Posts in category: Newsletter

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

LIFE IN MEXICO

The west coast of Mexico is one of the prime migration paths for whales. Every year, blue, gray and humpback whales migrate from frigid arctic waters to the Sea of Cortez to give birth to their young. They eat krill, tiny shrimp-like marine life that abound in these waters.

Occasionally, baby whales are beached and the Mexican Navy is called out to rescue them. Tragically, whales are occasionally struck by commercial ships transiting the coast. But for the most part, they are seen breaching into the air with their off-spring, delighting everyone who witnesses the joyful act.

FAVORITE RECIPE; VODKA PENNE

This is an old family favorite that is easy to make and tastes delicious. In addition, you get to set it on fire!

Ingredients

3 Tsp butter

1 Tsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp salt

8 mushrooms, chopped

¼ cup white onion, chopped

¼ cup chopped prosciutto

2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into ½ in cubes

½ cup vodka

½ cup whipping cream

½ cup black olives

1 Tsp parsley, chopped

½ tsp pepper

1 package penne

2 Tsp grated parmesan

Directions

In a pot with a lid, sauté garlic and onion in butter and oil. Stir in chicken and mushrooms, and fry until brown.

Add vodka and ignite for several seconds. Extinguish with lid. Stir in cream, olives, salt, pepper and prosciutto.

Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Serve on cooked penne.

Sprinkle with parmesan and parsley.

Check out Runaway Bomb.

A mad scientist steals a suitcase bomb in an audacious plan to build the world’s most powerful engine. It’s up to FBI Agent Jack Kenyon to intervene before terrorists get hold of the nuclear weapon.

Purchase Runaway Bomb on Amazon!

FAVORITE MOVIE

Where’d You Go, Bernadette

In this case, Where’d You Go, Bernadette is both a favorite book and movie. Written by Maria Semple and published in 2012, the comedy/mystery novel revolves around the sudden disappearance of Bernadette Fox. The story is told, in part, from the point-of-view of her 15-year old daughter Bee, who pieces together the events leading up to her mother’s disappearance.

The movie, on the other hand, is told from Bernadette’s perspective (played by Cate Blanchett). An architect by training, she has given up a brilliant career in LA (after a hostile neighbour secretly purchased a landmark home she had designed and subsequently razed it), and settled in Seattle with her husband Elgin.

The domestic life doesn’t suit Bernadette, and she soon finds herself embroiled in a dispute with her neighbour that results in a mud slide that ruins the latter’s home. She plans a trip to Antarctica to escape her increasingly demented life in Seattle, causing Elgin and Bee to pursue her to the bone-chilling continent.

Written and directed by Richard Linklater (Before Midnight), the move is both funny and heartbreaking, an exploration of obsession and mental illness and the effects they can have on the people who love you as they desperately try to intervene.

I highly recommend Where’d You Go Bernadette in all its forms; both the book and movie are vastly enjoyable!

FAVORITE MYSTERY NOVEL

Bruno, Chief of Police,

By Martin Walker

We’ve been fans of Martin Walker’s Bruno series for several years now, ever since we first discovered the police procedural while vacationing in southern France.

The series is set in the Dordogne, in the fictional village of St. Denis, and features the exploits of Benoît Courrèges, aka Bruno, the village chief of police. An attractive bachelor, he owns a small cottage in the hills above St. Denis where he entertains friends with his skill at preparing traditional cuisine.

Bruno, Chief of Police is the first in the series, and involves the murder of a former North African who fought for the French army. Evidence points to anti-immigrant militants, but as the chief digs further, he begins to uncover some uncomfortable truths surrounding the victim.

The pace of the novel is slow and deliberate as Bruno methodically pieces the strands of the mystery together, all the while interspersed with life in the rural south of France that entrances the reader and makes you want to hop a direct flight to Bergerac!

Although each book can be read in isolation, I recommend you start with the first and get to know all the characters as they are introduced and grow in your heart.

Friends is a non-profit organization based in Manzanillo and dedicated to the well-being of pets in the community, providing medicine, care and sterilization services.

It’s a sunny Thursday afternoon and Fred and Maria invite me along to return two sterilized dogs to their owner.

Ramone lives on a plot of land overlooking the lagoon south of Manzanillo. His modest home is surrounded by a stone fence with an iron gate. When we arrive, he comes to greet us with at least a dozen dogs happily trailing behind him.

“How many dogs do you own?” I ask.

“Twenty.” Ramone shrugs helplessly. “People know I love dogs. They come and shove them through the bars in my gate. I cannot turn them away.”

With aid from Friends, Ramone is able to sterilize and care for the dogs, many of whom arrive with diseases like mange, or injuries. Thanks to contributions, Friends was able to help Ramone and many more pet lovers with big hearts but modest means. Please go to their site at Friends and help them out!

MY FAVORITE RECIPES

Watermelon Salad

This is absolutely the most amazing fruit salad, one that your guests will be talking about for ages. It is very easy to make and is a refreshing palate cleanser between courses. Most of all, it will put a big smile on everyone’s face!

Ingredients

Seedless watermelon.

1/4 cup of Pine nuts.

1 cup Feta cheese, cubed

Mint leaves (optional)

Creamy balsamic vinegar

Directions

Cut the watermelon into cubes (just under 1 inch on the side).

Lightly toast the pine nuts.

Cube the feta cheese into ½ inch size.

Just before serving, mix all the ingredients together (this keeps the pine nuts crispy). Serve at the table and let guests add the creamy balsamic vinegar as dressing.

SPECIAL EVENT

A Paris Moment Giveaway!

