This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. A couple of years ago, I spent a thrilling day shopping for art in galleries the Kala Ghoda district of Mumbai. The upshot is I came home with a gorgeous modern abstract painting found in a an old British Raj building on Rampart Row in Mumbai, very close … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. It’s too easy to twist your ankle while walking through India. Streets and sidewalks have irregular surfaces, and there are many distractions, ranging from speeding cars and motorcyclists creating their own laws to horses and goats. So I only feel like my footing is truly firm indoors, and … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. After we had a dead elm tree cut down last year, little white mushrooms sprang up on the wood-flecked ground. I was nervous because we had just taken in a Yorkshire Terrier puppy with an appreciation for organic material. Daisy snuffles up berries, pods, pinecones and black walnuts … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. A ragged, handwritten sign has been taped to my study wall for about a year. I love this job! A quarter-century ago, I was working full-time in university public relations and desperately longed to be a fiction writer. It seemed like an impossible dream, to stay home all … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. On my recent sojourn in India, I kept a lookout for animals. This is because I’m striving to write a lot more about animals in my books. They may not solve a crime or talk (thank God!) but they will be characters. In my book-in-progress, Perveen Mistry 2, … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Kitab is the Urdu/Hindi word for book and is pronounced just as it sounds. I find it a lovely word. So too was my recent book tour in India for A Murder on Malabar Hill, A Perveen Mistry Investigation. You might notice the similarity in title to The Widows of Malabar Hill, … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. When women began posting accounts of sexual assault a few months ago, I listened. I counted myself fortunate to make it through a little more than a half century without rape. Also, I haven’t experienced workplace harassment. But as the #MeToo stories have continued, some uncomfortable memories … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. January has been a big month for Murder Is Everywhere writers. After cheering for the long anticipated launch of Jeff Siger’s An Aegean April, Anna Maria Alfieri and I had the crazy good luck to share the same pub date, Jan. 9, for our new historical mysteries. On Pub … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Watching standup and skit comedy shows became a kind of medication for me in the last year. Mental health maintenance, you know? I feel empathy in the jokes made by Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee, and the cast of Saturday Night Live. But there’s also considerable relief in … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Mixed families often double their holidays. Which means the culinary options are rather excellent. Take Christmas. I grew up the daughter of a German mother who still makes hundreds of beautiful cookies each year. I have learned to bake some of these cookies, but I can’t hold a … Read more