Ramblings And What Not ~ Woe is me!

Hello Peoples! I have been sick for eight days! It is early in the morning. I’m drinking a cuppa hot tea and honey. I am SO very tired of hot tea and honey. When this evil disease is gone, I won’t be drinking tea for a long time. Been to the doctor twice, there isn’t much they can do ~ it’s virile. So, I suffer. 🙂  Whilst I suffer, I sleep, cough, then sleep, then cough. I start to feel better, then I relapse, then I feel better, then I relapse. It’s a miserable existence. *ahem* Rick is bearing up well whilst I suffer. How canst that be??? I think he should suffer with me! *haha*

Your favorites at the cottage in March ~

March 6, 2019 ~ Giveaway Time, Mrs. Jeffries Delivers the Goods by Emily Brightwell

March 29, 2019 ~ Classic Movie Friday!, Live A Little (1948) Robert Cummings, Hedy Lamarr

Favorite Read in March ~

Lending a Paw by Laurie Cass

A Bookmobile Cat Mystery

Word of the Month ~

putrefy  🙂 

Much love ~

Kathy

 

 

 

 

Advertisement

Classic Movie Friday!

Let’s Live A Little (1948)

Robert Cummings   Hedy Lamarr   Anna Sten

Robert Shayne   Mary Treen   Norma Varden

This is one crazy film!  🙂  I never thought I’d see Hedy Lamarr in a comedy, but here she is! Now! Let me see if I can get this straight. Duke Crawford (Robert Cummings) is an overworked advertising executive. The poor guy meets himself coming and going! Michele Bennett is (Anna Sten) his former fiancé. She wants him bad! She is pursuing him and that woman has tricks up her sleeve! She doesn’t give up easily. She’s in the perfume business and he wants her to sign a contract for his advertising agency. She won’t sign unless he marries her. Poor Duke is running from his former fiancé. His newest client, Dr. J. O. Loring (Hedy Lamarr) is a psychiatrist and has written a book. Of course, when the over worked Duke goes to meet the doctor, he doesn’t realize she is a woman ~ until he meets her! Oh no! Another woman!!! He doesn’t seem to want another woman in his life. He can’t sleep. He’s hearing things! Is he going crazy??? My my my. I recommend it!

I’m not sure I knew who Robert Cummings was until I saw this film. That’s him, in the photo, on the newspaper Hedy Lamarr is holding in the above image. He’s a funny guy.  🙂

Enjoy!

Another Giveaway! Death Waits in the Dark

Hello Peoples! Berkley Prime Crime is giving away one copy of Death Waits in the Dark by Julia Buckley. This is the fourth book in the, Writer’s Apprentice Mystery.

If you would like to be included in the drawing to win this cozy mystery, just leave a comment below informing me you would like to be entered. I will then enter your name in the drawing. The winner will be announced on this blog, along with my review, Wednesday, April 3, 2019.

This giveaway is for U.S.A. residents only. You must have a valid U.S.A. address to win.

Happy Reading!

Much love ~

Kathy

Giveaway! An Artless Demise

Hello Peoples! Berkley Prime Crime is giving away one copy of, An Artless Demise by Anna Lee Huber. The cover art is beautiful!

If you would like a chance to win this mystery, just leave a comment below, informing me you would like your name to be entered in the drawing. I will then enter you in the giveaway. Rick will draw the winner. He’s very good at it.  🙂

This giveaway is for U.S.A. residents only. You must have a valid U.S.A. address to win.

I will announce the winner on this blog, along with my review of the book, on Tuesday, April 2, 2019. Don’t be shy!  🙂

Much Love ~

Kathy

 

Hello Peoples! I’ve been sick for twenty-four hours. I went to the doctor today and she told me it’s virile. I need to tough it out. So miserable. I’m going back to bed. Will return when I feel better. Have a great Monday.

Much love ~

Kathy

Classic Movie Friday!

The Brasher Doubloon (1947)

George Montgomery   Nancy Guild   Florence Bates

Mrs. Elizabeth Murdoch (Florence Bates) hires Philip Marlowe (George Montgomery) when she discovers a valuable coin, the brasher doubloon, has been stolen from her home. Mrs. Murdoch is a domineering woman with a nefarious son. Her secretary, Merle (Nancy Guild) is accused of killing Mrs. Murdoch’s husband, a few years earlier, And! the secretary can’t handle being touched. As Marlowe investigates he discovers three dead bodies and soon learns he is being used for blackmail.

Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe is a hard-boiled, tough exterior, anti-hero, however, Montgomery, in my humble opinion, didn’t fit that description. Marlowe in The Brasher Doubloon, was a flirt and there were an unlimited supply of innuendoes. *ahem* I personally like Humphrey Bogart as Philip Marlowe (The Big Sleep, 1946). Without a doubt, I thought, Bogart personified the hard-boiled, tough exterior private investigator.

Enjoy!

A Test of Wills by Charles Todd

Charles Todd is the pen name for a mother/son writing duo. This team writes The Bess Crawford Mysteries, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. Bess Crawford is a battlefield nurse during World War l and she solves mysteries. In the last Bess Crawford, the war ended. With the ending of said war, I don’t know what Charles Todd is going to do with Bess Crawford, so I decided it was a good time to start reading The Ian Rutledge Mysteries.