Happy Holidays! For this month only, you can download A Paris Moment, my travel memoir recounting the year that Linda and I lived in Paris. It’s a great book to read if you’re planning on going to France next year, or even just dreaming about it!

Download A Paris Moment for Free!

MOVIES AND BOOKS THAT I LOVE

The Irishman

Starring Robert de Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

Directed by Martin Scorsese.

Produced by Netflix.

Based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses, by Charles Brandt.

The Irishman tells the story of Frank Sheeran, a young Boston truck driver (played by de Niro) who willingly joins the mob in order to support his family. He soon gets drawn to murder and extortion, earning him the recognition of major mob figures, including Russell Bufalino (played by Joe Pesci). Along the way, he encounters prominent American figures including Bobby Kennedy and Jimmy Hoffa (played by Al Pacino).

Under the patient hand of Scorsese, the story plays out in a leisurely fashion over several decades, endowing the murky goings-on of the mafia with an almost legitimate panache that belies their corrupting effect on society. Rather than face the usual fates – a hail of bullets or a hundred years in the pen – Sheeran finds himself in old age, shunned by his family and ignored by a world that has moved on.

The Irishman is evocative of Scorcese’s earlier work, Goodfellas (also starring Pesci and de Niro), depicting a domestic path far from the hyper-violence that typically characterizes a gangster movie (think Scarface, starring Al Pacino and directed by Brian de Palma).

At 3 ½ hours, The Irishman is definitely long, but in true Netflix fashion, you have the option of binging or sampling the movie one delicious slice at a time. Either way, it is a true confection.

BOOKS THAT I LOVE

PRESUMED INNOCENT

By Scott Turow

I love Scott Turow. In my opinion, he is the best court procedural novelist in existence.

Presumed Innocent is his first novel. It takes place in Kindle County, a major US metropolis. Public prosecutor Rusty Sabich is in charge of the investigation into the murder of fellow prosecutor Carolyn Polhemus after her nude, bound body is found in her home.

Events quickly turn bad for Rusty. Investigators soon discover that he had a passionate, obsessive affair with Carolyn, a fatal attraction he was desperate to conceal from his wife Barbara. The circumstantial evidence mounts, and he is charged with her first-degree murder and taken to trail by prosecutor Tommy Molto.

Piece by piece, Molto puts together a water-tight case, outlining to the jury the means, motive and opportunity for Sabich to murder his lover. It’s up to Rusty’s wily defense lawyer, Sandy Stern, to prove his innocence. As the trial proceeds, the tension builds inexorably to a shattering conclusion.

Even though the book was written over 30 years ago and made into a feature movie (starring Harrison Ford as Sabich), it still remains one of my favorite books to go back and read time and time again. If you’re looking for a wonderful holiday treat to fill a cold afternoon, then Presumed Innocent is the book for you!

Beaujolais Nouveau Day November 21!

NEWSLETTER 2019 10

Life In Mexico

Linda and I decide to take a summer break in Mexico City. We book a room through Air B&B in the Colonia of Polanco, just north of Chapultepec Park.

Our hosts, Rodrigo and his lovely family, share their chic apartment with their Schnauzer Lolita.

Rodrigo is also one of the preeminent chefs in the country, renowned for his imagination and flair. After we are settled in, he invites us to Agua Y Sal (water and salt), his seafood restaurant.

As owner and chef, he has created a menu that is rich in both taste and Mexican heritage, including a mouth-watering selection of that quintessential Mexican dish, ceviche.

“I recommend you try Cebiche a la Lena,” says Rodrigo.

The dish is a colorful mixture of fresh white fish, shrimp grilled in butter and garlic, grated chili sauce, purple onion, coriander, roasted corn and a touch of smoked Alderwood salt.

You can also order from a full selection of entrees off the main menu, but I found it preferable to eat tapas style, sampling the selection of tacos, small bites and excellent desserts.

Salud!

Agua Y Sal Cebicheria

Campos Elíseos 199-A, Polanco, Polanco IV Secc, 11560 Ciudad de México, CDMX

http://www.aguaysal.com.mx

My Favorite Recipes

Chamorro de cerdo

Pork shank is a popular Sunday meal in Mexico. It is inexpensive, easy to make and absolutely delicious!

Ingredients

1 pork shank.

¼ cup of flour

1 Tsp of chili powder

1 Tsp of butter

Four carrots

1 cup of baby potatoes

½ a white onion

½ cup of water or broth

1 tsp of salt

Ground pepper

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 400 F.

Mix the flour and chili powder together in a plastic bag. Insert the pork shank and lightly coat the meat. (Save 1 Tsp of the remaining flour and chili powder).

Fry the shank in butter, browning on all four sides.

Cut the carrots, onion and potatoes and place in the bottom of a cast-iron pot. Pour in the water or broth.

Place the shank atop the vegetables and bake in the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Cover and reduce heat to 350 F. Cook for a further two hours.

When the meat is tender, remove from the oven and separate the meat and vegetables.

Tent the shank and let rest for 10 minutes while preparing the gravy by mixing 1 Tsp of the remnant flour and chili mix with the drippings.

Flake the meat off the shank and serve to appreciative guests!

Check out the Runaway Bomb video on YouTube!

Runaway Bomb now available on Amazon!

BOOK REVIEW

The Love of One’s Country

By Brian Brennan

Available through Amazon

On its surface, this is a narrative following two threads; that of a young Irish man living in the 20^th century, and a forebear from the 19^th century. But at its heart, this is also a mystery novel.

