mumbai’s domestic terminal had really spiffed up its décor, restrooms and shops. It was easy to … Read more

Held Up in Fort Cochin

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. It feels like only yesterday that I was driving out of Kumarakom Village, in the Kottayam district near Lake Vembanad. That’s how much of lasting impact the gorgeous, green state of Kerala in South India has, even on my fifth visit. From Kumarakom, it was 53 kilometers north … Read more

Retreat to Kerala

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I’ve just returned from two weeks in India, utterly tired but happy to have gone. It’s interesting that while I have lingering jet lag for a week on this end, I felt only a little tired during first two days of my time there. Perhaps because Kerala is … Read more

Literary Lewes

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Last weekend, I packed my bags and headed to the beach at Lewes, Delaware. The weekend promised to be overcast, but that was no big deal: I was planning to spend my time in a library and museum. My kind of activities, but spent with hundreds of others … Read more

Writers on the Farm

This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Near my childhood home in St. Paul, Minnesota, you’ll find the Gibbs Farm, a historic farm homestead dating from the 1850s which includes a one room schoolhouse, barn, and household—all of it filled with a miscellany of pioneer life. Old books, clothing, toys, farm equipment, and household furnishings … Read more