Serials and Scenarios ~ Mark Mynheir's Night Watchman

My Review:

I love that Mynheir is a real-life detective. His latest novel contains a bit of teaching element as his anti-hero, Ray Quinn, schools the ultimate anti-hero Crevis Creighton on the details of real life crime solving vs. what you see on television.

Ray’s best friend, Jim, lives with him and helps his deal with pain from a recent debilitating shooting and the death of his partner. Jim helps with the aftermath of the forced retirement, the new job as night watchmen, and chronic physical pain. Unfortunately, that friend, Jim, is Jim Beam of the whiskey family and Ray is not dealing well at all.

While going through the motions and countless Sudoku puzzles at a small apartment building, Ray spends his down time avoiding Crevis or sending him on wild goose chases. Until a body is discovered, and Ray finds himself in the midst of a tangled mess that is hard to resist.

The mystery is satisfying. Plenty of humor and quirk. A solid but not overdone faith thread runs throughout the novel. Loads of police procedure but not overly technical. Mynheir has a solid and engaging voice.

I love Ray and Crevis and hope to see much more of them in future books.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ A Great Day Check-List

Awaken to singing birds instead of a squawking alarm. Check.

An hour later than usual. Check.

Coffee with a favorite peep. Check.

A long walk-run with two furry friends and a favorite peep. Check.

Finishing up the garden, watering what's already flourishing. While the dogs wrestle, stalk and play and the birds continue to sing and the sun beats down on shoulders bringing the sweat of hard work and resulting satisfaction. Check.

A haircut in the driveway. Check.

A short nap in the cool cross breezes in a room that smells of white citrus. Check.

Reading a few chapters of a good book. Check.

Catching up on writing reviews, e-mails and just getting stuff done. Check.

Hope yours was fabulous just like mine.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Bird in a Hand er Pocket?

Of course it's logical to follow a cat day at Dregs with a bird moment.

E-Mail FW: legend claims that a nest of larcenous birdies crawled into the car wash coin return pocket and made off with over 4K.

Crazy, yes. True? Who knows. Funny. Definitely.

Happy Weekend, Y'all.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Patience

Birdie sent me this picture. She couldn't resist after enjoying a laugh while contemplating cat yodeling.

The look on this feline face is very similiar to the one I sport while pressing my nose against the glass door, patiently waiting for the UPS driver to arrive bearing my new computer juice.

Let's hope I'm connected soon. Otherwise I might scare the UPS man away. He is already a little iffy after his Lily/Lola encounter.

Shut-Ups....Mango-Raspberry Salad Dressing

I love fruit and nut salads. We discovered the yummiest dressing.

We grabbed half of a mango and smashed it in a bowl. Tossed in a huge handful of raspberries and smashed them, too. Then dumped in a dollop of low-fat vanilla yogurt and a dash of lemon juice to cut the sweet and give it more of a liquid feel. Pour over spinach, walnuts, purple onion chunks and more raspberries.

Would be a nice smoothie base, or fresh fruit or angel food cake topping, too.

Yummo.

Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Uh, Maps n' Peppers

Due to multiple technical difficulties a) my computer is still days away from being "healed" and I'm still banking or blackmailing or whining upon the kindness of family members, b) my computer is the only one that downloads pictures straight from the little picture disk. That said...this is why we have a picture of the infamous-crab-pepper-of-the-paper-plate-region which has absolutely nothing to do with this post.

EER, being the literal and creative friend that she is, wanted to make sure I was able to get to her in case she won one of those amazing Hachette book giveaways. So, with all her scientific, mathmatic and creative skills she drafted a map to help me find her should she win.

Said map is on a teeny, tiny scrap paper roughly 2" x 4", or in graduation season, think "wallet size" map. Little numbers and sketches cover both sides of said "map." She showed it to me. What is it? I wanted to know. She excitedly explained that it was a map from my desk to hers. Yes, we work in the same office. She walked off the amount of steps it takes from my space to hers. A little squiggle with the number two written above it veers right followed by four more steps and a slight lean right....yeah, you get it.

Seriously, This is my life. But wouldn't it be boring without my friends, whether furry, funny, equipped with technology or a combination of all of the above?

Serials and Scenarios - More Books....You Know What to Do...

Here's the final installment of the amazing book giveaway by Hachette Book Group.

Leave a comment and a a way to connect with you and you will go into a "hat" and have a chance to win the following book titles courtesy of Hachette Book Group.

1. B as in Beauty By Alberto Ferreras ISBN: 0446697893
2. Into the Beautiful North By Luis Urrea ISBN: 0316025275
3. Hungry Woman in Paris By Josefina Lopez ISBN: 0446699411
4. The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos By Margaret Mascarenhas ISBN: 0446541109
5. Houston, We Have a Problema By Gwendolyn Zepeda ISBN: 0446698520

You have until the 31st of May. So get a comment, no matter how lame, posted. : ) And speaking of comments, more on that tomorrow. If you missed the last two Hachette Book Group offerings, it's not too late, go here.