Jerry Burke is a 23-year-old native of Dublin whose soul is being crushed by a mindless job in the Irish civil service. He dreams of a better, more romantic life in the New World. When he is offered an opportunity to emigrate to Canada, he leaps at the chance.

Diarmuid Burke is a school teacher in rural Ireland and the youngest son of acclaimed poet Mary Burke. He is also descended from rebels seeking independence from British rule. When the potato famine of 1847 strikes, however, he must uproot himself and flee.

Arriving in Vancouver in the 1960s, Jerry Burke pursues love, music and writing, traveling to Northern Canada before finally settling down in Alberta. As a reporter, he comes across the story of a mysterious ancestor who seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

The journey that Diarmuid undergoes is stark and tragic. Boarding a ‘coffin ship’ bound for Canada, he and his new wife endure misery and death as the majority of the 500 passengers aboard the vessel die of malnutrition and disease during the voyage.

Following the trail of a long-lost journal, Jerry traces Diarmuid’s trek to his final stop in Ile de Madeleine, a quarantine station in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Quebec City. There, the teacher and his wife meet a tragic end.

By interweaving the two stories, the author creates a riveting tale that is both uplifting and heartbreaking. I highly recommend you read The Love of One’s Country.

MYSTERY MOVIES AND TV SERIES THAT I LOVE!

The Bletchley Circle

Produced by ITV, 2012-2014

Starring Julie Graham, Hattie Morahan, Rachael Stirling and Anna Maxwell Martin.

Available on Netflix.

The TV series is set in the early 1950s in London. Britain is still recovering from World War II, and the men and women who formerly fought for their country are now engaged in civilian careers.

Millie, Jean, Susan and Lucy are typical women pursuing family, careers and passions. During the war, however, they worked at Bletchley Park, the secret headquarters for the deciphering of Nazi codes. Employing their unique powers of deduction, they uncovered troop and U boat movements, saving countless lives and hastening the end of the war.

Now, the brutal murder of a young woman brings them together again as they race against time to stop a serial killer from preying on defenseless targets. Using logic and reasoning, they peel back the carefully constructed cover of a brilliant, ruthless psychopath hiding in plain sight.

Not only is The Bletchley Circle a riveting thriller, it is richly executed in terms of period costumes, vehicles and interior decorations from the early fifties. It gives the series an authenticity by conjuring up both the period and outlook that infused the post war mentality of Britons. This is a real treat for both the eyes and the mind!

The Far Side, By Gary Larson

NEWSLETTER 2019 09

LIFE IN MEXICO

Linda and I are visiting Mary in San Miguel de Allende. The world heritage site is a colonial town, largely preserved from its glories in the 17^th century when it was a centre for silver mining in the High Sierra of central Mexico.

Mary has a cozy apartment in the Colonia of Guadalupe. We walk into Centro where the main Mercado is located. The covered marketplace is a riot of retailing, a myriad of stalls selling everything from wedding cakes and sombreros to figs and roast pig. Mary stops at a dairy stall and buys some overripe queso, a local cheese.

I catch a whiff. “Whoo! You going to kill rats with that?”

“Funny guy.” Mary stuffs it into her grocery cart. “I use it to make friends.”

Since Mexican President Obrador shut down gasoline thieves earlier in the year, the gangs have branched into extortion to make a living. Several restaurant owners in nearby Celaya had been murdered when they refused to sell drugs on their premises, and a number of cantinas in San Miguel closed their doors when faced with the same dilemma. Local citizens are on edge, and taking precautions.

We come across one safeguard as we return to Mary’s apartment. A pit-bull cross begins to growl and slather at us from the terrace on top of an adjacent home.

I just about jump out of my shoes in shock. “What the hell is that?”

“Roof dog.” Mary digs out the smelly cheese and flings it underhand in an arc. “It’s the cheapest way of protecting your home.”

The head of the dog disappears for a moment, then reappears, its large tongue licking its chops.

“How’d you like that?” shouts Mary.

“Roof!”

RECIPES FROM MY BOOKS

Mushroom & Pepperoni Pizza

From Runaway Bomb

Pizza is made everywhere around the world, but not everyone makes it the same. Mexicans love to eat pizza with green salsa instead of pizza sauce, for instance. I decided long ago that the easiest way to get exactly what I want is to cook it myself.

Ingredients

4 cups fine (OO) flour

1 tsp of salt

1 cup of warm water

1 packet of yeast

1 Tsp of sugar

4 mushrooms

16 pepperoni slices

1 cup shredded cheese

½ cup of mozzarella

For the sauce

1 jar of crushed Italian tomatoes

1 clove crushed garlic

3 Tsp of herb de Provence mix

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp ground pepper

Cooking Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 450 F.

Mix the fine flour (you can buy excellent pasta flour at your local Italian grocery), with a teaspoon of salt. Blend the yeast and sugar into slightly over one cup of warm water. Let the yeast rise for 15 minutes before mixing it in with the flour. Knead the dough for a few minutes until it takes on a soft, pliable texture. (If the dough feels too hard, add a little more water). Let rest for fifteen minutes on a cutting board.

While the dough is resting, cut the mushrooms into thin slices. I like to cut up mozzarella balls into thin slices to add, as well.

You can buy pizza sauce pre-mixed, but I like to make my own by mixing the crushed Italian tomatoes with garlic, dried herb de Provence mix, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of ground pepper.

When the dough has risen, break into three portions, freezing two for later use. Roll out the dough ball into a crust roughly 12-in in diameter on a sheet of lightly floured parchment paper. You can leave the crust for 15 minutes to allow it to rise slightly, or you can immediately place the crust and parchment paper on a pizza tray and slide it into the oven to create a thin crust.

