Fifth in the Henrietta and Inspector Howard Mystery Series, A Child Lost (She Writes Press, 2020) begins in 1935, with Henrietta’s younger sister, Elsie, falling in love with Gunther, a German refugee. < Back A Child Lost Michelle Cox August 3, 2021 Fifth in the Henrietta and Inspector Howard Mystery Series, A Child Lost (She Writes Press, 2020) begins in 1935, with Henrietta’s younger sister, Elsie, falling in love with Gunther, a German refugee. He has come to America to locate Liesel, the mother of a little girl he’s been caring for, and has been working in maintenance at Elsie’s school. Elsie begs Henrietta and Clive to help find Liesel, which leads to the old Dunning Asylum on Chicago’s north side. The little girl, who has been having epileptic fits, is also spirited away to the horrible place. Henrietta and Clive brave filth and chaos to get her out, but Henrietta later realizes that everything wasn’t as it seemed. Meanwhile, Clive is assigned to investigate a spiritualist living on the north shore, who might be robbing people of their valuables. It seems like a boring case until Henrietta starts falling for the spiritualist’s visions. Michelle Cox holds a B.A. in English literature from Mundelein College, Chicago and is the author of the multiple award-winning Henrietta and Inspector Howard series as well as “Novel Notes of Local Lore,” a weekly blog dedicated to Chicago’s forgotten residents. She suspects she may have once lived in the 1930s and, having yet to discover a handy time machine lying around, has resorted to writing about the era as a way of getting herself back there. Coincidentally, her books have been praised by Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and many others, so she might be on to something. Unbeknownst to most, Michelle hoards board games she doesn’t have time to play and is, not surprisingly, addicted to period dramas and big band music. Also, marmalade. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Mustafa was born with a twisted neck and treated with disdain throughout his life. He works long hours as a janitor on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Isaac is a religiously observant new immigrant from New York who stumbles into a position as assistant to a famous rabbi known for curing the uncurable. < Back In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist Ruchama Feuerman July 30, 2024 In Ruchama Feuerman's novel In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist (Open Road Media 2024), Isaac, a lonely, heartbroken New York haberdasher, moves to Jerusalem after he’s jilted by his bride-to-be and his mother dies. He stumbles into a job as the assistant to a famous kabbalist and spends his days helping the elderly man and his wife dispense wisdom and soup to the troubled souls who come into their courtyard. Isaac crosses paths with Tamar, a newly religious young American woman desperate to find a spiritually connected husband, and Mustafa, a physically deformed Arab janitor who works on the Temple Mount. Isaac doesn’t realize that simply being kind to the janitor will change both their lives. Because of that kindness, Mustafa gifts Isaac with an ancient, discarded piece of pottery that he found in the garbage pile on the Temple Mount. His gift lands Isaac in jail and puts Mustafa in danger. Tamar is the only person Isaac knows who can help avert a disaster. First published in 2014, In the Courtyard of the Kabbalist has just been reissued with an intriguing afterward. Ruchama Feuerman is the author of Seven Blessings (St. Martin's Press), and several books for children and young adults. She is grateful to the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Christopher Isherwood Fellowship which allowed her the time and means to devote herself entirely to her writing. Her prize-winning stories have appeared in Narrative Magazine , the Michigan Quarterly Review, Lilith, Tablet , and other publications. She has written and ghostwritten books for children, young adults, and adults, and helps people create their own novels, memoirs, stories and books of non-fiction. Her dream is to return to Israel, the setting for both her novels, where she lived and taught Torah for ten years. It's a place, she finds, where extraordinary stories are handed to you daily. Researching her latest novel led Ruchama to kabbalists, Israeli ex-convicts, Arab laborers, archeologists, Temple Mount police men, connoisseurs of Israeli prison slang, and soup kitchens, among other places. One of the most transformative experiences was her time spent at a Jewish funeral home in New Jersey where she observed a ritual purification for a scene she was writing. Afterward, she volunteered at the Hevra Kadisha burial society for three years and wrote about the experience for the New York Times. