The March 2022 book about Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett is in the context of global pandemic.
It’s very good.
A day before the three Pickett girls come home for Thanksgiving, Joe is called out for a moose poaching incident that turns out to be something much more sinister: a local fishing guide has been brutally tortured and murdered.
At the same time, Marybeth opens an unmarked package at the library where she works and finds a photo album that belonged to an infamous Nazi official. Who left it there? And why? …
Meanwhile, Nate Romanowski is on the hunt for the man who stole his falcons and attacked his wife.
About 200k tourists travel to Nordkapp (North Cape) each year.
The municipality is named after Nordkapp (North Cape), a 307-metre-high (1,007 ft) cliff that is commonly referred to as the northernmost point of Europe.
However, the true northernmost point of the European mainland is Cape Nordkinn (Kinnarodden), at 71° 08′ 02″ N, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the village of Mehamn on the Nordkinn Peninsula.
If Europe’s northernmost point is allowed to be on an island, then it still is not the North Cape. It would be Cape Fligely on Rudolf Island, Franz Josef Land in Russia, which is located much further north at 81° 48′ 24″ N.
If Franz Josef Land is not considered to be in Europe, then Europe’s northernmost point is the northern point of the island of Rossøya, an islet in Svalbard, north of Spitsbergen at 80° 49′ 44.41″ N.
And her character “Molly Maid” is both likeable and amusing. Somewhere on the autism spectrum.
“I am your maid. I know so much about you. But when it comes down to it: what is it that you know about me?”
Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misinterprets the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has had to navigate life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.
But Molly’s orderly life is turned on its head the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself very dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect.
She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?
And my first 3 weeks in Norway were certainly unexpected. I arrived far north of the Arctic Circle with no bicycle. No luggage. Both were stuck at Heathrow airport where I checked in with SAS (Scandinavian Airlines).
I could give up. Or make do with my carry-on.
WHY not simply go to an all-inclusive beach resort and start drinking at noon?
Here’s a good answer from Jedidiah Jenkins who cycled Oregon to the southern tip of South America.
After the success of Kane and Abel and The Prodigal Daughter, Archer published a revised edition of Shall We Tell the President? (1986), replacing Kennedy (in real life a senator and a presidential candidate but never president) with the fictional character Florentyna Kane (who became president in The Prodigal Daughter) in order to link it with the other two novels. …
I enjoyed the two pseudo sequels — but this book is quite different. Stand alone — but set in the timeline of Prodigal Daughter.
President Kane is about to be assassinated for her support of a gun regulation bill.
Note that the U.S. government has still not done much to reduce gun violence in the decades since.
Louis C.K is an asshole. If you’ve cancelled him, I don’t blame you.
I never followed the guy in the first place.
BUT nobody has explained White Privilege more succinctly:
“… I’m not saying that white people are better. I’m saying that being white is clearly better. Who could even argue? If it was an option, I would re-up every year. …” 😀
I am enjoying a series of books by Grainger featuring Norfolk Detective Sergeant DC Smith. SO decided to try the 1st book of another of his series — set in Cornwall.
BUT as much as it is very well written, I prefer the DC Smith character.
Detective Sergeant Chris Waters gets his first assignment as crime scene manager — the murder of a young woman.
The plot is rather dull as murder mysteries go. Most of this book details the people investigating the crime. Their relationships. Their motivations. The slow bureaucracy.
My original plan was to cycle the Senja National Tourist Road — the scenic and BEST parts shown in brown below. Sadly, summer 2022, the section marked RED below was closed due to construction of a new landslide superstructure.
I’d hoped that only motor vehicles were going to be blocked — BUT a Swiss cyclists told me he didn’t get through. The only folks who made it cycled at night and carried bikes around checkpoints.
THEREFORE I was forced to take the long way around. Less scenic. And a LOT more traffic.
I caught the fast ferry back to Tromsø from Finnsenes. Fed up with rain and wind.
Disappointing — but I did climb Sengla, one of my highest priorities for this trip.
My best campsite (free) was in Sommarøy. A wooden platform with a wind break is ideal in Norway.
Disappointed in having to do a much longer trip hitting Finnestes twice, I decided to take an $80 room in this old house. And was glad I did. A nice break from cycling in the rain.
A friendly truck driver on a ferry tipped me off to this — a rare free hot shower in Norway. Actually, I had 2 free hot showers because I cycled through Botnhamm twice.
My final night I camped in a troll themed free campsite near Hamn. Weird. But a good spot.
Expecting the bad weather to improve, it got worse and worse. And worse.
I finally QUIT en route to Skaland which is the trailhead for one of the great hikes. After days of hard rain, that route would have been too muddy to enjoy. Also — no vista from the top.
Summing up ➙ I need to return to Senja once the scenic road is open again.
My rental bike was pretty good, actually. Perhaps I’ll BUY a used bike like this in Tromsø and ride it south as far as it will go. Next time.
Shockingly, this book is set in Arizona close to the Mexican border.
Far, far away from Cork O’Connor’s northern Minnesota.
His new bride Rainy Bisonette receives a desperate phone call from her son, Peter.
The connection is terrible but before the line goes dead, they hear Peter confess to the murder of someone named Rodriquez.
The following morning, Cork and Rainy fly to southern Arizona, where Peter has been working as a counselor in a well-known drug rehab center. When they arrive, they learn that Peter was fired six months earlier and hasn’t been heard from since. So they head to the little desert town of Sulfur Springs where Peter has been receiving his mail. But no one in Sulfur Springs seems to know him. …
As they gather scraps of information about Peter, Cork and Rainy are warned time and again that there is a war going on along the border. “Trust no one in Coronado County,” is the most common piece of advice they receive, and Cork doesn’t have to be told twice.
To him, Arizona is alien country. The relentless heat, the absence of water and big trees and shade all feel nightmarish to him, as does his growing sense that Rainy might know more about what’s going on than she’s willing to admit …