After 5 minutes, remove the crust and cover it with 5 tablespoons of pizza sauce, the pepperonis, mushrooms and cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, then cut it into 8 slices and serve immediately.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thanks to everyone for supporting the launch of Runaway Bomb in August! You can download the eBook or buy the paperback at the following link:

Order your copy of Runaway Bomb here!

MURDER MYSTERIES THAT I LOVE

Where the Crawdads Sing

By Delia Owens,

Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons

This is a murder mystery set in the small coastal community in North Carolina during the 1960s. Barkley Cove is a sheltered port adjacent to the marshes and wetlands that extend for many miles to the south. The victim is Chase Andrews, son of a prominent local family and former high school athletic star. He is found one morning at the base of an abandoned fire tower outside of town, his body crushed.

Sherriff Ed Jackson and his deputy are stumped. There are no foot tracks in the mud around the body; it appears as though he fell through an open hatch in the observation tower. But what was he doing there in the middle of the night? Was it an accident, or was he pushed?

The small town is soon rife with rumors. Some speculate it was done by a jealous husband, furious at Chase’s amorous attention to married women. Others thought it might be a madman on the loose.

Most pin the death on the ‘Marsh Girl’, however. Kya Clark was a young single woman who lives in alone in a shack deep in the marsh. She is shunned by the community because she comes from ‘white trash’, the poor who live in the swamplands outside of the law. She is loathed and feared by the good citizens of Barkley Cove, and, as evidence mounts that it was not an accident, suspicions naturally focus her way.

The author, Delia Owens, is an internationally acclaimed wildlife scientist with several non-fiction books to her credit, including Cry of the Kalahari. In this, her first novel, she brings a sensitivity to nature honed by several decades of field work in Africa, evoking the majesty of the wetlands of America’s eastern coast with keen insight and observation.

But this is also a mystery full of twists and turns as it alternates in time between Kya’s early upbringing in the swamp and the investigation into the murder a decade later. A mystery is a partnership between the reader and the writer, in which the latter must carefully spread the clues and events in a manner that allows the tale to unfold in a natural rhythm that carries the reader carefully through the narrative, respecting both their intelligence and anticipation. Will the guilty be caught? Will justice be done? A good writer leaves all avenues open until the final resolution, where the reader is fully satisfied that it is the most logical and inevitable outcome.

Owens goes further, imaginatively using the ecology of the marsh as an extended metaphor for the behaviour of humans in society toward each other. We are only a few generations from the tribal forest, and the conduct we exhibit toward strangers and outcasts still uncomfortably mirrors the behaviour of hunter and hunted in the wild. The cruelty that the town-folk inflict upon an orphan child who grows up in complete isolation should not happen to a lowly skunk, and when she is arrested for the murder of Chase Andrews, it is the nadir of the town’s hostility.

Her enemies cannot crush Kya’s spirit, however, and her few friends offer support and aid in her defence. Will the guilty be caught? Will justice be done? I highly recommend you get hold of Where the Crawdads Sing and find out.

ADAPTATIONS OF BOOKS THAT I LOVE

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

Written by John Berendt

Movie by Clint Eastwood.

This is not a novel, but a work of non-fiction by the journalist John Berendt. It tells the story of a shocking death that occurred in the city of Savannah, Georgia, in the early 1980s. The victim is a young hustler, killed by his mentor, a prominent antiques dealer living in the city’s largest mansion. The characters that populate the narrative include an outrageous performing drag queen, a paranoid genius with a bottle of poison, disbarred lawyers, voodoo witches and the bulldog mascot of the U of Georgia.

Clint Eastwood adapted the eponymous novel in 1997. It stars Jude Law as the victim Billy Hanson, Kevin Spacey as Jim Williams, the millionaire murderer, and John Cusack as Kelso, the investigating reporter. It is both a disturbing mystery and an incisive social commentary, all deeply immersed in black humor. Eastwood delves deeply into the book to deliver richly conceived characters, dialogue and visuals. I have re-watched this movie many times, and every viewing reveals new layers of subtext that add to my enjoyment. This is one of the few movies I have ever seen in which I would someday love to visit the setting, if only to see if the city is truly as eccentric as portrayed. I consider Midnight the best movie Eastwood every directed, and I highly recommend it.

NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2019

LIFE IN MEXICO

Geraldo’s Restaurant.

We are at Geraldo’s Cantina in central Santiago, three doors down from the parish church. The exterior walls are made of brick and plaster, some two feet thick. A tin roof is held aloft by wooden beams. Patrons sit at picnic tables beneath naked light bulbs and whirring fans. Chickens peck at the soil under an adjacent grove of papaya trees.

We are here on a Saturday evening to celebrate Linda’s birthday. Geraldo makes the best margarita in town, and we toast her health as a man with an accordion plays a celebratory tune.

Geraldo, a handsome man with bulging biceps, arrives at our table with his order pad. “What would everyone like to eat?”

Linda reckons that Geraldo’s mom’s pork is the best in town. “I’ll have the ribs,” she says.

Andy orders garlic soup, and Coleen opts for the tortilla stuffed with BBQ beef and fried onions.

The chicken fajita catches my eye. “Is it free range?”

Geraldo turns and points to a hen plucking away at the dirt. “That’s all we serve!”

My meal turns out to be excellent. The breast is tender and moist, with a tangy taste that I cannot quite identify. Just as we are finishing, a man in a white jacket walks in and checks out the kitchen. He soon leaves, satisfied that all is well.

“That’s the restaurant inspector,” explains Geraldo. “He always gives us a clean bill of health – never found a single cockroach!”

