A new book series and an old favorite The top two things that drive me crazy

KATHY MANOS PENN

I’ve been waiting for the most recent book in The Thursday Murder Club series to become available at my library. Only in Atlanta could a parking issue keep you from getting a library book.

Seriously! I put the book on hold when it was first published in 2022, and I was delighted to get the email in October that said I could pick it up. I never would have imagined that early voting at the library would mean that the parking lot was destined to be full on the last day I could pick it up.

I have on a few occasions called the library to ask if they could hold a book for an extra day, and they’ve always been happy to oblige. This time, however, I couldn’t even get through on the phone. That meant I had to re-up my hold request, and I didn’t make it to the top of the list until February. The good news is that it was well worth the wait.

In the meantime, I indulged in a new-to-me series that was easy to get. Heaven forbid I do without reading material.

“Death in the Off-Season” by Francine

Matthews

I love it when I discover a new mystery series. I read a review of the seventh book in the Merry Folger series and immediately picked up the first one, “Death in the OffSeason.” What a treat. Publishers

Weekly said it well: “Spunky but inexperienced, third-generation Nantucket cop Meredith Folger investigates murder in this spare, atmospheric debut.”

She’s the daughter of the local police chief and has recently been promoted to Detective when she’s assigned her first murder case. Not only does she need to solve the case, Merry has to deal with an all-male department that questions her competence.

This mystery checked all my boxes. A strong female lead, a wellplotted story and writing that brings the setting to life. I’ve always wanted to visit Nantucket, and this series may do the trick for me.

It’s September on the island, and the fog and the chill provide an eerie setting for a murder that has its roots in the family dynamics of one of Nantucket’s oldest and wealthiest families. The extra treat was learning about cranberry harvesting. I’d never heard of a cranberry bog.

“The Bullet that Missed” by Richard Osman

This may only be the third book in The Thursday Murder Club series, but the characters already feel like old friends. The four amateur sleuths return to solve another murder. All in their 70s, the four friends are as different as can be, but they get along famously.

They live in the luxurious Coopers Chase Retirement Village in Kent, England, and meet every Thursday to work on murder cases, most often cold cases. It’s appropriate that they meet in the Jigsaw room in the clubhouse. Aren’t all mysteries puzzles where you have to move pieces around to make sense of them? One way or another, the cold cases wind up involving the friends in a more recent murder. Sometimes, they stir up something that results in yet another murder, and of course, puts one or several of the friends in danger. The plot is filled with twists and turns, even a Russian spy.

I am happy to report that book four in the series is due out in September 2023. Next up, I have the second Merry Folger book and countless other mysteries to keep me entertained. When you read at least two books a week, it’s critical to keep your hold shelf at the library well stocked.

Note: Are you in a book club? Would you like to have a local author speak to your group? Contact me to arrange a date! inkpenn119@gmail. com

Award-winning author Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident. Find her cozy mysteries locally at The Enchanted Forest in Dunwoody and Bookmiser in East Cobb or on Amazon. Contact her at inkpenn119@ gmail.com, and follow her on Facebook, www.facebook.com/KathyManosPennAuthor/.

I think that the older I get the less patience I have with people or stuff that are, well, snarky. That is, stuff that drives me crazy – stuff that should be different and could be different but isn’t.

#1. Flashlights.

Seriously? Yep, flashlights. Yep, I always have a flashlight when I need one, but of course it never works. Either the batteries have died, or the bulb has gone bad – that bulb for which one can never find replacements – or the “bulb” that is now a LED thing that who knows if those are ever replaceable. While I am at it, what the heck does “LED” stand for? Have no idea. Oh, almost forgot to include the contact mechanism – the thing that completes the current and makes a light appear. It’s the thing that without fail, when the batteries are good and the bulb or the LED thing are good, that never works.

I started buying warranties for the flashlights that I buy – extended warranties. Sort of my way of saying/dong “I’ll show you flashlight manufacturer.” But of course, when my flashlight dies, I can never find the warranty or the receipt. So that doesn’t help.

I have tried buying those flashlights that you charge with a USB cord. I have tried those that use rechargeable batteries – you know those batteries that do not recharge because the charger stops working. I have bought those onerous flashlights that law enforcement uses. I have tried those that you leave plugged into outlets that cease working after the 5th time you use it. I have bought expensive flashlights, cheap ones, disposable ones and none last longer than the third or fourth use.

Now, I keep candles and a Bic lighter handy. Why is it that they can make lighters that always work but can ‘t make a flashlight that always works? Why do wax candles always work? Can’t someone find a way to screw those up too? My iPhone flashlight has never failed me. It always works. Hello. Maybe Apple should make flashlights. It could be their huge new product – a Apple flashlight with a touch screen on/off that works – and keeps working. I know Steve would approve and that flashlight would be a huge win.

#2. Motion activated solar-powered security lights run a close second after flashlights.

Another light issue, no? What is up with me and light?

Ok, so, you would think that these would not be like flashlights. I mean, almost no moving parts. Unlimited charging. Almost never in use. So, these should always work, right? Wrong. I am batting 1000 on purchasing these things and them lasting more than 30 days-ish. I have purchased them for my office, for our house, for our warehouse, for our beach place and 100% of the time they stop working in a month or two, if not sooner.

Most of these security lights have rechargeable batteries that the solar panel charges. And that seems like the dog that won’t hunt. I think that most rechargeable batteries can only be recharged so many times and then they too stop working / recharging. Maybe I need to add “rechargeable batteries” to my list.

As with the flashlights I started buying the extended warranties for my solarpowered lights and the result has been identical. Maybe I use the warranty once after the light stops working and then the next time, I can’t find the warranty or don’t have the energy to go deal with the big box store that questions – always questions – my wanting to use the warranty – to the point that I dread even going there.

I know Elon at least at one time was working on roofing material that doubled as solar panels. Maybe he needs to get into the solar-powered motion sensor security light business. No one else seems to be able to get it right although there is one use of these solar chargers that I have found works each and every time. And that would be? Using it as a trickle charger to my car battery at the beach. Since I have started leaving a solar panel hooked up to my car battery, I have not had a single dead battery. Go figure.

So, we have been brewing coffee with coffee makers in the kitchen for generations. And they, generally, worked well and lasted. Then along comes a better mousetrap called a Keurig coffee maker that becomes a runaway sensation – much like those vacuum robots – the Roomba.

We can send someone to the moon. We can make domestic airplanes that safely fly for 50 years easy. We can install new hearts into people. So why hasn’t someone – anyone – made a flashlight that works longer than a month or two? I don’t get it.

Bueller, Bueller, anyone, Bueller?