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Barbara Louise Mertz: AKA Elizabeth Peters < Back Barbara Louise Mertz AKA Elizabeth Peters October 24, 2019 Barbara Louise Mertz (1927 – 2013), was an Illinois-born author with a University of Chicago PhD (1952) in Egyptology who wrote under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. She was named Grand Master at the inaugural Anthony Awards in 1986 and Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America at the Edgar Awards in 1998. She lived in Maryland until her death. In addition to the Amelia Peabody (Egyptian archaeology) mysteries, she wrote four in the Jacqueline Kirby series about an American librarian who became a bestselling author, and seven mysteries about Vicky Bliss, an art historian. I always read at least three of an author’s works before choosing it for my weekly Must-Read Juicy Mystery post and have just finished the final (#20) of the Amelia Peabody series. Peabody is a trained archaeologist who praises her husband, the dashing archaeologist Radcliffe Emerson, but is just as capable of spending a day at an archaeological dig while also managing the household servants and raising children. The Emersons are often in danger, targeted by assassins or upended by the exploits of their employees, other family members, or their children. Merz was inspired by, among other things, intriguing artifacts, dig sites and interesting historical events to write the Peabody mysteries. These are books to drown in: Peabody and Emerson return to Egypt after hearing about the discovery of a royal tomb in Luxor, they search the vast desert for a lost English aristocrat and his wife, or a stranger entices them with a ring from the tomb of an Egyptian queen. Merz’s final book, The Painted Queen, was based on a famous bust of Nefertiti that was discovered and taken out of Egypt sometime after 1912. There is still some confusion and disagreement about how the bust was removed and how Egypt was robbed of one of its historical treasures. The book was completed after her death (using Mertz’s outline and meticulous research notes) by her friend and fellow mystery writer Joan Hess (author of the Claire Malloy and Maggody Mystery series). The two women had met at a mystery convention thirty years before. Previous Next

Hailey Gelman just learned that her soon-to-be ex-husband was murdered in his home. < Back We Would Never Tova Mirvis February 11, 2025 After her husband Jonah asks for a divorce, Hailey Gelman’s difficult life in Binghamton turns into six weeks of litigation and custody battles in Tova Mirvis’s new novel, We Would Never (Avid Reader Press 2025). After she files a motion to move with their young daughter to Florida, the tension escalates, and Jonah is suddenly murdered. Hailey is the prime suspect. Hailey’s father, who had to rebuild his life after his academic advisor took credit for his work is dying of Parkinsons; her mother, whose reason for living is to make sure her family is safe, makes reckless decisions, her brother Nate, the troublemaker who managed to graduate from medical school and works in his father’s dermatology practice. tries to protect his sister, and her other brother Adam, can’t stand their mother’s interference, moves to Maine, and refuses to participate in family events of any kind. Based on a true story, We Would Never is about family loyalty, the damage of divorce, and the fierceness of parents’ love for their children. Tova Mirvis grew up in Memphis, Tennessee and attended Columbia College in New York City, followed by the Columbia School of the Arts where she received an MFA and was a teaching fellow. Her first novel The Ladies Auxiliary, which was set in the Memphis Jewish community, was a national bestseller and an Independent Bookstore bestseller. She is also the author of the novels The Outside World and Visible City. Her memoir The Book of Separation stemmed from an essay she wrote for the New York Times “Private Lives” column and was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and excerpted in the New York Times Modern Love Column. She has been a visiting scholar at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University and a fellow at the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center. Her essays have appeared in many publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe Magazine, Real Simple, and Psychology Today, and her fiction has been broadcast on NPR. She lives in Newton, MA with her family where she is working on a new novel. When she is not writing, she enjoys running, learning to play tennis and talking to her dog. