Goodness! Want to know a quick way to find out if anyone reads your column (should you decide to write one)? Mention that your faithful companion dog has died--people were very kind to say something or send a card and I deeply appreciate it! Now, to discuss my left upper arm--just kidding! although the next time I fall on the ice and jar something it will be a pillow that I've quickly strapped on!  I DO remember Manny, my half-mine German Shepherd who happens to be registered to Dennis Riney, barking and barking,  at his gate behind me, because it didn't look right, to him, that I should be sitting on the walk beside the trash cans--and could I please get up and come and throw one of his toys! 

So, let's enjoy the weather where, so far, we've dodged more ice and sleet (Kerrville TX. has temperatures, for the next 10 days, between 58 and 73°!)  I am sure that most of the tr-ees and bushes are at least PREPARING to leaf out--and there sits our little house with NOTHING planted around it yet!  Ah, well, all will be well eventually!

Onward to our Fiction perusals and find one that suits you. Julie Garwood has more than 32 MILLION books in print and Heaven only knows how many more titles her newest, "Shadow Dance" will bring into the total. It's a romance with a backdrop of "Hatfields and McCoys" feudal overtones, a wedding interrupted by a "crasher" who is a professor of medieval history and warms of "bad blood" between the bride and groom's families "that originated in Scotland, involving the Buchanan theft---the grooms's, Dylan--of a coveted MacKenna--the bride's, Kate--valuable treasure." 

Enter Jordan Buchanan, a successful businesswoman (is there any other kind in this day and age of women at the forefront of every sector?) who is intrigued but very skeptical of this "bad blood between the 2 families" scare and then she meets Noah Clayborne, who challenges Jordan to undertake looking into  the blood feud and not being too comfortable in her present lifestyle.  Who could resist, particularly when Noah is "a man who has never let a good time or a pretty girl pass him by"? Yeah, well, while I can guarantee you this book may not be MY "cuppa", I can also guarantee you there are a GREAT many people--probably mainly women--who will love it and put it, as this one now is, on their own Best Seller list.  So, if this appeals to you, come in and check it out and see if there still is a feud between the two families that will involve the newly married couple. Ah, the suspense of it all! 

Phillippa Gregory is next (and this title is also on the shelves here that hold our N.Y.Tmes Best Seller books) with an historical novel that is Fiction-based-on-Fact--the wives (or at least three of them)of  King Henry VIII of England.  The three women who share this Boleyn Inheritance are ; Anne of Cleves (whom Henry instantly dislikes--not a good way to start off a marriage to a king!) and her inheritance is false accusations and false witnesses from a court that hates her and no family or friends around her; Katharine Howard, beautiful and young and has set in motion the intrigues of politics and being accused of treason and HER inheritance is threat of being beheaded by the axe; and Jane Rochford, the Boleyn family member whose testimony sent her husband and sister-in-law to their deaths and is now a loyal spy for her uncle and her name is a byword for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust(I had a suite-mate like that once--you couldn't trust her and she left the dorm every night at midnight to go out with one of the stable boys--we were NOT best of friends--most unsuitable behavior!)  and her inheritance a fortune and a title in exchange for her soul (and I'll bet that's NOT ALL that's up for exchange! Some things never change, have you noticed that?)  

For those of you who enjoy historical novels, this is right up your alley so, come in and take it home--if any of our reviewed books are on our Best Seller shelves and gone, ask Kim, at the front desk to flag it for you when it comes in and to please call you.

Onward!  Everyone who reads James Lee Burke enjoys him and his newest is "Pegasus Descending", which involves (as usual) Det. Dave Robicheaux, and a troubled young woman.  This is set in the author's favorite locale--and where he spends half the year--New Iberia, La.--his detective has a lot on his mind of past guilts and the present problems with the daughter of Robicheau's best friend who was murdered years ago.

Trish Klein, the daughter of Dave's Vietnam buddy, starts passing marked hundred-dollar bills in New Iberia's local casinos--is this deliberate, a young person seeking revenge, or is she seducing everyone in her sphere of influence? Then, a local student, a "good" girl, Yvonne Darbonne, participates in a fraternity orgy, at the college, just before her death. Any connection? And at what cost in memories to our detective?  The dialogue is believable and he outlines his characters VERY well--makes them understandable the way a sympathetic friend would.  If you like mystery stories AND an all-too-human central character to get to the bottom of things--indeed, a detective who has a conscience--come in and get this book.  And WHERE, pray tell, is New Iberia, La. and I can just about bet that the good folk there would retort--where, pray tell, is LIberal, Ks.?

I honestly don't remember reading any of P.T. Deutermann's book titles--he is well known after 10 novels, I know--but his newest "Spider Mountain" tale, I think I will read. The setting is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park  "and in that part of Appalachia, matriarch Grinny Creigh and her extended family destroy those who intrude into their web."

For one thing, they control the Meth trade and everything else in those woods, including a large and vicious pack of dogs who don't just threaten to bite. But there's an even darker side concerning children who come within their grasp. An ex-cop, Cam Richter agrees to investigate a young woman's assault, depending upon his outdoor skills and knowledge of the mountains but finds little help--in fact finds hindrance-by being blocked by a sheriff with ties to the Creighs. 

So, Cam begins stalking and getting closer and closer to Grinny's house and stronghold to see what it might hold--"not knowing that his presence on her web has been found and that she will send in "the dogs" who have been systematically starved and mistreated so that they are vicious and relentless when hunting .  Cam, thank goodness, has his 2 German Shepherds, Frick and Frack, and they help with withstanding one of Grinny's wild pack--I just hope the "bad" dogs don't overwhelm Frick and Frack at the end.  Oh, yes, did I mention she has six children hidden in a cave? How did Grinny get them and why would she want them and where are their mothers or fathers? We must be concerned for them--and Frick and Frack!  Hey, come in and get this one and lose a couple of hours of sleep finishing it--it'll be worth it!

Let's finish with a truly delightful author, Lillian Jackson Braun, and her latest mystery featuring the two very intelligent Siamese cats, Koko and Yum-Yum--"The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers"--and ALL of her titles begin with "The Cat Who" and what amuses me is there's two cats in each story.  Ah, well--a former doctor here--Otto Prochazka has been dead for 30 years AND IS STILL LISTED IN OUR PHONE BOOK--and the number is the hospital's!  I called there and the nice girl said no doctor was listed by that name--well, I hope to shout! He shouldn't be! So, why am I surprised that only one cat is indicated in a well-known author's titles?  

Anyway, in this book, a production of the musical, "Cats", is in  the making for the residents (human and feline!) of the town of Pickax, a new senior center is going up and the late Nathan Ledfield's mansion is to become a museum. Quill's faithful companion, the librarian, Polly Duncan, is off to Paris so Quill has to "batch it" and all seems to be going well until someone dies from a bee sting. And then Polly, writing from Paris, told Quill that she had accepted a three year contract to stay in Paris and Quill wondered if he had received a "Dear John" letter?  Braun's books really are delightful  and I know that this one will be no different!

Stay warm, watch your step if it gets slippery, indulge in King's Bar-B-Q's fabulous onion rings and ribs, keep exercising 'cause Spring IS coming, read a good mystery, be sure your fireplace is safe to have a fire in, and get your membership ticket for the new Live Onstage concert series beginning this Fall and be able to attend the last concert of THIS year as a bonus!   All of you are MY bonus and I appreciate you! Anyone baking cookies soon?  Any leftovers our staff will graciously help you get eaten!  Bye--take care!