Jane Austen Mystery Series

During the recent hurricane drama (read: Ike), I read Stephanie Barron's second installment in her Jane Austen mystery series entitled "Jane Austen and the Man of the Cloth."

This book is obviously well-researched. And while I am not a huge fan of Austen, I'm also not a detractor. In any case, Barron is quite clever at pairing historical facts and Austen's own family life and writing with a mystery storyline.

In this particular mystery, Jane and her family find themselves in Lyme while taking a holiday from their lives in Bath. Jane finds herself drawn to one Geoffrey Sidmouth. This is problematic, however, because he is rumored to be "The Reverend," a smuggler and person of ill-repute.

Jane takes it upon herself to solve two murders in which Sidmouth is implicated. With daring adventure and Austen's wry comments, this is a unique read.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Three Books --- One Post

Well, it just has been too hard to get to a computer lately. I wish I could say that I was touring the Denali National Park or something to that effect, but it just wouldn't be true. Nevertheless, here's what I've been reading:

"Strawberry Shortcake Murder" is the second of the Hannah Swensen cooking mystery series. I've read a couple of other books by JoAnne Fluke as well. This one involves Hannah's sister a bit more. Again, there is nothing earth-shattering here, but it is a nice, pleasant little read. Hannah is becoming more involved with Mike, the new detective in town, and Norm, a local dentist.






"Defend and Betray" is the third book in Anne Perry's Inspector Monk series. Once again, I'm longing for more of Monk! This particular tome further develops the character and dynamics between Hester Latterly, private nurse, Monk, now a private enquiry agent and Oliver Rathbone, a lawyer known to both. The part of the book further exploring Hester and lawyer's relationship is good, and we do get to see a bit more of Monk as he continues to struggle with amnesia. The very best part of the book is the last extended episode in which Rathbone extracts a confession of sorts as well as an explanation for the murder. It is great Perry Mason type of stuff. All in all, I did enjoy this book better than the previous one.




Finally, I just finished a most delightful read, Elizabeth Peter's "Crocodile on the Sandbank." This is a first in a series following "spinster" amateur archaeologist and classicist Amelia Peabody. I absolutely adore Amelia, and I'm sure most people would. Her frankness, audacity, boldness, courage and phenomenal mastery of the English language are simply wonderful. Although I had figured out the mystery well before the end of the book, I didn't care! I loved the entire Peabody experience. I would write more of the plot, but suffice to say a mummy is involved, a love triangle --- a second love story with no triangle and great Egyptian scenery. What a blast!

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Ned Parker, a New Amateur Sleuth

This book is the first of a planned series featuring Ned Parker, a hansom cab driver in 1870s London. Ned has inherited his business from his father, who also made a living selling information to the police, or so Ned believes.

Ned is known for being "nosy" and has insatiable curiosity. He finds himself entangled in a murder mystery supposedly committed by another cab driver. Ned pledges to help his work associate whom he is convinced is blameless. This leads Ned into a series of adventures and ever-deepening mysteries revolving around silver candlesticks, sunken Spanish treasure, the newly-built London Underground and even his own dad's dealings.

I really like Ned as a character. King has sketched Ned as a warm figure, and frankly it's impossible not to like him. The author has a great knowledge of London at this time including both historic personalities, class differences, and geography. King weaves together a fun story, and it is an enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to more.

My only complaint is that the editing could have been a little tighter. There were several fragments and misplaced punctuation marks. Was it rushed to press? These are easily forgiven because the plot and character development is so good.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Roget: An Amazing Man in Amazing Times

I just finished "The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness and the Creation of Roget's Thesaurus." While this is a wonderful story, this book is actually a poorly executed version of it.

Paul Mark Roget was born of Swiss Huguenot emigres to London. His father, a pastor of a London congregation and of relatively meager means, died while he was still a young boy. His mother, of much more substantial means, then supposedly smothered her boy with her overweening demands and mental instability. This is a recurrent theme the author Joshua Kendall puts forward in the book. I'm not all that convinced. He seems to be reaching at times. Nevertheless, mental instability, depression, etc., did seem to run in the Romilly (mother's side) family leaving virtually no one unscathed.