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Sometimes I drizzle the tahini on top of this dish so that it looks like frosting. < Back Leek and Red Onion Rice Platter October 7, 2021 Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 90 Minutes Serves: 6 - 8 Servings Tags: Entrees, Vegetarian, Vegan About the Recipe Ingredients 6 to 8 small roasted red/yellow peppers 3 large leeks 2 large red onions 2 cups brown rice 4 cups vegetable stock 2 tsp cumin 2 tsp zahtar 6 TBSP good olive oil 1 to 2 cups of wine or vegetable stock to deglaze the pan salt and pepper to taste Preparation On foil or baking sheet, spray and salt the peppers, roast at 400 for about 20 minutes until slightly browned. Clean and slice the leeks. Heat a large sauté pan, add 2 TBSP olive oil, and cook the leeks with zahtar until browned, about 15 minutes. Stir as needed. While that’s cooking, slice up the red onions. When the leeks are done, deglaze the pan with whichever liquid you choose, in 1/2 cup increments, and move them to a bowl. Reheat up 2 more TBSP olive oil, and cook the red onions, this time adding in the cumin. Again deglaze the pan, 1/2 cup at a time, and move them into a separate bowl. Now reheat the pan again, again add 2 TBSP olive oil, stir the rice until all covered, add in 4 cups of stock, bring to a simmer for about 15 – 20 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Add stock or wine. As everything cools down, add salt and pepper, starting with about 1/2 tsp at a time, until you love how it tastes. Serve on a big, layered platter. Sometimes I drizzle the tahini on top of this dish so that it looks like frosting. I also forgot to a add a sprig of parsley to the picture – the splash of green is festive! Previous Next

Loren Stephens tells the story, inspired by true events, of a Japanese woman who survives the bombing of Hiroshima, joins her half-sister in Osaka and gives up her dream of becoming a theater star. Later, she marries the man of her dreams and gives birth to a beautiful son. < Back All Sorrows Can Be Borne Loren Stephens May 11, 2021 In All Sorrows Can Be Borne (Rare Bird Books, 2021), Loren Stephens tells the story, inspired by true events, of a Japanese woman who survives the bombing of Hiroshima, joins her half-sister in Osaka and gives up her dream of becoming a theater star. Later, she marries the man of her dreams and gives birth to a beautiful son. After her husband is diagnosed with tuberculosis, he convinces Noriko to send the toddler to his sister and her Japanese American husband, who live in Montana. Eighteen years later, Noriko’s son enlists in the U.S. Navy and gets sent to Japan. This is a novel about Japanese society and postwar cultural norms, the human cost of war, and a mother’s love. Loren Stephens is a widely published essayist and fiction and nonfiction storyteller. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times , the Chicago Tribune , MacGuffin , The Jewish Women’s Literary Annual , Forge , Crack the Spine , Amuse Bouche , The Writer’s Launch , the Summerset Review , the Montreal Literary Review , and Tablet Travel Magazine to name a few. She is a two-time nominee of the Pushcart Prize and the book Paris Nights: My Year at the Moulin Rouge , by Cliff Simon with Loren Stephens was named one of the best titles from an independent press by Kirkus . She is president and founder of the ghostwriting companies, Write Wisdom and Bright Star Memoirs. Prior to establishing her company Loren was a documentary filmmaker. Among her credits are Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist , produced for PBS and nominated for an Emmy Award; Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman? produced for Coronet Films and recipient of a Golden Apple from the National Education Association; and Los Pastores: The Shepherd’s Play produced for the Latino Consortium of PBS and recipient of a Cine Gold Eagle and nominated for an Imagen Award. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

In last week's grocery order I forgot tortilla chips and ate this with a spoon! < Back Guacamole Salad May 3, 2020 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes Serves: 2 cups Tags: Dips and Sauces, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Vegan About the Recipe In last week's grocery order I forgot tortilla chips and ate this with a spoon! It's that good! Ingredients 1 ripe avocado 2 TBSP salsa (my favorite is Trader Joe’s Chunky Salsa) 1 scallion, chopped (grow them on the windowsill so you also have a few available) 1/2 chopped shallot or sweet onion 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved 1 cup sliced red and yellow sweet mini peppers 1/4 cup (about a handful) chopped parsley or cilantro Juice of 1 lime or about 1 TBSP Nelly & Joe Key Lime juice (it’s always in the fridge) 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper (add more if desired) Sprinkle of red pepper flakes or 1 tsp of Sriracha (also always in the fridge) Preparation In a medium bowl, lightly mash up avocado and salsa – leave chunks – don’t make it super smooth Add all the chopped vegetables, lime juice and salt, pepper Mix it into a chunky guacamole – it’s not the usual kind, but avocados are hard to find – and it’s still delicious! Serve as a side to the main protein or with a bowl of tortilla chips Previous Next

