Green Boogers and Bunny Rabbits!

I just found my way to the stopping point in the next Whodunit Club selection -- Linda Berry's Death and the Easter Bunny. I want to keep reading, but I know I shouldn't. Owning Miss Prothero's Books doesn't give me the right to violate the club rules. As a way of crossing my fingers and keeping the book shut, I'm writing this entry. Linda Berry's first Trudy Roundtree mystery is stumping me. Who killed Reed and set his house on fire? I think I can eliminate Miss Sarah...unless the retired teacher is harboring some psychotic past that Berry hasn't even hinted at. Ditto for Hen and Phil Pittman. Vivi, Reed's ex-wife is a strong possibility, but did she really thump her old beau with a golf club just to get a stuffed green bunny rabbit? All the Dawsons are suspect, even that rotten little Danny. Oh, well. I'll just have to wait until the next club meeting (June 1) to find out. Linda Berry will be coming to help us puzzle it out. It's going to be fun. You can still join us. Read through Chapter 20 and come to the meeting with your whodunit theories. Call the store at 303-572-2260 if you need a copy of the book.

Linda Berry will be at Miss Prothero's on June 1 at 4:30!

The Bulldog of God

The Whodunnit Club had its mystery dinner, and a good time was had by all...I think. Colleen Bryan, who played murderer Jean Leapfrog, was very good at obfuscating and turning the table. Junior Detective Scooter Scoff, played by me, would never get a confession out of her. Hank "Hillie" Snitzen (Patrick Caldwell) had a fine, oily accent. Who couldn't he manipulate with such mellifluousness? Beth Neva had the part of the alcoholic bookkeeper Cindy Grimes down pat. She also had a major clue which she played with perfect timing.

But my hands-down favorite was Ellen Cahill. She played Sister Ellen Akunin. She called herself the Bulldog of God and shook her fists at the skies. Ellen not only obfuscated, she embroidered and embellished. She brought my little monster of a drama to life.

If I write another mystery dinner, I shall limit the number of red herrings, try not to complicate the characters so badly, and, of course, I'll have to invite Ellen. Where would I be without the Bulldog of God?

It's Okay to Kibitz

The whodunit club is having its first (and perhaps annual) murder mystery dinner on the 18th. All of the roles have been taken, but you're welcome to come kibitz. We will enforce some rules. You will be seen and not heard. If you want to kibitz out loud, you'll have to bribe one of the main characters...except Detective Scooter Scoff. Not only is Scoff above bribery, she knows who dun it and is unwilling to hear any of your harebrained ideas. You don't want Scoff to scoff at you, do you?

I'm not sure how this dinner will work out, but it should be fun. Everyone is under suspicion. Everyone will be pointing a finger at everyone else. Here's the basic outline of the murder, along with a list of suspects.

On 11/4/07

Pete Pedarewsky, a local alcoholic and panhandler, is found dead outside the door of Miss Prothero's Books. Pete is face-up on the pavement. His body is cold, very cold. A heavy, but fragile scrapbook is open on his chest. The scrapbook seems to be rather old. The leather binding is flaking. The pages and the newsprint inside are yellowed. Some of the pages seem to have been torn away. Jean Leapfrog claims the book is the 57th scrapbook of Sam Howe. Pedarewsky’s head is at an odd angle and there is bruising on his left cheek and temple. A broken bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 is found beneath Pete's lower back. The staining under his body is a mixture of blood, booze, and something crystalline. One of the nearby parking signs on Santa Fe has been plowed over and there are black marks on the sign. Pete has teeth marks on his ankle. The bookstore door is open. It's been a windy week in Denver, so it is impossible to tell what nature may have disturbed and what man/woman may have disturbed. Several of the dog books have been torn apart and have teeth marks on them. Hank "Hillie" Snitzen found the body. Snitzen came to the store early on the 4th to meet with Miss Prothero about some “personal matters”. He had bits of yellowed paper sticking out from his suit coat pockets. He told the police he was just picking up the trash on the way to the store. The police cannot locate Miss Prothero. The police are also unable to locate Bob the Boy Student. (Bob lives above the bookstore.) Bob's white poodle Charley is also missing.

On 11/18/07

The police have taken down the crime scene tape and have returned the bookstore to its owners. Emily Washington, former sole proprietor of the bookstore, has declared that nothing is missing...except for Miss Prothero and Bob the boy student. (Charley the white poodle turned up three days ago at a posh gallery down the street. The dog was foaming at the mouth and vicious. The dog growled at the gallery owner who then squeaked, jumped in the air, and shot the dog. "The dog was mad," the owner stated, "simply mad!") A group of concerned customers and owners are meeting at the bookstore to consider suspicions and options. Detective Scooter Scoff has joined the group to ask an occasional question, observe mannerisms and hand out a clue or two. In the course of the evening, the murder will be solved, bad deeds will be punished, the innocent will be exonerated, and the deadly plot will be put to bed. The group meeting at the store includes:

Emily Washington -- Fifty something and hot in high heels.

Jean Leapfrog -- She says she's a rare book dealer, but could she be a world-class wrestler?

Sister Ellen Akunin -- Fifty something and hot in a habit.

Cindy Grimes -- Is she a bookkeeper or a bookie?

D. A. Dogleash -- Did she train poodles or Pete?

Susan Rendell -- A career politician and a damn fine reason for term limits.

Hank "Hillie" Snitzen -- Could he be the heir of Nate Badenova?

If you do want to kibitz, call the store (303-572-2260). A complete description of each suspect should help.

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

Murder, Mayhem, and the Meaning of Life

Miss Prothero's Whodunnit Club met last Sunday. They are a wise lot -- Dorisann, Susan, Jeanne, Patrick, Colleen, and Ellen. A whodunnit rarely gives them pause. But there were bits and pieces of Tony Hillerman's The Fallen Man that had them scratching their heads. Patrick was leading the discussion. He had picked the stopping place (chapter 24) and was sitting on his heels while we puzzled it out. We almost had it right -- Eldon Demott played a big part. Just as we were concluding, one comment stuck in my head. Someone (Ellen, I think) said she was surprised at Joe Leaphorn, how he wasn't all that interested in justice. Well, no...we all rejoined. He's interested in harmony. When the universe falls apart, he is there to put it back together.

Leaphorn is the perfect detective, a reason why many of us read Hillerman and why many of us enjoy whodunnits. There is murder and mayhem. The world has spun inexplicably out of control and here comes someone like Leaphorn to explain it all and to put the planet back on its axis.

If you're interested in joining the Whodunnit Club, call the store at 303-572-2260. We'll let you know the next meeting date and the next stopping place. If you're not a joiner and just want a whodunnit all your own, you're welcome to peruse our online inventory or stop by the store to browse.

Speaking of whodunnits and perfect detectives...Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born on this day in 1859. Happy Birthday, Dear Sir!

-NW