Catriona McPherson's 2016 Reading Challenge

Catriona McPherson is here today to talk about how she did on her 2016 reading challenge to celebrate the release of her latest in the Dandy Gilver series. Over the years, Catriona has been a frequent guest here on Mystery Playground from telling how to make Bloody Scottish drinks or telling stories out of school about secret beds. Don't forget to check out her giveaway at the end of the post. 

It’s lovely to be back at Mystery Playground. Thanks for having me.

I think this is the first time I've swung from your monkey bars at this time of year , as we all say "Welp, there goes another one” so it seems fitting to take a look back at the year in books. 

Yolo County (yes, really) Libraries issue a reading challenge every year. I think it's for kids, judging by the fact that the books along the bottom include Black Beauty (never read it) and The Secret Garden (love it with a burning passion). But there’s no reason adults can't play along.

Here’s my final-ish score card.

I read dozens of books published this year, but I've picked out A Kind of Justice by Renee James. It's the story of a transgender Chicago hairstylist, Bobbi Logan, who's in the frame for the murder of a transphobic attacker. It's set in 2008 and while Bobbi tries to stay out jail she's also trying to save her business and her home as the great recession begins to chew up everything in its path.  It's a brilliant look at the recent past as well as a gripping tale and a heroine you want for your BFF from page 1.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is my finish in a day. In fact, I finished it in a bath. It was the most perfect reading experience of the year. I left the madness of the Harrogate Crimewriting Festival, drove to an idyllic B&B in the Yorkshire countryside, bought this gorgeous edition of Albee’s script in a gloriously disordered second-hand bookshop I passed on a long walk, and read it lying in a huge bubblebath, with a cup of tea and more shortbread than was strictly necessary.

I’ve been meaning to read Dickens for three years now. It was my resolution last year and I blew it. This year I finally broke my Dickens’ duck, and did it deliberately with Martin Chuzzlewit. No one ever recommends poor old Chuzzles and I reckoned if I could get through one of his less stellar works, I could probably go on and read the lot. All I can say is if this is Dickens phoning it in, I give up in a huff.

The Man on The Washing Machine by Sue Cox was recommended by my local bookseller if you'll let me argue that Don & Jen Longmuir of Scene of the Crime's books (Ontario) are local to me (California) because they’re at Malice and Left Coast and Bouchercon most years AND that they "recommended" it by putting it face up on the table. What I’m saying is that “Oooh, pretty” is a perfectly legitimate way to choose books and this is a great jacket.

Another great jacket belongs to Doorway to Murder by Carol Pouliot and I'm claiming it as the book I should have read in school, because it's about time travel and, if I was the king of everything, time-travel would be real. I love it. Cannot resist a time-travel tale. That’s why even though I had promised myself I'd say no to all blurb requests before my head exploded, I couldn't resist this one.

No fudging for the next item. Well, that’s not true. The book chosen for me by a spouse … BFF is Sarah Hilary’s Someone Elses's Skin and it was chosen for me by Erin Mitchell, the BFF of all mystery writers and readers when you get right down to it. I stand by my modifications.

Excellent Women was published before I was born, by the excellent woman Barbara Pym. I'm reading it right now as I slog to the bitter end of the work in progress, because it’s a. not a mystery b. hilarious and c. as soothing as an afternoon in a hammock on an island. If you like Jane Austen for her waspishness rather than the bonnets, Pym might well be your afternoon in a hammock too.

I got myself in a tangle trying to work out if reading an ARC and then being given the final book afterwards was reading a book I already owned or not. But in either case, Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon is a good'un. 

It took me a while to fudge the category of book that intimidates me. I’m too much of a philistine to be intimidated instead of just bored by most intimidating boring books. But Martin Edwards' terrific The Golden Age fits the bill in the best possible way. I can sit and make things up till the sun goes down, but Martin researched and assembled and checked and re-checked and then made readable decades of history about dozens of writers, their books and their lives. I take my hat off to him (and I recommend this as a present for any mystery fan).

Two categories are a complete bust. I didn't read any banned books or any I'd previously abandoned. Ulysses could scoop both categories I started it today, because that’s a banned book I abandoned with, well, abandon once before. I considered it, but my philistinism rode to the rescue and I abandoned the plan. 

As for the final item on the checklist?

I don't think I've read a book I’ve already read before, but this week I’m launching (in the US) a book I’ve already launched before (in the UK). The Reek of Red Herrings (Dandy Gilver No. 9) hits the bookshops tomorrow. Today is the last chance to take part in a pre-order gift and giveaway I’ve been running. If you order the book by midnight tonight, I will send you a free short story set in Dandy’s house at Christmas time and I’ll enter your name in a draw to receive a bundle of all eleven books in the series. Details are here.

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading, everyone.

Come on back tomorrow to read our review of Catriona's new book, The Reek of the Red Herrings. 

Book Shelf Themed Table Runner

Trina Devanney is here to show us how to sew a bookshelf autograph quilt. The book “spines” can hold your favorite author’s signatures or maybe the autographs of each of your book club friends.  