Renia has built a secret nook to store an unusual plant whose blossoms make people forget just about everything. The plant belonged to her twin sister, still in Crakow, and it turns out that there are lots of people interested in getting their hands on it - questionable people with guns, and drugs to sell. < Back The Forgetting Flower Karen Hugg August 15, 2019 Planted in her mind while the author was working as a professional gardener, The Forgetting Flower (Magnolia Press, 2019) tells the story of Renia, a working- class young woman who left Crakow to live in Paris. She manages a flower shop for the obnoxious, oblivious owner, who is tone-deaf regarding business, money, and people. Renia has built a secret nook to store an unusual plant whose blossoms make people forget just about everything. The plant belonged to her twin sister, still in Crakow, and it turns out that there are lots of people interested in getting their hands on it - questionable people with guns, and drugs to sell. Karen Hugg loves plants and is thrilled when new cultivars or varieties are discovered. She is often reminded that “if she didn’t exist, they would live on just fine anyway.” Karen is a Seattle-based certified ornamental horticulturalist and Master Pruner and is also a graduate of the Goddard MFA program. When she is not actually digging in the dirt, Karen likes to write mysteries and thrillers that are set in the world of plants. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

Flora, an art conservator, is working to clean Sondro Botticelli’s world-famous Birth of Venus. She realizes that there are no notes from the previous cleaning and begins to get suspicious as she removes the frame and looks at the paint’s sheen. Then she sees a smiley-face. < Back The Botticelli Caper Sarah Wisseman November 10, 2020 The Botticelli Caper (Wings ePress, 2019) is set at the Uffizi Galleries during a period, not long ago, when workmen were constantly coming in and out during massive amounts of reconstruction. Flora, an art conservator, is working to clean Sondro Botticelli’s world-famous Birth of Venus. She realizes that there are no notes from the previous cleaning and begins to get suspicious as she removes the frame and looks at the paint’s sheen. Then she sees a smiley-face. She’d seen it before in a forgery of another famous painting. In this light-hearted caper, Wisseman asks how some very skilled painter could make a nearly perfect copy of one of the world’s great paintings. But, how would the original have been removed from the museum with guards all around, night and day? Now a few more forgeries are discovered along with two bodies. Against the advice of all, Flora continues to meander through the beautiful old building, wondering where the original copies might be stored. What about all the doors, the unused corridors, the bridge and tunnel that lead to other palaces? Sadly, the real-life incidents of art forgery and theft have sometimes been even stranger, but there was no Flora Garibaldi to solve those crimes. Retired archaeologist Sarah Wisseman (aka Sally Underhill) completed her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and her M.A. and Ph. D in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College. During her years working as an Archaeological scientist at the University of Illinois, she wrote non-fiction books and numerous articles on mummies, Greek vases, and archaeological science. Nowadays, Sarah splits her time between writing and painting. Starting in 2004, when she was a finalist for Best First Traditional Mystery Novel in the St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Contest, she has based her fiction on thirty years of working in academia, museums, and on excavations in Italy, Israel, and the U.S. She writes two series, the Lisa Donahue Archaeological Mysteries (set in Boston and the Middle East) and the Flora Garibaldi Art Conservation Mysteries (set in Italy). Her paintings include mixed media landscapes, starscapes, and still lifes. Listen to Episode Buy Book Previous Next