Why Roget is not more of a household name is really the story here. A doctor by training, he made his living through his scientific lectures on physiology and various other scientific topics. Apparently, he was a delightful and dynamic lecturer. Trained in Scotland by those we read about in "How the Scots Invented the Modern World," Herman's wonderful Scotland book on the Scottish Enlightenment, Roget was a wonderful academician who lived and worked with most of the leading scientists of the 18th century including Humphrey Davies (of laughing gas fame). The book is a virtual who's who of scientific thinkers. Roget actually worked on these laughing gas studies, invented the slide rule and developed some mathematical equations regarding optics that would eventually make motion pictures possible. His publishing of various articles in his roles on the sundry academic committees in which he served as well as his published books left a lasting legacy.

But his most important and lasting contribution would be Roget's Thesaurus. Now, this work while not the first of its kind did more scientifically categorize and thoroughly explore synonymy than any previous work.

While the story itself is extremely interesting, this is a poorly written and executed work. The author, or his editor, did Roget a disservice in a number of ways. First, the author used colloquial expressions at times while using higher level choices at others. For example, Roget's sister and daughter were "dumped" by prospective suitors. Surely, a thesaurus could have helped the author find a more suitable expression. This is but one example.

Also, the author's condescending attitude toward the theory of intelligent design is a distraction and discredits Roget. It is almost as if we should forgive Roget's limited abilities to think outside of "natural theology and science" for he is writing just at the time Darwin is putting together and finally publishing his seminal work. Of course, it goes without saying that anyone daring to doubt Darwin must be a complete idiot and fool. The last time I checked, Darwin's theory of evolution was still a theory and not a natural law.

Finally, the author falls short of explaining all of Roget's "lists" --- there is one which he continually refers. Much more could have been said.

I hate being so harsh with an author, but this book could have been so much more of a powerful experience. All of the fascinating story elements were there, but the writing itself is a distraction to it. I was hoping it would be similar to Simon Winchester's "The Professor and the Madman," a book about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. Alas, it just isn't.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery

Well, back in January, I read JoAnne Fluke's "Peach Cobbler Mystery." Now, in the heat of June, I found a copy of her first book of the Hannah Swensen mystery series, "Chocolate Chip Cookie Mystery." This copy was located in the San Antonio Barnes & Noble. It's a great read for the pool-side.

In her debut, Hannah has recently returned to her hometown of Lake Eden and opened a bakery. One morning she discovers the body of the dairy delivery man outside of her shop. Her brother-in-law is the police officer assigned to investigate the murder. Hannah agrees to snoop around a bit and help him out so he can receive a promotion.

During the course of the book, we're introduced to the cast of characters in the small Minnesota town. These include her sister, her niece, her widowed mother and two love interests, Norman the dentist and Mike the new detective in town.

This was a great, delightful, light read --- perfect for a vacation read. I'm even planning on trying some of the recipes which were included.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Thoroughly Southern Mystery Series

Patricia Sprinkle is the author of a "Thoroughly Southern Mystery Series" starring Georgia magistrate MacLaren Yarbrough. These are easy cozy reads. I recently read "Guess Who's Coming to Die" in which Mac is invited to join the upper-crust Magnolia Ladies Investment Club. At her first meeting Mac discovers the body of one of the members with a corkscrew stuck in her neck.

While this book was somewhat enjoyable, I just didn't connect with the character of MacLaren. Sometimes you just don't click.

I think I enjoy more Laura Childs' Tea Shop mystery series which takes place in Charleston, South Carolina and follows the exploits of tea shop owner and sometime sleuth Theodosia Browning. I don't think I've written about Theo's adventures in this blog, but I've read several and frankly I just enjoy her more --- even if Childs seems at times to be a little too overly affectionate with her heroine.

So, if you'd like a Southern mystery, I prefer Theo over Mac!