 “How do you manage to get rid of cockroaches?” I ask.

Geraldo nods proudly to his flock. “The chickens eat them!”

RECIPES FROM MY BOOKS

Pintade Farcie

From A Paris Moment

This recipe, stuffed chicken, is a favourite in Paris, and can usually be purchased from a butcher ready-prepared. But unless you happen to be in the Marais or the Left Bank, you’re going to have to make it yourself.

Start with a pound of minced veal (or pork), and poach it in one cup of chicken broth. Drain the meat and mix it with a cup of chopped mushrooms, one cup of breadcrumbs, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper.

Pintade is a type of wild fowl, but you can make do with a whole chicken. Split the chicken open and carefully remove the breast bone to create a large cavity. Stuff the cavity with the filling and use butcher’s twine to string it back together. Place the roast into a Creuset iron pot on a bed of roughly sliced onions, pour in the chicken broth and cook for 1 ½ hours at 400 F.

When cooked, remove the pintade, tent it with tinfoil and let it rest for 10 minutes. Lift the bed of onions out and set aside. Place the iron pot on a stove burner set at medium. Mix two tablespoons of white flour with the broth and stir until it turns to gravy (add a bit of red wine for extra flavour).

Slice the pintade like a stuffed meat roast. Serve with the gravy, onion garnish, roast potatoes and a hearty Bordeaux.

Freebie!

In celebration of the launch of the latest Jack Kenyon Mystery Series, Runaway Bomb, I’m giving away the eBook to the first in the series, Secret Combinations. Just go to the link and download the file to your eReader!

Download Secret Combinations for Free!

Special Event

Runaway Bomb Book Launch.

My latest Jack Kenyon FBI mystery thriller is being released Friday, August 9!

Here’s what readers are saying about it;

“I love Runaway Bomb! It’s well-written and very exciting. I can’t wait to read the next FBI Jack Kenyon Mystery!”

MC Anderson, founder of the San Miguel de Allende Book Club.

You can pre-order here!

Pre-order your copy of Runaway Bomb here!

Credit; Gary Larson

Book review

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

By Stuart Turton

This is both an ingenious and frustrating mystery novel.

It begins with a man stumbling out from a dark forest after witnessing what he believes to be a murder. He seeks refuge in Blackheath, an ancient, crumbling English mansion where Lord Hardcastle and his wife are hosting a fete on the anniversary of the death of their infant son. The man has suffered a blow to his head and cannot remember his past, although the guests in attendance have known Aiden for years and offer him succour. They are also sceptical of his reports of a murder in the woods, however. A hunt has been planned; the men dubiously set off in search of a corpse.

So far, so good. It appears to be a classic whodunit of the Agatha Christie school; murder most foul, a secluded location, and a cast of disreputable men and women with motives ranging from lust to greed to revenge, and an amateur sleuth to figure it out.

But that is where all similarities end, because the author has incorporated a ‘Groundhog Day’ device, in which Aiden is given 24 hours to solve the murder then is recast into a different guest at the stroke of midnight. One day he occupies the body a drug-dealing doctor, the next a fat, aging banker, with a total of eight days to figure out who keeps killing Evelyn Hardcastle.

If that doesn’t seem complicated enough, there are other competing sleuths. They lie, cheat and mislead one another; the person who solves the murder mystery first will be released from this rustic, repetitious purgatory. The effect is to create a bewildering multiplicity of plot twists and turns that has the reader returning to previous chapters in order to rewind the narrative.

For lovers of complex, innovative mysteries, the novel is a delight that vicariously teases the brain – there is good reason it was bestowed the Costa Book Award for First Novel. Be aware, however, that it is also a supernatural-type mystery in which a mysterious figure concealed in the costume of a medieval doctor, complete with dark cloak and raven’s mask, intervenes in Aiden’s efforts.

In the end, the solution to the murder and the reason for the Groundhog Day device are both brilliant and vexing. I heartily recommend The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, but I also warn you; read at your peril.

FAVOURITE TV AND MOVIE ADAPTATIONS

JUSTIFIED, TV series, (2010-1015)

Produced by FX Network (now available on Amazon Prime).

Conceived by Elmore Leonard

I’ve always been a big fan of Elmore Leonard. He is a genius at writing dialogue between grifters, drifters and low life, and creating the most ridiculous, yet utterly believable crime dramas. His books have been made into numerous movies, including Get Shorty, with John Travolta playing a loan-sharking mobster who moves to Hollywood and discovers that the two businesses aren’t that far apart, and Out of Sight, in which George Clooney plays an escaped bank robber who kidnaps a beautiful US marshall.

Justified is based on Fire in the Hole, a short story written by Leonard. The Emmy award-winning TV series features Raylan Givens (played by Timothy Olyphant), a 21^st century US Marshall with a decidedly 19^th century approach to criminal justice. Givens is the archetypal Leonard hero; a lawman who can outdraw, outdrink and outfight any bad guy who ever had the misfortune to come his way. Thanks to Leonard’s presence on the series as an executive producer from 2010 to his death in 2013, Givens’ enemies, mostly back-woods Kentucky hillbillies, are fleshed out beyond the typical stereotypes that lazier writers might have been tempted to foist on viewers. Leonard’s laconic sense of humor and writing skill elevates this TV series well above the crime genre norm, and I highly recommend it.

LIFE IN MEXICO

A very large man with a pair of earphones on his head is meandering around Valentina’s patio, slowly waving an electric wand around the tiles. Valentina is following closely behind.

Filled with a deep urge to snoop, I go next door. “What’s going on?”

