Pieces of the Whole
What are all these boxes for, you ask? Don’t worry, we’re not moving. Mama’s gotten used to where we are and she knows you have, too. Just a bunch of boxes that need to be broken down. Except the one you’re sitting on…hmmm…I wonder what’s in there?
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Image credits: Cesar Cat © Belinda O; Paws in Heart © Bigstock; Spring Cats © solodkayamari–stock.adobe.com
I recently read–and thoroughly enjoyed–the latest book from Maeve Maddox, one of the members of my writing group. I wanted to share it with you:
Amateur flutist and English teacher Sallie Dunbar has had all she can take of her tedious, penny-pinching, small-town existence. At the end of a very bad, awful day, she decides to shake up her life by splurging on a six-day music convention in 1980s London.
None of the people she meets—the James Garner look-alike on the plane, the flute salesman who looks like Omar Sharif, the creepy, ubiquitous waiter, the friendly couple from Chicago—are what they seem.
Even Tacet, the Jack Russell terrier, has a secret.
Armed only with her familiarity with adolescent angst and a mental store of literary and movie trivia, Sallie must avoid becoming one more fatality in a deadly seventy-year quest to possess the fabulous Fabergé Flute.
Maeve Maddox’s cozy mystery, The Fabergé Flute, is based in part upon her own experiences as an English teacher, amateur flutist, and Anglophile.
She spent seven years of what she calls her “misspent youth” in London, where she taught at a private tutorial school for girls, saw as many plays as she could, and studied for a degree in English from the University of London.
After returning home to Hot Springs, Arkansas with her degree, Maeve taught English and French at local schools and joined the Hot Springs Flute Ensemble. She even flew back to London one year to attend a flute convention, although it was nothing like the harrowing OWFI gathering depicted in The Fabergé Flute.
Dog-lovers, flute-players, bookworms, movie buffs, public school teachers and cozy mystery addicts will all find something of interest in the story of the put-upon English teacher from DeSoto Springs, Arkansas.
From The Fabergé Flute:
Thoughts whirling, Sallie took her place with a group of people she thought were waiting for the light to change, but as they surged forward, she realized that she was at a bus stop. As the huge red hulk of a Number Nine hurtled towards the curb, she felt the pressure of a hand at the small of her back and found herself being propelled forward into the street. For the first time, she noticed that red London buses have black fenders and that one of them was inches from her face.
As the black fender rushed towards her, Sallie’s main emotion was one of chagrin, knowing that if she were killed, Mother would say she’d told her so.
Amazon review from Jackie Flowers, founder and director of the Hot Springs (Arkansas) Flute Ensemble:
5.0 out of 5 stars The description of an instrumental convention are so accurate that it was like being there
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2018
Fabulous book! A plot twister to the end! A must for flute players and mystery lovers. The description of an instrumental convention are so accurate that it was like being there. The details were so authentic! This author is quite knowledgeable on flutes of all kinds and English literature and was very clever in how the two were intermingled. Loved the dog antics, so characteristic of that breed. Great characters were developed and it was a shame to leave some of them when the book was over. I loved the ending. I do hope that there is a sequel. If you are a flute player, or know one, this book is a MUST and would be a great gift.
The Fabergé Flute is available in both print and digital copies.
Amazon link:
Barnes And Noble link:
Mimi likes to watch over me as I work…but even she is glad it’s Caturday!
Image Credits: Cesar Cat © Belinda O; Paws in Heart © Bigstock; Everyday is Caturday © azza–stock.adobe.com
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Once, many years ago, before cell phones but after we all got answering machines with caller ID, someone dialed my number by mistake. I don’t remember the details exactly, but the gist of it was some man who’d planned to meet his buddy couldn’t make it and wanted to reschedule. Good Samaritan that I was, when I heard the message an hour or so later, I called back the number that popped up on the caller ID to let the guy know he’d dialed the wrong number.
Problem was, he didn’t answer. A woman, presumably his wife, did. I explained the reason for my call, but fumbled when my kind gesture was met by stony silence. After repeating myself several times (why, oh why did I do that?), I hung up.
Obviously, she didn’t buy the he-dialed-the-wrong-number bit.
Since that time, I’ve left well enough alone when someone calls me by mistake. It doesn’t happen too often, but a few days ago I received a message from a man who was quite anxious to talk to his friend. Not in a frightening way, like he was incredibly angry or, worse yet, suicidal, but clearly this conversation was important to him. Still, I didn’t call back. Phone safety is a tricky thing and I only talk to people I know.
An episode of Frasier dealt with this issue of helping strangers in its usual comic way some twenty years ago or so, only Frasier ended up in the police station, busted for solicitation of a female impersonator. Of course the show didn’t end there and Frasier ended up continuing with his practice of kindness to strangers.
As do I. One suspicious wife isn’t going to stop me from helping others. However, now that I’m older and wiser, I do put my own safety first. It doesn’t mean I couldn’t be hoodwinked by someone who knows X number of people will help a child in need, but I take care. It’s sad to me that most of us are cautious when it comes to helping those we don’t know, but that’s the way it is.
For now, anyway.
Image credits: People helping people © Bro Vector–stock.adobe.com; Retro telephone © siraanamwong–stock.adobe.com
Inspired by friend Lois’ post of her beloved cat Teemu, here’s Walter, sound asleep in his most trusting pose. He’s resting in the chair he and his sister Mimi have claimed as their own. We don’t rule over cats, they rule over us!!
Image credit: Cesar cat © Belinda O, Paws in Heart © Bigstock.
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