My not so secret hobby is quilting. Life can be very hectic and to calm down, I love the rhythmic sound of the sewing machine.  Of course, I am a great fan of mysteries.  What better way to combine both of these loves than to make a bookshelf autograph quilt. 

You can make this by hand, but it is much quicker on a machine. I like to start a quilt project with a sketch. The original inspiration for this quilt came from Dru Ann Love of Dru's Book Musing. She made a very lovely bookshelf quilt.  I decided to add a little a Mardi Gras mask to my version in honor of Bouchercon 2016 which was held in New Orleans. While, I was not able to make it to Bouchercon this year, I made a few of these quilts for my attending SleuthSisters.   

Pic 2

Materials

Sewing Machine

Fabric

Rotary Cutter

Ruler

Pins (optional)

Thread

Batting

Steam a Seam

Iron

Coffee Filters

The quilt consists of three panels. The two outer panels have of different widths and lengths of books standing on end and tucked into a bookshelf. The middle panel has a few books lying on their sides with a Mardi Gras mask appliquéd to the top of the stack of books.  

Step 1: Cut Fabric

Books come in all different colors, lengths and widths. “Books” in a bookshelf quilt do as well. Choose a consistent neutral fabric to act as the background of the book shelf. I chose a cream color, but you can choose any color you like. This quilt will be used for autographs so most of the fabrics for the books will be light in color.  (There are a few darker fabrics for a bit of color texture.)

Step 2: Sewing the Book Block (light fabrics)

In this project, the colored fabric can be cut to any height (for example, 4, 5, 7 or 9 inches) and any width (for example 1, 2 or 3 inches).  Sew each colored piece to the same width piece of neutral color using a quarter inch seam (1/4” seam). This will make the Book Block.  In this project the overall Book Block height was 12 inches. Sew as many of these blocks together to create a panel.  You could create the entire quilt using this method. 

Step 3: Sewing Dark Book Blocks 

While the entire quilt can be made using lighter colored fabrics, adding a couple of dark fabrics for a little contrast could be fun. As you can see above, you will use the same method of cutting various widths and heights of fabric.  Once you cut your dark fabric, sew a light piece of fabric in between two darker pieces (this is called a “rail fence unit”).  Then add a “cap” of dark fabric to the top and bottom of the rail fence unit to create the dark book. 

Finally add enough of the light fabric to the top to make a Book Block of 12 inches. Now you can use these blocks the same way as the light colored Book Blocks to create a panel.

  

Step 4: The Tilted Book

While a complete fantasy in my bookshelves, often people have enough room on their shelves to allow a couple of books to lean or tilt against another book.  This block is a easier than it looks. Simply cut your colored fabric as instructed above.  Then sew a few inches of neutral fabric to all sides.  

This block is all about the cutting.  Angle the tilted block until the tip is against a tall book block. Place your ruler on a straight up and down line with the right tilted corner and cut off the remaining neutral fabric. (only the tip of the colored fabric should be on the cutting line – the rest of the fabric to cut will be neutral).  Select your width for the overall block size and cut the other side of the block to match. (In the picture above, the colored fabric was 1 ½ inches wide. The overall block size was 3 inches wide. – once the tilted side was cut, I measured three inches and cut the other side along a parallel line.) Then simply trim the top and bottom to create a 12 inch tilted book block. 

You now know how to make all of the books in the two outer panels. You can make your outer panels as short or as long as you like.  My overall project will be about 40 inches long so I made each panel about 12-13 inches in length.  

Step 5: The Stack of Books

  

The stack of books in the middle panel are made the same way as the rest of the books with the exception that some of the 12-inch book block units will have neutral fabric to both the top and bottom of the block. Sew a few of these book blocks to create a stack. Next, sew on enough of the neutral fabric to the top of the stack to create a 12-inch panel unit.  Voila, your stack of books.  

It is very important throughout this entire project to iron between steps. (I personally hate to iron, but the project will not turn out well if you don’t). 

Step 6: The Appliquéd Mask

The mask was a lot of fun to create. Draw a mask (or any other item you would like to see on a stack of books – a coffee cup, a cat, flowers, a lamp, etc) on regular paper and cut it out.  This is now your template for the appliqué. Since Bouchercon was in New Orleans in 2016 and this project was headed to Bouchercon for autographs, I wanted some traditional Mardi Gras type colors for the mask.  Sew your selected colored fabric together any way you like. The more haphazard the better. (this method of sewing fabrics together is called crazy quilting). 

Iron on Steam a Seam to the back side of your “crazy quilt unit”. Use a pencil to trace your paper template pattern onto the paper backing of the Steam a Seam and cut out the mask shape. (Do not remove the paper backing until you are ready to iron it onto the top of your stack of books – Steam a Seam is a type of iron on glue). 