Valentina holds up her water bill. “I got this yesterday – they’re charging me five thousand pesos!” She waves her cigarillo in the large man’s direction. “Wally is searching for a leak.”

Wally, ignoring us, slowly zeroes in on a corner of the patio. Bending over, he draws an X with a chalk. He then smashes a hole into the patio with a sledge hammer, lifting out pieces of cement until he exposes wet soil. Digging down with a trowel, he discovers a copper water pipe.

Valentina leans over and inspects the pipe. The end has been cut off, then loosely sealed with a cork and duct tape. “That’s what cost me five thousand pesos?”

“Welcome to Mexico,” says Wally.

RECIPES THAT APPEAR IN MY BOOKS

Florentine Steak

I first tried Florentine steak while Linda and I were visiting Florence. We went to a restaurant in the Piazza della Signoria, a spacious plaza lined with statues, including a copy of Michelangelo’s David.

The restaurant had a lovely outdoor seating area, and since it was spring, we opted to eat al fresco. While the steak was being prepared, our waiter brought out a salad made from fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly-sliced Roma tomatoes and fresh basil leaves, all sprinkled with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic cream vinegar.

After we had eaten our salad, a chef in white apron and hat wheeled out a trolley containing the main course. The Porterhouse steak had been sprinkled with salt then grilled for five minutes a side until the juices began to flow. The chef had then let it rest for 15 minutes. At the table, he took out a large, thin knife and carved it into one-inch slices and placed them on a serving platter. Reaching beneath the trolley, he produced a bowl of grilled zucchini, porcini mushrooms and red bell peppers that had been marinated in olive oil and garlic. All of this was washed down with a bottle of red Tuscan wine. Delightful!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Runaway Bomb launch is set for August 9. You can pre-order on Amazon here;

Pre order Runaway Bomb on Amazon!

WINNER OF RUNAWAY BOMB GIVEAWAY

Congratulations to Wilma Slenders for winning the very first print copy of Runaway Bomb! Thank you everyone who signed up to my monthly newsletter and qualified for the draw; I’ll be holding more draws in the future for other books and gifts, so urge your friends to sign up as well.

BOOK REVIEW

Kitchen Confidential

By Anthony Bourdain.

Long before Tony Bourdain was renowned for hosting cooking shows, he was the head chef of Les Halles. He wrote a scandalous expose of the underbelly of haute cuisine in a piece for The New Yorker, which led to his career as an author when Bloomsbury published his memoir, Kitchen Confidential, in 2008. “There will be horror stories,” he promises in the prologue. “Heavy drinking, drugs, screwing in the dry-goods area, unappetizing revelations about bad food-handling and unsavory industry-wide practices.”

And then he delivered the goods in a raucous, obscene fashion. The chapter entitled ‘The Wilderness Years’ begins as follows. “It is one of the central ironies of my career that as soon as I got off heroin, things started getting really bad.” His advice to aspiring chefs in a commencement address; “Never call in sick. Except in cases of dismemberment, arterial bleeding, sucking chest wounds or the death of an immediate family member. “Granny dies? Bury her on your day off.”

His ability to stand in front of a camera and deliver a heartfelt opinion about everything from dog soup to genocide led to his hosting a number of TV series, including Parts Unknown, the highly acclaimed CNN production in which he toured off-the-beaten tracks in search of exotic meals and experiences.

I write this as the world is celebrating #Bourdainday, the 63^rd anniversary of his birth. On June 8, 2018, while in the throes of depression, Tony committed suicide. His friends, fans and admirers around the world want him to be remembered for his honesty, candor and humor. They also wish to bring the debilitating effects of depression out into the open so that those who endure it can seek help without suffering from the stigmas attached to mental health. Here’s to you, Tony.

MOVIE AND TV ADAPTATIONS THAT I LOVE

Big Little Lies

By Liane Moriarty

Produced by HBO.

I’ve been a big fan of Australian author Liane Moriarty for many years. Most of her books are set in Sydney, Australia, in which I had the privilege of spending some time several decades ago. She has an amazing ability to conjure up this beautiful city and populate it with unique, unforgettable characters. Without a doubt, Big Little Lies is my favourite of her books, with not only a murder mystery at the heart of the story, but also a unique narrative that flashes effortlessly back and forth in time.

When I heard that HBO was going to make a mini-series out of the book, I was, as always, concerned that the adaptation from page to screen would take a parlous turn. But the capable hands of creator David E. Kelley and actors Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley created an award-winning sensation. By all means, read the book (as well as all of Moriarty’s works); I heartily recommend the screen version, as well.

GORDON COPE’S NEWSLETTER, JUNE 2019

Queen of Oklahoma

Our friend Coleen is a petite blonde from Oklahoma. She was married to Carl, the captain of the university cheerleading squad, and lived with him for 30 years until he came out of the closet and ran away with a cellist to Puerto Vallarta. “I should have guessed when he sewed all the curtains for our home,” she says.

Coleen is retired, having spent her adult life running her own chain of art galleries. She now spends her time managing her fortune and lavishing her children and grandchildren with love and unwanted advice.

We are at Casa Milagro, a large, four-bedroom home on the beach just north of Manzanillo. Sail boats dot the horizon, and fat, lazy clouds are lit by the setting sun. Coleen is sitting at the patio table, a margarita in one hand. She is busy making out her invite list for a party this Saturday.

“I’m going to invite Rod, he’s really cute,” she announces, writing in his name.

“Isn’t he married to Jeanette?” I ask.

“So what? She’s too old for him.”

“She told me she was 53,” says Linda.

