Putting the World in Order

Our first year in business has been 3 parts chaos and 12 parts disorder. This past week has been a particular struggle. There was the perpetual balancing of the books (don't ask), the monthly art district meeting (why do they always get to the good parts when I have to leave?), the meeting with the district 6 police liaison and Steve Lujan of Kreative Kitchens and Baths (no, nothing solved), the phone calls with Nancy Missbach about the altered books project (is it really going to get off the ground?), and the endless battle for customers (online orders up, walk-ins down).

No wonder I've been hiding my head in mystery novels. I just want a little order. As P. D. James said, "...the detective story is about...not murder but the restoration of order."

I dug into Allana Martin's Death of an Evangelista yesterday. The first line lassoed me by the neck and pulled me in. Priests, proselytizers, pet bobcats and Cadillac Charlies people the pages. If I get done writing this before close, you can bet I'll be tucking into another chapter.

Dolores Johnson's Buttons & Foes was the mystery I finished yesterday morning. Because Johnson will be visiting the Whodunnit Club in October, I wanted to read the one Mandy Dyer mystery we had in the store. The territory was familiar. Johnson's Mandy Dyer is a dry cleaner from Cherry Creek. Her city is my city. I know her streets, her roadblocks. Heck, I might even know the killer...

I finished reading up to chapter 16 in Ruth Rendell's Sins of the Fathers on Friday. (It's the Whodunnit Club's August selection.) I'm not sure I care or can guess who killed old lady Primero. (I'm thinking Inspector Wexford had it right in the first place.) But Archery and his moral dilemmas made it all worth the read.

If you're interested in Death of an Evangelista, we have an ex-library copy. I haven't taken the time to list it and probably won't take the time. You'll have to pick it up at the store. If you want me to hold it for you, call us at 303-572-2260.

Buttons and Foes is listed online. Dolores Johnson will lead the Whodunnit Club through Taking the Wrap on October 28. I should have copies of that in a week or two.

We are sold out of Ruth Rendell's Sins of the Fathers. I'd sell you my copy, but it's on loan from the Fort Collins library.

If you'd like to put your world in order, give us a call at 303-572-2260. We'll put you on the Whodunnit Club mailing list. The club's next meeting is August 26 at 4:30