This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. As I work on this post, election returns are coming in from all over the United States. It might not surprise readers of this blog that I’m a supporter of Hillary Clinton. My home state, Maryland, has voted Democratic for many years, so I traveled to a … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I’m a regular participant at the friendly Malice Domestic convention held annually in Bethesda to celebrate traditional mysteries. Last year, at the convention auction, I decided to give more than a signed book. Having found that readers of diverse books are usually enthusiastic foodies, I offered to … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Sometimes it seems our population has two types of people: those who hate to see summer end, and those who can’t wait. Last week, school started in Maryland, and I began experiencing the most time for my work than I’ve had in the last 18 years. Chalk … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. The best-known images of India are probably Bollywood glamour, sidewalk squalor, and British colonial life. We see this in photographs and film. Those lucky enough to visit the Subcontinent will undoubtedly encounter elements of these icons. Yet most South Asians regard roughly twenty-six hundred years of royal … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. While looking through our motley collection of stamps to find a small one to add to an envelope, I stumbled across a surprise: a modest, black and white stamp honoring “Religious Freedom in America.” I’ve seen stamps honoring different religious holidays, but never one for religious freedom. … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. When I picked up my newspaper from the sidewalk Monday morning and saw this picture, I was transfixed. At a protest for Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, a calm Ieshia Evans offers her wrists to the police. Something about the movement of her skirt makes her look … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. The Vidocq Society is a small but legendary group of experts who gather to solve mysteries of the ages. I wish they could find the answer to an unexplained death that took place a few miles from me, last spring. This is the death of 25-year-old named … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. “The best part of the present house is the veranda,” the U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes journaled in 1873. “But I would enlarge it. I want a veranda with a house attached.” I share the late president’s opinion. A wooden veranda measuring over 100 feet wraps four … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Two years ago, my neighbor bought a package of honeybees online as well as a beehive. The bees arrived healthy and active. But shortly after spring started, the bees vanished. Jeff said he didn’t see any evidence of dead bees nearby. It was as if the whole … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Congratulations to Malia Obama. She’s made it through the constant observation that began with her entrance to the White House in 5th grade. Both Malia and her 8th grade sister, Sasha, have gracefully stayed the course without acting out and remaining close to their parents. Malia, an excellent … Read more