“What? That woman’s got condoms in her purse that are older than 53!” Coleen shakes the gold bangles on her arm, admiring the way they tinkle. “Besides, I’m not going to steal him, I just want to borrow him.”

“What for?” I ask.

“What do you think?” Coleen takes a deep drink of her margarita. “I haven’t been properly laid since the Nixon administration. I want to get banged like a screen door at least once before I die!”

RECIPES THAT APPEAR IN MY BOOKS – GORD’S SECRET BBQ RIBS

I’ve been making these BBQ ribs for over thirty years, and dinner guests love them! The secret is that I don’t use tomatoes or ketchup in the marinade; they taste decidedly different from classic Tex-Mex recipes.

Ingredients

1 kg of back-ribs for every two guests, cut into separate ribs.

Marinade

1 cup of brown sugar.

½ cup of yellow mustard.

½ cup of soy sauce.

6 garlic cloves, minced.

2 Tsp of ground black pepper.

2 Tsp of Frank’s hot sauce (or similar brand).

Cooking Directions

1. Mix the marinade in a disposable tin roasting pan and immerse the ribs for at least one hour.
2. BBQ the ribs on a hot, open flame (approximately 5 minutes per side). Watch to flare-ups.
3. Return the ribs to the roasting pan, dipping each in the remaining marinade.
4. Prior to serving, place the roasting pan back in the BBQ and let them cook on medium heat for approximately 30 minutes, enough time for them to cook through to the bone. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Goes well with baked potatoes, corn, coleslaw and beer!

UPCOMING EVENTS

The release of Runaway Bomb is now scheduled for August 9, 2019! You can pre-order by going to Amazon.

PREORDER RUNAWAY BOMB HERE!

RUNAWAY BOMB BOOK GIVEAWAY!

That’s right, I’m giving away the very first edition of  Runaway Bomb! The draw will be held on July 1, 2019, and everyone who subscribes to my newsletter will be included!

STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE

I took this photo of an S&M boutique window display in Soho, London. The street was lined with peek-a-boo joints and XXX video outlets. I used the setting in my first FBI Jack Kenyon mystery series, Secret Combinations, as a venue where Jack could hide out while on the run from Scotland Yard. Check out the nails sticking from their bustiers!

MY FAVORITE BOOKS

NEWS OF THE WORLD: A NOVEL

By Paulette Jiles

Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, born in 1798, has fought in three wars for his country. Now, at the age of 72, he tours Northern Texas with a portfolio stuffed with newspaper and journals, reading the news of the world to rural citizens. He has a full head of white hair, stands ramrod straight, and tucks a Slocum .32 caliber pistol in his waistband.

Captain Kidd is in Wichita Falls near Indian Territory when Britt Johnson, a free black man, attends his reading. A mule freighter by trade, Johnson often travels through the untamed country to the north, delivering goods to the army at Fort Sill.

Johnson has a sad tale to tell. Four years prior, a marauding Kiowa party had attacked the Leonberger family farm near San Antonio. They murdered the father and mother, then fled with their 6-year old daughter Johanna into Indian Territory. The surviving relatives had begged the Indian Agent to locate and retrieve the child.

The Agent recruited Johnson to transport Johanna across the Red River into Texas, but the latter faces a dilemma; the freighter has to travel with a 10-year old white child through a State filled with folk still angry at the outcome of the Civil War. Could Captain Kidd deliver the child back to her family?

Captain Kidd is dubious. The child, with blue eyes and pale blonde hair, is dressed in a deerskin shift decorated with elk teeth. She looks like a wild thing caught in a trap, ready to flee at the slightest chance. Four years had totally erased all memory of her early life; she is a Kiowa warrior now.

But Captain Kidd also has two grown daughters of his own. He knows that this one’s only chance at a future is to take her back to her kin and hope for the best. Reluctantly, he agrees.

His first task is to clean the child and dress her in urban clothing. The women at Lottie’s bordello wrestle the Indian garments from Johanna and scrub her clean with blue soap, then struggle her into a dress, stockings and shoes.

Captain Kidd purchases a spring wagon painted a glossy green. Tucking a shotgun under the front seat, he harnesses his packhorse, loads Johanna into the wagon, and heads south.

The journey, of several hundred miles, is replete with danger. Flooding rivers, marauding Apache and a man intent on kidnapping Johanna for his child brothel all seek to thwart their journey. Together, they battle their way through adversity.

Although News of the World is, on its surface, a classic western, the author transcends the genre with a story that is replete with a poet’s images of a world both long gone, yet as close as the smell of wild sage after a thunderstorm. It is story of a tired old man and a lost child who somehow find in each other a reason to live.

Through her astute ability to evoke characters, vivid imagery of the wild Texas plains and laconic frontier dialogue, the author creates a lively novel that has universal appeal.

MY FAVORITE TV AND MOVIE ADAPTATIONS

HARRY BOSCH SERIES

By Author Michael Connelly

I’ve been a fan of Michael Connelly for several decades now, following his police procedural series featuring LAPD detective Hieronymous ‘Harry’ Bosch. The video series, now with 5 seasons, was produced by Amazon Video and loosely-based on several of Connelly’s books. The lead character (played by Titus Welliver), has been rejuvenated a generation younger, having fought in the first Gulf War instead of Vietnam, but still brings the same grit and unwavering determination to solve murders. This inevitably leads him into conflict with his superiors and the DA, forcing them to do their jobs in spite of their conflicting agendas. Well-cast and acted, the series is highly addictive – I can’t wait until the next season is released in April, 2020, on Amazon’s Prime Video!

