Book #2 in the series featuring DS Harbinder Kaur, a badass murder detective.
Harbinder is in her 30s; still lives with her parents; and hasn’t come out to them that she’s Gay.
An interesting premise.
That said, I felt the second book was not nearly as good as the first.
Solving the Postscript murders was not Agatha Christie ingenious.
Peggy Smith had been a ‘murder consultant’ who plotted deaths for authors. When Smith died unexpectedly, Harbinder felt obliged to investigate.
Have you heard of Ronda?
Intensely scenic.
The oldest bullfighting ring in Spain is here.
Hemingway in his short story Death in the Afternoon:
“There is one town that would be better than Aranjuez to see your first bullfight in if you are only going to see one and that is Ronda.
That is where you should go if you ever go to Spain on a honeymoon or if you ever bolt with anyone. The entire town and as far as you can see in any direction is romantic background.”
Today there’s a population of about 35,000 living in a cliffside town.
The Guadalevín River runs through the city, dividing it in two and carving out the steep, 100-plus-meter-deep El Tajo canyon …
I did get a bit of drone footage for myself. But it’s not nearly as good as this montage.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
For the second time ever I toured an Olive-oil factory. And it was just as interesting the second time.
They are still making oil the way it was done hundreds or thousands of years ago. The traditional “First cold-pressed” system.
The olives are knocked out of the tree into a net. And physically “pressed”.
Strained through these cloths.
Then purified in a number of steps.
I’m not sure when glass containers were introduced. That must have been controversial! 😀
The leftovers come out looking like these chips. They are reused in many ways, including as fertilizer for the Olive trees.
Molino El Vínculo in Cadiz Province has been in the same family since at least 1755. And the family grew olives here since at least 1640.
It’s a colourful place with many old pieces of equipment displayed for tourists.
I did try the oil. But couldn’t tell the difference between it and every other olive oil I’ve eaten.
I’m addicted to the series of books with police chief Bruno Courrèges, in Périgord, France.
Everyone’s favourite cop is promoted in this book to chief of police of the entire Vézère Valley. And he’s not enjoying the greater responsibility.
In the middle of the mess an Englishwoman is found dead in Lalinde. Murdered. Perhaps killed by a stranger who seems to have committed suicide.
AND Bruno finds out that Paulette, a star of his rugby team with a decent shot at making the national squad, is unexpectedly pregnant.
Did I mention the love of his life drops in to town unexpectedly?
The Canada Fitness Award Program was subjected to Canadian school kids from 1970 to 1992.
I remember the annual challenge fondly, being something of a jock.
50 yard run, the 300 yard run, flexed arm hangs, the shuttle run, speed situps, and the standing long jump.
I can’t recall getting the highest Excellence rating — but always got Gold, the second highest.
Worst was the … PARTICIPATION ribbon. 😀
Unsurprisingly, it was finally cancelled due to being “discouraging to those who needed the most encouragement“. And sometimes resulted in “destructive eating and exercise practices” by the least fit.
I’m always leery of awards programs for kids. At many Gymnastics Clubs I tried to discontinue the annual “awards” night.
These memories came back after listening to Canada’s greatest comedian talking about how traumatized he was by the annual humiliation. Rick Mercer couldn’t do the flex arm hang.
As an adult Rick become surprisingly fit, trying many different sports for his TV shows.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
It was related to another government program called ParticipACTION. We blamed the Swedes. 😀
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
ParticipACTION included a TV show, started 1988, with interracial couple Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod. Every Canadian of my age remembers BodyBreak.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Recovering from injuries in the village of Three Pines, Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec, has found a peace he’d only imagined possible.
Until his friend Clara seeks him out, when her artist husband fails to come home.
Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, a group of the regulars goes on the road to solve the mystery of the disappearance.
There’s far less action than usual. More philosophy.
Though different than the usual Gamache fare, I still enjoyed the book.
Of the places in Andalusia I visited November 2022, Cádiz is the least popular tourist destination.
I was still pleased to have seen it.
Cádiz is a rocky, long, narrow peninsula, popular with sailors and fishermen for thousands of years. In fact, that Italian (Columbus) set sail from here on his second voyage to “India”. He was financed by the Spanish Crown.
By far my highlight was the Castle of San Sebastián, the fortress in the sea. That connecting levee was built 1860.
At dusk I’d take my wine to enjoy sunset.
There are good beaches, deserted in November.
Cádiz Cathedral was decorated for Christmas
Clearly they don’t have the budget of the BIG European cities.
The central food market is a highlight for sure. I’ve never seen so many varieties of fish and seafood. PHOTOS.
Most days I simply wandered the old town. Snapping photos non-stop. Here are a few samples.
I love the look of the simple fishing boats at low tide.
I got lucky having one day of overcast. Rare here. But it makes for more interesting skies.
I would recommend you visit Cádiz.
P.S.
The longest bridge in Spain is here. La Pepa, opened 2015. But I didn’t cross it nor could I even get close enough for a good photo. This pic is from Wikipedia.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Central Market of Cádiz is memorable to say the least.
Over 100 food stands in an ancient stone marketplace.
Surrounding the Market are different stalls where you can sample the best of Cádiz’s traditional cuisine.
Street urchins.
I wasn’t all that adventurous, opting only for the very popular street paella.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Dumb Witness is Christie’s 1937 book.
It is the last book to feature the character of Hastings until the final Poirot novel, 1975’s Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case, which he also narrates. …
In the New York Times, this novel was not considered Mrs Christie’s best, but “she has produced a much-better-than-average thriller nevertheless”…
I’d agree.
It’s standard Christie. But not quite as neatly solved as most of her other books.
In this one, a wealthy spinster dies — before Poirot could get there.
Despite having no paying client, the Belgian sleuth suspects the death by natural causes is actually murder. And stays to solve the crime anyway.
There’s no beach.
But tourists still like to wander the narrow cobblestone streets of Córdoba, Andalusia.
Much Moorish and Roman architecture to admire. Córdoba has more World Heritage Sites than anywhere in the world, with four.
The centre of ancient Roman cities became the walled medina.
Interesting doorways and gates everywhere.
Of course there is no shortage of Catholic Churches.
And in this ideal climate, there are many parks. The Moors liked the smell of orange blossoms, so those trees are everywhere.
Tourists tend to spend most of their time in the old town. But I did end up walking some of the modern city, as well.
Me? I hung out mostly along the Guadalquivir river. There are many unsigned and unvisited historical buildings.
Best of all was the Roman Bridge at dusk.
I’ll remember Cordoba for the rest of my life.
Rick McCharles 