A refreshing dessert in the summer and a pleasingly light dessert to nibble on after a heavy winter meal. < Back Chocolate Peanut Butter Frozen Pie December 13, 2019 Prep Time: 4.5 Hours Cook Time: 10 Minutes Serves: 8 Slices of Pie Tags: Vegan, Vegetarian, Baking, Cakes & Pies & Icing About the Recipe Fans of Battered (the first book in the Whipped and Sipped mystery series), might recall that the cafe’s pastry chef, Ruthie Rosin, is a vegan who doesn’t eat or bake with any animal products. This is the kind of pie she serves both at home and in the café.- it’s a refreshing dessert in the summer and a pleasingly light dessert to nibble on after a heavy winter meal. Ingredients Crust: 1½ cup unsalted raw or roasted pecans* ¾ cup (8 to 10) dried pitted dates or prunes 2 TBSP organic filtered coconut oil *Also, delicious when I replace the pecans with 10-12 of my own baked and frozen cookies Filling: 2 cups unsalted cashews or peanuts 1 cup canned whole coconut milk ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder ½ cup packed coconut or brown sugar 1 ¼ cup mashed ripe bananas (3 medium or 2 large bananas) 1 tsp pure vanilla extract ½ tsp pure almond extract ½ tsp fine-grained sea salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 TBSP instant coffee or decaf powder Optional: Sprinkle ½ cup mini-chocolate chips on top, or for a more dazzling presentation, add the chocolate chips and then finish with powdered sugar or whipped topping Preparation Crust: In a food processor, blend pecans (or cookies) until completely uniform, about 60 seconds Add dates/prunes and oil, pulse just until blended, about 5-6 times Add oil and pulse 4 or 5 times Press mixture into a greased tart pan, pie pan or lined muffin cups (with silicone or paper) Bake at 350°F/180°C for 8 minutes (in a muffin pan) or 10 minutes (in a pie or tart pan) Cool on the counter (not on top of the oven) while preparing the filling Filling: Don’t bother to rinse out the processor, just add all the ingredients except chocolate chips Blend until completely mixed and shiny (about 2-3 minutes) Smooth into the completely cooled crust (in either the pie pan or the muffin cups) Toss mini chocolate chips on top Freeze for at least 4 hours Remove from the freezer about 20 minutes before serving Add the optional topping – although it’s delicious without the final flourish Leftovers can be either frozen or refrigerated (for nibbling whenever you want something sweet but nourishing). When refrigerated, it gets a pudding-like texture. Previous Next

Attica Locke: Black Water Rising < Back Attica Lock Author of Black Water Rising March 14, 2022 Attica Locke’s (b 1974) first novel, B lack Water Rising was nominated for an Edgar Award, an NAACP Image Award, as well as a L os Angeles Times Book Prize, and was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She came out with H eaven, My Home (September 2019) as the sequel to her Edgar Award-winning B luebird, Bluebird. Her third novel, P leasantville was the winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was also long-listed for the Bailey’s Prize for Women’s Fiction. T he Cutting Season was the winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. I love the steamy atmosphere, the Texas Rangers, and the southern experience. Locke covers moral issues, greedy developers, white supremacy. Solid writing with no artifice. A former fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Feature Filmmaker’s Lab , Locke works as a screenwriter as well. Most recently, she was a writer and producer on Netflix’s W hen They See Us a nd the also the upcoming Hulu adaptation of L ittle Fires Everywhere. A native of Houston, Texas, Attica lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter. Previous Next

I make this version of hummus when I’m out of tahini. < Back Easy Hummus November 5, 2020 Prep Time: 5 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Serves: 2 Cups of Hummus Tags: Dips and Sauces, Vegan, Gluten Free, Vegetarian About the Recipe I make this version of hummus when I’m out of tahini. Ingredients 1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained (save ¼ cup liquid) and rinsed 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice from about ½ of a medium lemon 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar (it brightens just about everything) 1 TBSP toasted sesame oil 1 clove garlic or 1 tsp garlic powder ½ tsp kosher or sea salt 1 tsp dried basil ½ tsp each: cumin, all-spice, turmeric ¼ cup of the chickpea liquid, or water Optional: serve topped with a dab of olive oil and handful of pine nuts Preparation I make this version of hummus when I’m out of tahini. Mix everything in a food processor (using a high-tech blender turns it into baby food). Once you start mixing, slowly add in the chickpea liquid or water until it turns into a smooth, creamy dip. Add extra liquid as needed. Taste it. You might want more salt or lemon. Sometimes I had a handful of fresh parsley. If you prefer a more traditional hummus, just stick with the garbanzos, lemon, salt, sesame/oil. Add pepper if you like more oomph. You can also thin it out enough to use a salad dressing. No need to ever buy pre-made hummus again! Previous Next