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Sharon Kay Penman's Mystery

Not too long ago I was raving about Sharon Kay Penman's triumph "Splendour in the Sunne." I decided to read the first mystery in her Medieval Mystery series entitled "The Queen's Man." I thought it might be a good read since Will Thomas (he of Thomas Llewellyn and Cyrus Barker books) lists her as a favorite author of his.

Penman's mystery centers around the character of Justin de Quincy, an illegitimate son of a high cleric. Justin witnesses a murder, and he promises to take the letter being carried by the victim to the court of Queen Eleanor. Eleanor is now the Queen Mother while her son Richard the Lionhearted is ruling. Court intrigues and domestic secrets abound when Justin takes the letter to the Queen who then engages him to discover the murderer(s).

While the mystery isn't much of a mystery, the characters in this novel are so likable you manage to carry on. I particularly liked Luke de Marston, an undersheriff of Winchester, and Jonas, another undersheriff in London. Nell, the manager of an ale house, is another likable personage.

While I can't say that this book left me amazed at the story, the experience or the writing, I did enjoy it for what it was: a book to read by the pool.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

True Detective Investigates Victorian Murder

Kate Summerscale's "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective" is a marvelous book. Meticulously researched with copious notes and recommendations, this is non-fiction crime writing at its best!

Summerscale relates the vicious murder of Saville Kent, age 4, at the hands of some relative or staff member within his own home. The author is able to present the story of the murder itself along with the outrage of Victorian English society and the rise and fall of English detectives of Scotland Yard by intertwining both the official reports of the case, reports in magazines and from the comments of literary men and the judicial magistrates of the time. Even though it is a complex story, it reads wonderfully well due to the author's skill at pacing and revealing only what we need to know when we need to know it.

Although the murder crime itself is fascinating reading, the author's theme of the rise of the London detective, specifically Mr. Jonathan (a.k.a., Jack) Whicher, is what really pulls you into the story. Chronicling the fascination of Victorian society with detectives and their methods while also drawing out the opposing revulsion of the invasion of privacy and the tearing down of long-held tents of family life, Summerscale demonstrates both the admiration and contempt that these pioneer detectives faced. We hear from Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins, early progenitors of the mystery novel, and we see how society embraces the detective yet at the same time is repulsed by him. A wonderful parallel, not voiced in the book, is our modern media obsession with forensics and crime scene investigators. It all started in the mid-eighteen hundreds with the formulation of this group of detectives at Scotland Yard.

Without spoiling Summerscale's (and Whicher's) suspicions and conclusions on the guilty party, let me just say that her case is strongly presented and well-documented.

This one is certainly worth the read!

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Dimity Is a Dear

I just finished Nancy Atherton's first "mystery" in the Dimity series entitled "Aunt Dimity's Death." I enclose the word mystery in quotation marks because I'm not sure this is a mystery in the truest sense.

Lori Shepherd is the heroine who is struggling with a divorce, the death of her mother and a lack of purpose and stability in her life. She finds herself summoned to a curiously Dickensian attorney's office in Boston. She discovers there that the person of Aunt Dimity, a character is some stories her mother told her as a child is not, in fact, a fictional protagonist. Aunt Dimity is indeed a real person, and Lori is to complete a review and write an introduction to a children's book about Aunt Dimity for a small sum of money.

While on this pilgrimage in England, Lori finds out more about her mother and the mysterious Dimity. During the course of this rather benign adventure, Lori falls in love with one of the attorneys. Blending a touch of the supernatural (Dimity can speak to her through a journal) with history and a cozy setting, Atherton has created a unique heroine and sweet story.

While there wasn't much suspense in this novel, and no real Agatha Christie-type of mystery, the book was still an entertaining read.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Needlecraft Mystery Falls Short

I have read every single one of the Monica Ferris' needlecraft mysteries. This cottage mystery series follows Betsy Devonshire, a plump, middle-aged woman who owns a needlecraft store named "Crewel World" located in Excelsior, Minnesota. Betsy inherited the shop from her sister who was the murder victim in the first book of the series also entitled "Crewel World." Betsy shows a knack for solving murders and mysteries as she also learns the ins and outs of needlework.

