This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. The air was warm, and the sky so blue. Tall trees showed off crowns of red, orange and gold leaves as I cruised along Interstate 95 last Sunday morning. Despite it being prime leaf-peeping time, I wasn’t taking a scenic route for idle pleasure. Pennsylvania is a swing … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. (Ed. note: Perveen Mistry, a female lawyer living in 1920’s Bombay, has reached across time and reality to write a frank letter to 2024 voters. As the chronicler of Perveen’s legal mysteries, I’m impressed by her forthright investigations of political issues and modern technology. Let us enjoy her … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Can a woman become a successful president? The mission was attempted just once before in the United States, with Hillary Clinton at the top of the Democratic ticket. Although Hillary won the popular vote, she didn’t win enough electoral college votes and ultimately lost the election to Donald … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I was messing with my books today and turned them so that the spines were hidden. No titles, no idea of content. They seem like a visual representation of how powerless books are if we don’t see what they’re about. Blank books remind me of silenced voices. The … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. “Breaking Boundaries” is an expression that is usually meant to show freedom—crashing through a fence that prohibits expression. But there’s another side to boundaries. And that’s “Holding Boundaries.” The first boundary I recall is a low brick wall that marked the edge of the front garden of my … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. A novelist I greatly admire wrote her last blogpost in September. Catriona McPherson, formerly of the Femmes Fatales, declared that that with the election ahead, so much work needed to be done that she felt it useless to write about “cats and courgettes”—nor did she want to turn her … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. In the early hours of Wednesday November 4, I am running on fumes and bittersweet chocolate. I stayed awake much of Tuesday night, watching and waiting as the votes roll in for the 2020 presidential election. Where was the easy win for Biden that I expected? I voted … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Even though my fiction is set in the past, what makes it tick for me is whether the issues are relevant. Sadly, gender discrimination, political unrest, religious violence and oppressive government are not a problem anyone’s solved yet. These days, I have been watching The Rachel Maddow Show quite a … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. I’m posting on the eve of the day that Democratic House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi has called for an impeachment inquiry. The Democrats’ concern—which is shared by me and many Americans—is whether the Republican president, Donald Trump, coerced a foreign government to investigate his own political rival. I … Read more
This post originally appeared on Murder Is Everywhere. Two years ago, it was my rotation for blog duty the day after the US presidential election. I planned to write something about it that night—because nothing else seemed relevant. I spent the day buzzing around, feeling anxious yet certain the stress would soon end, and I’d be … Read more