June was much like May for those of us who are self-isolating and social distancing. Who would have thought 2020 would come in with its own language? I wonder if July will be any different. At this point, I doubt it.

        This summer is certainly different from previous ones with traditional events cancelled and anxiety shadowing outdoor activities. At least we have the usual summer flowers and weeds.

        I'm happy to stay mostly inside and am thankful every day that I have a pleasant home and porch and yard to self-isolate in; and I'm grateful to watch my collie, Layla, return to her former happy self. I hope the treatment is working. She won't be retested until March, 2021. I can't help wondering what the world will be like at that time.

        My next book,  In   the   Greenwoods   He   Was   Slain , will be released in December. I've completed the first edits and am currently working, albeit slowly, on  So Long at the Park.   This installment of my Foxglove Corners mystery series finds Jennet investigating what she refers to as an impossible-to-solve mystery. 

        A tricolor collie--black, tan, and white--disappears from an ex-pen at a crowded collie event, and another tri is left in her place, reminding Jennet of those stories about fairies stealing a human child and leaving a changeling in its place.

        Something else is going on here, though. Something sinister. And it has nothing to do with fairies.

        I've been fortunate to discover some new authors this month. I just finished  Wishwood  by E. B. Wheeler which was so good I immediately ordered another novel by this author,  The   Haunting   of   Springett   Hall  which I would describe as a ghost story with a difference. 

        A new sleuth, Harriet Gordon, makes her debut in a suspenseful, atmospheric novel titled  Singapore   Sapphire by  A. M. Stuart. Escaping to an exotic location and another time--the early nineteen hundreds--is a painless way to endure self-isolation. I'm looking forward to Harriet's next adventure,  Revenge   in   Rubies , but that won't be available until September.

        I also read  Devil   Days   in   Deadwood  by Ann Charles, an author who blends humor with horror, and I possibly finished the Mrs. Jeffries series. I'm hoping there's one I may have overlooked. Otherwise I have to wait till the next Emily Brightwell novel is released.

        I hope all of my readers find their own joy and peace in the summer. Stay safe, stay well, and remember: Better times are coming. (They have to be.)

 

Dorothy