Usually these books are fun reads. Being a needleworker myself, I do enjoy reading about some of the ins and outs of the needlecraft business. I can really relate to her descriptions of the products, processes and environment of her shop.

Ferris has a knack for developing some wonderful and memorable characters as well. From "manly" Alice, to her gay operations manager Goddy, and the always efficient and stoic Jill Larson, these characters become old friends.

I suppose that is what made this book a disappointment to me. Someone has stolen a check from the Heart Association. The check was for charity work done by the local EGA (Embroidery Guild of America) chapter. Unfortunately it appears that the Heart Association representative, who happens to be the husband of a needleworker there, has absconded with the check. The wife asks Betsy to investigate, but she can't get up and about because of a broken leg. She has to rely on Goddy to do the work for her.

What makes this book fall short of the mark is the excessive amount of time devoted to one of the suspects, Tony Milan, aka Stoney Durand. Ferris seems off her game here. His development seems trite and uninteresting. Goddy's investigation seems to be the same. It just doesn't work for me. Also the descriptions and voice of Jill's baby seems simplified and silly.

Let's hope Ferris' next endeavor will focus more closely on our old friends at Crewel World and that needlework will figure more prominently in the mystery itself.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Cork Returns!

The work of William Kent Krueger is among my favorites in the mystery genre. He writes of Corcoran (Cork) O'Connor, a former sheriff who lives near the Iron Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. Cork, part-Native American himself, often finds himself involved in various mysteries and murders, whether he is serving as the official law enforcement presence or not.

In this book entitled "Thunder Bay", Krueger goes back to a more Native-American dominated storyline. Henry Meloux, one of the recurring characters asks Cork, a newly-licensed private investigator, to find his son. Cork is stunned, and he agrees to do so. Meloux is a Midiwiwin, a Native-American tribal spiritual leader and visionary of sorts. He has to be in his late eighties or nineties. His appearances in the previous books only serve to heighten the interest in the story and his background. After Cork finds the reclusive son in Canada followed by an attempt on Meloux's life by the son's bodyguard, fully one-third of the book is narrated by Meloux in an exploration of his past. Krueger skillfully weaves the story together, and it is just a delight.

The previous book was not one that I liked or even finished. Many of Krueger's books have won Edgar and Anthony awards. I was so disappointed in "Copper River", but "Thunder Bay" is a full redemption.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Just Take a Pass

After reading Sharon Kay Penman's "Sunne in Splendour" and raving about in here in my blog, I fancied that the recent "The Other Boleyn Girl" might be an equally wonderful historical fiction of the Boleyn family and King Henry VIII's court.

Boy, was I wrong.

This is just not a good book. While I am sure that it might be good, bawdy reading for those unfamiliar with the court and just want an HBO/Cinemax/Showtime version of the period, this was just fiction. I wouldn't even call it historical fiction. There are some portions of it that are just way off base.

I would take a pass on this book. I cannot recommend it.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Dangerous Mourning Puts Me in Mourning

OK. I'm disappointed. If this is an "Inspector Monk" novel, then why is someone else solving the cases?

I was REALLY excited to read the second of the Inspector Monk novels by Anne Perry. The first novel, "The Face of a Stranger," was wonderful. I had anticipated that our intrepid Inspector Monk would continue his journey through his amnesiac episode and that we would learn more and more about him. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

In a plot line too similar to the second of the Inspector Pitt series, a nurse friend of Monk's takes up residence within the aristocratic household to ferret out information and discern who might have murdered one of the daughters of the household. The story begins to revolve completely around nurse Hester Latterly. And, just as in the first book, one of the family members is the guilty party.

All in all, this book was a bitter let down. I'm hoping for better in the third book, but if that one doesn't knock my socks off, I may have to beg off this series.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable!

Second Helping Equally Satisfying

I just completed Rosemary Poole-Carter's new book "The Women of Magdelene." I recently wrote of her first novel "What Remains" which was a throughly delightful book. This one didn't disappoint.

Her new novel takes place in Louisiana after the Civil War. Dr. Robert Mallory is arriving at the Magdalene Ladies' Lunatic Asylum to begin practicing general medicine there after a stint as an army surgeon. Upon his arrival, he finds a dead body of a patient floating in river. This starts his journey of discovery regarding the morals, ethics and practices of the asylum's owner and practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Kingston.

