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One of the most distinctive and recognizable elements of Scottish culture is the wearing of clan tartans: displaying your individual family heritage with a specific plaid pattern. But people are often surprised to learn that this tradition is a relatively recent one, which came into its own in the Victorian era. Let’s take a look… Read more »

We are just a few weeks away from Myrtle’s big Scottish adventure! Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries Book 5, Myrtle, Means, and Opportunity comes out on October 24. Today we’re getting in the spirit with a collection of images of young Scots from the era. Enjoy! Myrtle and Miss Judson wear Clan MacEwen tartan on the cover… Read more »

In the US and Canada, the first Monday in September is Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer vacation (even if you’ve been back in school for weeks already). Acorns are falling, pumpkin spice is in the air, and we’re all looking forward to sweater season (even if it’s still 95 degrees out). But as… Read more »

You would have no reason to know this (and so you are forgiven for not sending a card), but today is Myrtle Hardcastle’s birthday! In addition to being her her actual calendar birthday, according to information in Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries #2, How to Get Away with Myrtle  (I suppose you do have a reason to… Read more »

In Cold-Blooded Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries #3), some of the action takes place at a local belltower—the Campanile—site of a mysterious vanishing years earlier. Like Myrtle, I happened to grow up in a college town with a Campanile, hearing the bells chime over the campus. But if you are not so lucky to have your own… Read more »

Dear friends and Readers, as the Victorian Christmas of 2021 draws nearer, I want to take this moment to send my thanks for the goodwill and holiday cheer we here in Myrtle’s world have felt from all corners of the globe this year. This has been a year beyond what I could have imagined when… Read more »

*Christmas is the summer of the soul in December —The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)* Charles Dickens might not have written those splendid words that songwriter Paul Williams put in his characters’ mouths almost 150 years later. But Dickens would undoubtedly have appreciated the sentiment in this and the more than 100 other versions of his… Read more »

Huzzah! Dear Readers, I am so excited to share some good news that’s come our way. *Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries Book 3, **Cold-Blooded Myrtle, *has been named to two (2!) Very Exciting Lists! First up, the *Wall Street Journal* featured *Cold-Blooded Myrtle* in their *annual holiday gift guide*: *“Younger Holmes fans (and older ones too) should… Read more »

Have you started your holiday baking yet? If not, you’re already behind! With Chanukah and Advent both beginning yesterday, and American Thanksgiving last week, the Holiday Treat Season is in full swing! Let’s have a look at how our 19th century forbears celebrated in the kitchen. In *Cold-Blooded Myrtle*, you’ll find that Myrtle (not to… Read more »

This is an exciting, delightful, and unexpected surprise (as opposed to all the surprises that *are* expected…?): Last week I learned that *Verlag Knesebeck*, German publisher of the *Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries,* is releasing Book 2, *How to Get Away with Myrtle*, this coming April. And along with that, they have a beautiful new cover to… Read more »