GORDON COPE’S May 2019 Newsletter

Linda and I live in the city of Manzanillo on the Pacific coast of Mexico, south of Puerto Vallarta. The climate is tropical and sunny for most of the year, except for the occasional hurricane. My days are spent writing and watching the cruise ships disgorge tourists.

Our home is in the community of Los Ricos, located on a peninsula that juts out into the ocean. We are surrounded by deep blue water and golden beaches. Waves lap against the cliff on which our home is located.

It is mid-afternoon, and I am sitting on the shaded veranda of my neighbor Valentina, a Sicilian with wavy black hair. After selling her restaurant in Washington, DC, she and her husband Frank decided to move somewhere that didn’t require a snow shovel.

“Where’s Frank?” I ask.

“He’s resting. He got bit by a scorpion.”

I spill my margarita. “What, just now?

“No, last night.” Valentina waves her cigarillo in the general direction of the kitchen. “He went to get a beer from the fridge and it stung him on the toe.”

Conrado, Valentina’s Mexican friend, walks around the corner of the house and joins us on the patio. “That happens all the time,” he says. “They come out at night and are attracted by the hum of the fridge. It is like a love song to them.”

I ignore Conrado. “What did you do?”

“We drove to the clinic.” Valentina points to her leg. “On the way, first his foot froze, then his calf. By the time we got there, he couldn’t feel his thigh. But the doctor gave him the serum and now he’s OK.”

“A waste of money,” says Conrado. “Do you know what we do in Mexico? We take a scorpion and drown it in a bottle of tequila. Then, if you are bit, you drink five shots.”

“Does it cure the bite?” I ask.

Conrado waves his manicured hand in dismissal. “After five shots of tequila, who cares?”

RECIPES THAT APPEAR IN MY BOOKS – PASTA PUTTANESCA

Pasta Puttanesca, or whore’s sauce, is one of my favorites. It appears in my upcoming book, Runaway Bomb. It’s quick, inexpensive and easy to make.

Ingredients

1 clove of chopped garlic.

¼ cup of olive oil.

¼ cup of anchovies.

½ cup of chopped onion.

½ cup of pitted black olives.

1 Tsp of drained capers (optional).

One 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes, drained.

1/2 cup of white wine.

½ tsp of salt, ½ tsp of ground pepper.

1 lb. of spaghetti.

½ cup of chopped basil or parsley.

Grated Parmesan.

Directions

1 Fry the garlic in olive oil. Add the anchovies, onion and pitted black olives and fry until onion is translucent.

2 Add the tomatoes, white wine, salt and ground pepper and let simmer for 15 minutes.

3 Boil and drain the spaghetti. Place in pasta bowls and cover with the sauce. Garnish with basil/parsley and parmesan.

STORY BEHIND THE PICTURE 

Notre Dame de Paris, Our Lady of Paris, was built in the 13^th century and tragically marred by fire in 2019. Several of my books have passages that take place in this architectural and spiritual wonder, including A Paris Moment and Triple Cross. May it once again rise from the ashes for future generations to cherish.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Runaway Bomb, the latest installment in the FBI Jack Kenyon mystery series, is due for release on August 9, 2019. 

Pre-order your copy of Runaway Bomb here!

Stay tuned for events leading up to the release!

RUNAWAY BOMB BOOK GIVEAWAY!

That’s right, I’m giving away the very first  print copy of  Runaway Bomb! The draw will be held on July 1, 2019, and everyone who subscribes to my newsletter will be included!

Credit: Gary Larson

MY FAVORITE BOOKS

Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult

On the surface, Small Great Things is a court procedural in which a public defender represents a woman accused of murder. The heart of the novel, however, is a story that goes to the very soul of America and challenges the reader to question their own firmly-held beliefs.
Ruth Jefferson is a labor and delivery nurse who works in the maternity ward at Mercy-West Haven hospital. She has 20 years of exemplary experience. She is also the only Afro-American nurse in the hospital.
Turk Bauer is a white supremacist. Brittany, Turk’s wife, is pregnant; one night, she goes into labor, and the couple show up at Mercy-West Haven’s maternity ward to give birth. The child goes into heart failure and the emergency team, including Ruth, responds. Ruth performs manual stimulation of the child’s heart. Their efforts are in vain, and the child dies.
Turk goes to the police and swears that Ruth’s over-zealous intervention caused the death of his child and demands they press murder charges. She is arrested in the middle of the night and thrown in jail. 
Kennedy McQuarrie is a lawyer with the state’s public defender office. Her efforts to free her client delve into the heart of racism in contemporary America; what does it mean to be black in a predominantly white world? On an even deeper level, how does racial hatred become so virulent that those who fall into its pit are consumed by madness? 
This is a difficult novel to read. The author confronts the ailments that grip modern society and bares them in a painful manner. But Picoult also does so in such a truthful, unvarnished way that it ultimately leads to a greater understanding of the motives of those who participate in the confrontations that dominate today’s headlines. 
In the end, the author uses her immense skills as a story teller and her insightful observations of the human soul to illuminate both what is tragic – and what is noble – in our society. If you read only one book this year, I urge you to read Small Great Things.

MY FAVORITE TV & MOVIE ADAPTATIONS

Miss Fischer’s Murder Mysteries, Produced by the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC).

Set in Australia during the Roaring Twenties and based upon the crime novels of Australian author Kerry Greenwood, the series features Essie Davis as the eponymous hero, a dashing heiress who sashays her way through both high and low society, solving murders most foul with her erstwhile partner, Melbourne police Detective Jack Robinson (played by Nathan Page). The series, which began in 2012, is featured on Netflix in North America.