Dr. Mallory is a wounded soul when he arrives. The novel explores his situation and that of some of the women there, most notably Effie, a "mad" woman who is not really mad and who uses her silence to protect herself.

This is a wonderfully lyric novel. It is easy to see the growth of the novelist in terms of parallelism of themes, symbolism and character development. Again she has succeeded in creating the genteel South struggling after the "recent unpleasantness."

I highly recommend this one! You can listen to Rosemary Poole-Carter's KUHF interview here.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Introduction to the Bard

"Tales from Shakespeare" by Charles and Mary Lamb was our homeschool literary adventure for the past several months. This book contains retellings of many of Shakespeare's plays including tragedies (Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Othello, Macbeth, etc.) and comedies (Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Midsummer Night's Dream, Two Gentlemen of Verona, etc.).

First published in 1807, this brother and sister team split the work. She wrote the comedies; he wrote the tragedies.

The language, to children of this century, is rather challenging, but not so much that they cannot understand the gist of the storyline. It is indeed a wonderful introduction to the works of the bard.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Murder in an Upscale Square

Anne Perry's second mystery following Charlotte Pitt and her husband Inspector Thomas Pitt focuses on the discovery of two dead babies buried in a fashionable London square. Charlotte's sister, a member of the upper-crust, helps Charlotte out by weaving in and out of society and reporting the gossip the ladies discuss at their afternoon callings for tea.

While this is a good mystery, I was certainly hoping to see and learn more of Inspector Pitt. Charlotte is such a likable character, but I want to know more of Pitt and his background. There is a good cast of characters and suspects, and Perry's treatment of General Balantyne is quite wonderful. He is a true Victorian gentleman, and apparently the only honest one of the bunch.

We see a lot more of the unseemly side of Victorian England in this novel, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one, Cater Street Hangman. All in all, an OK read, but something was missing for me.

Southern Gothic from a New, Local Author

I recently tuned into KUHF, the local classical station, and heard an interview with a local author on her new book. The author had the finest voice; her pacing in her comments was perfect as was her enunciation. I wanted to read the book just after hearing her.

Her name is Rosemary Poole-Carter, and her new book is Woman of Magdelene. Well, it wasn't available at the library yet, so I ordered a book of hers that they did have entitled "What Remains."

This story centers around Isabelle, a woman recently bereft of her Civil War beau, and a journalist named Paul Delahoussaye who has come to the family home of Belle Ombre to return a packet of loveletters Isabelle had written to her fiance. He has fallen in love with her through his surreptitious reading of the letters.

Also residing at Belle Ombre are the deceptive and graciously Machiavellian Aunt Delora, her great-uncle Babcock Vasseur and his wife Lydie Vee, a young and rather mischievous cousin Euphrasie and a vital assortment of former slaves who still live at Belle Ombre.

Almost immediately a murder (?) and then another takes place and Delora asks Paul to stay on and use his skills as a journalist to find out who is behind this second death. Family secrets are revealed as more sinister things seem to be going on behind the scenes at this plantation home.

The language, mannerisms and culture are vibrant in this well-researched book. It feels completely of its time, and one is easily transported there. The character development is wonderful, and the pacing of the mystery is fabulous. It truly is a page-turner. The author truly has a gift, and I really look forward to reading the book she was promoting.

Allow me to relate the first sentence as it is just fabulous: "It was Isabelle's turn to sit with the body." I love that! Just 9 words, but do they ever pack a punch! I defy you to not be able to continue reading after that line!

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Daring Tour de Force

I don't know why I haven't read Sharon Kay Penman's "The Sunne in Splendour" before now. Although it is over 25 years old and has recently been reprinted, I had never heard of it. I am sad that it took me this long to discover it. I think it is one of the finest books that I have ever read. I cannot praise it highly enough. It is quite simply phenomenal. There isn't a dull moment in the entire 900+ pages.