In A Test of Wills, Inspector Ian Rutledge has returned from France, shell shocked, with a voice in his head. Rutledge is investigating the death of Colonel Harris. He was murdered. His body discovered in a meadow. According to the inhabitants of the community, Colonel Harris was a perfect person. He didn’t have enemies. Everyone liked him. He was just a real nice guy. Mmmm. The Colonel’s ward was soon to marry Captain Mark Wilson. With the death of the Colonel, the wedding is to be postponed. As the result of an argument the night before AND! more than one person clearly seeing the Captain in the meadow, near the time of the Colonel’s death, the Captain is a suspect. The community insists the Captain is innocent and they are convinced Mavers murdered the Colonel. Inspector Rutledge, to save his sanity, is determined to work through this difficult mystery and solve it. And he did! I thought this mystery was intriguing and at times creepy. At times, I thought the community knew who the killer was and joined together to hide his or her identity. I was very suspicious of the Captain and the Colonel’s ward. I thought they were in cahoots together, however, I didn’t know what they were cahooting about. There seemed to be so many suspicious characters. It kept me interested. I did not see the ending coming. It was a complete surprise. Good mystery!  4 **** stars! I will continue reading this series.  🙂

I highly recommend the Bess Crawford Mysteries.

Ramblings And What Not ~

Hello Peoples! Friday, March 15th was my birthday! YAY! It was a good day. Rick and I went out for an early breakfast. I would rather go out for breakfast than any other meal, so, breakfast it was. The restaurants fill up fast for breakfast, so we went early. After our meal, we zipped on over to the bookstore. During the course of the day, I got many text messages and e-mails, all wishing me a Happy Birthday. I got birthday cards. Later in the day, I visited my favorite bakery for a hot chocolate and a good read. Well, I wasn’t going to tell the employees at the bakery it was my birthday. I didn’t want a big fuss. However, the girl who was working the computer was asking me so many specific questions about my day, I found it necessary to tell her it was my birthday. She shrieked, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! The owner heard her and he wished me a happy birthday. Some random guy across the room wished me a happy birthday, etc. The owner gave me a FREE large hot chocolate!!! I thanked him profusely.  🙂  He said, it was my birthday chocolate! So good! I got flowers from an anonymous person??? The flowers are lovely and a helium balloon is attached.

The card says, “I hope you have a nice Birthday!! You are short. Just an FYI.” I laughed when I read it. I don’t know who sent the flowers, but I have an idea. Yes, I am short!  🙂

In the evening, someone gave me a fairy garden!!! Birthdays are fun.

photo credit: unsplash

Our temperatures are warming up. It rained hard a few days ago and with the melting snow, we flooded. It was bad. There was water everywhere. The roads were blocked off and it was tricky getting around the water. During the night, the temperatures dropped and all that water froze! So, we had frozen water in the streets. The storm has passed and we are recovering. It was so nice yesterday I walked home from the bakery. It was so good to be out in the fresh air.

Favorite word ~

flabbergasted

Much love ~

Kathy

Classic Movie Friday!

 

Pushover (1954)

Fred MacMurray   Kim Novak   Dorothy Malone

Philip Carey   E. G. Marshall

Lone McLane (Kim Novak) is the girlfriend of a bank robber. Her boyfriend and his partner stole $210,000 from a bank and the boyfriend killed a man during the heist. After the robbery Lone’s boyfriend disappears. So, Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) and Rick McCallister (Philip Carey) stake out Lone’s apartment hoping her boyfriend will contact her and they can arrest him. Paul and Lone meet and fall in love. Lone presents Paul with an idea to steal the stolen money and get as far away as possible. After some struggle within himself, he agrees and the two think of and carry out a plan. Ann Stewart (Dorothy Malone) is Lone’s neighbor and stumbles into the nefarious plan Lone and Paul have concocted. As such, she becomes a witness. While Rick McCallister and their boss (E. G. Marshall) are trying to puzzle out why the stake isn’t going as planned ~ the stake out and the plan to steal the money are both rapidly unraveling, Ann is in danger.

Really good noir! This was the first time I’d seen Kim Novak in a film.

Good story! Good acting! Good night scenes! Highly recommend.

Mrs. Jeffries Delivers the Goods by Emily Brightwell

“A member of the house staff is attending a ball at the Wrexley hotel when panic hits the dance floor. The entire party looks on as Stephen Bremmer goes into spasms while seated at the head table. It doesn’t take long for a doctor to deduce that the man has been poisoned.” ~ Berkley Prime Crime

Stephen is a rotten bounder and no one liked him. Everyone seemed to have a motive for murder, which made for a challenging mystery to solve.

Mrs. Jeffries and friends are ready for a new investigation. And! There were indicators in the story that pointed to the killer, but I didn’t solve the mystery. After I finished the book and thought about the story, I had an ah ha moment. As Inspector Witherspoon and Constable Barnes interview witnesses and potential suspects, Mrs. Jeffries and the household along with their dependable contacts in the community, conduct their own investigation. Mrs. Jeffries has a great network of informed citizens!

4 **** interesting stars!

A BIG thanks to Berkley Prime Crime!

Announcing the winner of the drawing ~  🙂  

Laurie at ~

http://www.cozynookbks.wordpress.com

Congratulations Laurie!