Throwback Thursday - Footsie Toy

Do you remember the Footsie toy?  This little plastic hoop slid up (loosely) around your ankle.  There was a cord attached, with a little plastic bell shape at the end of the cord.  You would get the cord (and bell shaped attachment) going around and around, and hop each time it went toward your other foot.  In a way this worked like a little hula hoop.  It was a great playground fad in the late 1960's - early 1970's.  This simple toy provided lots of fun on the playground.   Anyone remember this?   I wonder if a version of this toy is still around?

Book Review - Birds of a Feather, a Maisie Dobbs Mystery by Jacqueline Winspear

Book Synopsis
An eventful year has passed for Maisie Dobbs. Since starting a one-woman private investigation agency in 1929 London, she now has a professional office in Fitzroy Square and an assistant, the happy-go-lucky Billy Beale. She has proven herself as a psychologist and investigator, and has even won over Detective Inspector Stratton of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad—an admirable achievement for a woman who worked her way from servant to scholar to sleuth, and who also served as a battlefield nurse in the Great War.

It’s now the early Spring of 1930. Stratton is investigating a murder case in Coulsden, while Maisie has been summoned to Dulwich to find a runaway heiress. The woman is the daughter of Joseph Waite, a wealthy self-made man who has lavished her with privilege but kept her in a gilded cage. His domineering ways have driven her off before, and now she’s bolted again.

My Review
A few years ago, my book discussion group read Maisie Dobbs.  I recall feeling that I was reading a newly written classic mystery, and wondered what future books in the series would be like.  I am delighted to say that Birds of a Feather is another exceptional mystery novel.

Maisie is a fascinating detective, with her background in both domestic service and as a World War I nurse.  Her instincts about people, places, and situations are so interesting to read.  I love the way she combines detecting and psychology. 


For instance, in Birds of a Feather, Maisie and her assistant, Billy Beale, are hired to find a missing heiress.  When they visit the heiress's home, Maisie draws the maid aside for an interview by open windows.  She has discovered that people are more open and talkative in an open place.  Then she subtly adapts the maid's speech and accent in order to establish more rapport.

Later, Maisie and Billy play act a scenario between the missing heiress, Charlotte, and her father, the exacting Mr. Waite.  They both had new impressions of the people involved after this exchange.

The Maisie Dobbs books are historical mysteries, and the period piece details are fascinating.  This novel is set in Spring 1930, so we get remembrances of World War I, of the 1920's, and the new decade ahead.

Maisie is one of the most interesting detectives in current fiction.  She is intelligent, intuitive, creative with thought and detection, and also warm and compassionate.

The mystery is nuanced, with well written characters and surprising twists.  

I cannot recommend both this book, Birds of a Feather, and the Maisie Dobbs series highly enough.  I will admit that I am already wishing that these books would be adapted for the PBS Masterpiece Mystery! series.  Mostly, though, I look forward to more Maisie Dobbs reads.      

Author Bio
Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Leaving Everything Most Loved, Elegy for Eddie, A Lesson in Secrets, The Mapping of Love and Death, Among the Mad, and An Incomplete Revenge, as well as four other national bestselling Maisie Dobbs novels. Her standalone novel, The Care and Management of Lies, was also a New York Times bestseller. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the Agatha, Alex, and Macavity awards for the first book in the series, Maisie Dobbs, which was also nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel and was a New York Times Notable Book. Originally from the United Kingdom, she now lives in California.

Find out more about Jacqueline at her website, www.jacquelinewinspear.com, and find her on Facebook.

I received this book from TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.

Wordless Wednesday - Blarney Castle, Vintage St. Patrick's Day Postcard

Found at Birdhouse Books

Book Spotlight and Giveaway - Shards of Murder by Cheryl Hollon

Book Synopsis

When a glass-making competition turns deadly, glass shop owner Savannah Webb must search for a window into a criminal’s mind…

As the new proprietor of Webb’s Glass Shop, Savannah has been appointed to fill her late father’s shoes as a judge for the Spinnaker Arts Festival, held in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. With her innovative glass works, the clear winner is Megan Loyola, a student of Savannah’s former mentor.

But when Megan doesn’t show up to accept her $25,000 award, rumors start flying. And when Savannah discovers the woman’s dead body on festival grounds, the police immediately suspect her of murder. To keep from appearing before a judge herself, Savannah sorts through the broken pieces of glass scattered around the victim for clues as to who took this killer competition too far…

Author Bio

Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass, and painted glass artworks. Visit her online at cherylhollon.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @CherylHollon.
https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.hollon

https://twitter.com/CherylHollon 

Purchase Links 
Amazon                 B&N              GoodReads             IndieBound

Giveaway

Two lucky winners will receive a print copy of Shards of Murder by Cheryl Hollon.  Giveaway ends 3/11.
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Did You Know Tuesday - Fun Facts About March

Pictured above:  "A Spike of Green" by Barbara Baker, with vintage children's book illustration by John Lawrence

March!  I love this month.  In my part of the world, March signals warmer weather on the way (usually by St. Patrick's Day), Spring, St. Patrick's Day (March 17) and Easter (either March or April, depending on the year).  Plus, my Mom's birthday is March 2!

Here are a few fun facts about March:

March was named for Mars, the god of war in Roman mythology.

The Old English word for March was Hlyda or Lide, a reference to high winds.

March is Women's History Month. 

The birth flower of March is the daffodil (one of my favorites - I love bulb flowers!).

The birthstone for March is the aquamarine.

This perfect quote from Emily Dickinson:  “March is the month of expectation, The things we do not know.” 

There is a saying, “March comes in a like a lion, and goes out like a lamb."  This means a month that starts with gentle weather may end with tumultuous weather, while a month that starts with tumultuous or winter weather may end with gentle, mild weather.

So, how did your March start - like a lion or a lamb?  Are you also a fan of this month?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments, below.