But, I should tell you something about this book. It is such a daring tome. Can one imagine turning King Richard III, he of the hunched back, he of the murder of the Princes in the Tower,
he of the lame foot/leg, into a likable, heroic character, even a noble prince?

It is difficult to imagine such an undertaking. It is even difficult to consider that it might be plausible. But Penman's writing, research and gifts make the impossible not only plausible but possible and probable. Yes, she did it. She has literally turned everything most of us think we know about Richard III.

The story is a complete cast of characters including Richard's parents, Richard's older brothers King Edward IV (Ned), and George, Duke of Clarence, as well as the various relations associated with the house of York including the Kingmaker, Warwick, his family and daughters who were both married to George and Richard. Even with a overabundance of characters who share names and the various alliances, marriages, etc., within the nobility, Penman manages to draw out character traits of each one and convincingly portrays Richard as perhaps the only principled, noble, earnest man in the lot!

I don't want to give away Penman's solution to who killed the Princes, but I do believe her conclusion to be possible. We shall never know, and again, this is a work of historical fiction, but I daresay that William Shakespeare has some explaining to do! (Not really .... we know he wrote populist history, and how could one very well portray the house of York sympathetically when it was not so far in the past and the Tudors were the very killers of Richard.)

In any case, if you enjoy historical fiction, if you think you know all there is to know about the War of the Roses, if you enjoy some romance with a bit of history, then you must read this book. You won't regret it.

And if you really get interested, check out the Richard III Society, dedicated to research and scholarship on the king.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Peach Cobbler Murder is a Treat

Our library had a large display of mystery books in the lobby. Now, I'm not entirely sure that for me this was a good thing --- all it did was convince me that I don't have enough time to read all that I want to read. I limited myself to picking up one new book off the display. That took some discipline.

The book I selected was "Peach Cobbler Murder" by Joanne Fluke. This is the seventh in a series featuring bakery shop owner Hannah Swenson of Lake Eden, Minnesota. I like Hannah. She is a somewhat plump woman with frizzy red hair. It would have been frustrating to me to have a skinny woman running a bakery. She has a penchant for correct grammar (how could I not like that?!). She has two love interests who are strikingly different ---- one a handsome cop, the other a dependable dentist. Hannah's sister, mother and niece figure prominently in her escapades. And Hannah also has the obligatory overweight cat.

My only complaint about the book was that it seemed to take too long to get to the murder, and it wasn't that complicated at all to figure out. The murder victim in this book is Shawna Lee, the Georgia flirt who opens up a competing bakery almost directly across the street. I hadn't figured out the entire thing, but I was completely on target for who the murderer was.

The author intersperses some recipes for various treats throughout the book which is nice. I may have to try some of those!

This book is reminiscient of Monica Ferris' series for needlework. She has a new book coming out this year, and I can't wait to read that one. It is also similar to Laura Childs' Tea Shop Mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Theodosia Browning. I don't think I've written much about them in this blog, but I've read all the Ferris books and most of the Childs books. I love them.

I am not sure when I'll pick up another of the Hannah Swenson mysteries, but it is a nice, light read. Quite a nice break from those grueling, rather ominous Victorian tales.

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.

Face of a Stranger

I picked up the first book of Anne Perry's other Victorian mystery series entitled "The Face of a Stranger." This book shows a bit more maturity in writing, and it is a bit more introspective in that we get to know the main character William Monk in a more personal and intimate way than we do Inspector Pitt in "Cater Street Hangman."

The story begins with Monk waking in a hospital suffering from a head injury. This sounds trite, but Perry really pulls it off. We get to watch Monk go through the process of recovering his memory while attempting to hide it from his superiors and his other associates. We watch Monk struggle to find out what kind of man he was/is, and not liking what he discerns and learns. We also cheer when his intuition and abilities surface, as he instinctively navigates through the maze of Victorian culture.

This story is replete with plot twists and great characters. I really enjoyed reading it, and I'm looking forward to see what else Monk does in the future. The ending was satisfying, but there are plenty of loose ends to make future developments quite interesting.

All in all, this one is another winner!

Until next time, may your reading be both pleasurable and profitable.