Once you have your mask, peel off the paper backing and iron onto the stack of books as shown above. The final step to this panel is to sew down the mask.  The Steam a Seam will keep the mask in place, but unless you sew down the edges, over time, it will fray. You can sew the mask down in any manner you like.  Personally, I like to do a light embroidery around the appliquéd item.  

It is very important to use a stabilizer when doing any kind of embroidery. This will prevent stitch puckering.  An old quilter’s hack is to use coffee filters as the stabilizer. The filters will tear away from the stitching when you are finished with the embroidery.  

Once your middle panel is complete, sew it in between the two outer panels.  You will want to add a border fabric around all of the panels.  I used a two-inch wide brown fabric that looked a little like wood to give the project more of a bookshelf feel. 

Step 7: Quilting

After your three panels are sewn together and you have added your border fabric, press the project well. The sewn panels are called your quilt top. It is now time to quilt your project.  You will need to have quilt batting and a backing fabric. Sandwich the batting between the quilt top and the backing fabric.  The batting and backing fabrics should be several inches larger than the quilt top on all sides. If you have a walking foot, you can quilt the project quickly. (I don’t like my walking foot and like the rhythm of quilting.) If you have the ability to do so, use an open toe foot, drop your feed dogs, hold on tight to your sandwiched materials and try your hand at free motion quilting.  

Once you have secured your project in several places, either by stitching in straight lines or by stippling or other design work you are ready to finish your project.  

I’m not sure what it is about cats and quilts, but they seem to go together. This is Boo Boo Kitty. She watched my project progress. 

Step 8: Binding your Bookshelf

Binding is a tricky thing. Binding is a way of covering or hiding the raw edges of your quilt so that the batting inside the quilt will not fray. It is also used as a frame around your project. An easy way to bind a quilt is to use the backing material, fold it over on top of the edges of the quilt top and sew it down.  Unfortunately for this project, I picked border and backing fabrics that did not complement each other. I needed to add a different kind of binding. You can always purchase rolls of binding at your local craft store, but it is fairly easy (although, a little time consuming) to make your own. Select your fabric and cut 2 ½ inch wide  strips on the bias. Sew the strips together. Fold wrong sides of the fabric together and iron well.

Sew the raw edge of the binding fabric to the top of quilt as shown in the picture. (The corners are a little tricky.) When you are around ¼ of an inch from a corner, stop sewing. Fold the binding fabric upward to create a diagonal fold. Then bring the fabric back down onto of the fold and continue sewing the binding on the next side. Do this for all sides. When you bring your binding back to the starting point, overlap the binding a bit. This will prevent any holes in your binding.  

The next step is to flip over your quilt and bring the folded edge of the binding to the backside of your quilt. The neatest way of finishing your project is to hand sew the binding to the back of the fabric.  I sewed mine with the machine but tried to be very careful to sew within the binding. 

You’re done, now you have a bookshelf autograph quilt.  As you can see in the pictures below, you can make the entire three-panel project, or just one of the panels. 

Crafty Thursdays: Bookish Pillows

Kerry Hammond is back with another wonderful craft. Now she's making pocket pillows with all sorts of wonderful bookish fabric. It's of medium difficulty so we're going to give it three Sherlocks in our difficulty scale...

Today’s craft is somewhere in the middle of the difficulty range. If you know how to operate a sewing machine, it’s one of the simplest things you can make. I made this pocket pillow cover in less than 20 minutes, including measuring and cutting the fabric. You can use any material, but I suggest a pattern front and solid back.

Materials & Tools:

Sewing Machine

Fabric

Thread

Scissors

Pins

Pillow Form

Step One: Cutting your Fabric

The size of the fabric you need depends on the size of your pillow form. The pillow shown is 16 x 16 inches. So I cut my top fabric (the book print) 17 x 17 inches to allow for a seam. The back fabric (solid) is cut into two pieces, to make the envelope overlap. I cut mine each 17 x 12 inches.

Step Two: Iron back Panels 

For each back panel, fold over ¼ inch one of the long edges (the 17 inch wide one) and iron in place. Then fold over another ¼ inch and iron again. Pin this in place. Repeat with other back panel.

Step Three: Sew Each Back Panel

Sew each of the areas you folded over and ironed. Stitch right down the center of your pinned area.

Step Four: Sew Back to Front

Place your front panel face up on your table. Place one back panel face down (right side to right side) lining up the unfinished edges on top, with your sewn side in the middle. Place second back panel over the first, also right side down, lining up the unfinished edges on the bottom, with the sewn side in the middle. The sewn edges of the back panels should overlap. Pin in place. Sew around the entire outer square using ½ inch seam.

Step Five: Turn and Stuff

Turn pillowcase right side out and stuff your pillow form inside. 

You can make any size pillow, you just have to adjust your measurements to fit the pillow you’re using. Here it is in Poe fabric...

Whodunit?

Kerry Hammond has been playing games again but she's back at the Playground to share her latest find with us. 

I love mystery board games and I check out every toy section of every thrift store I enter. I don’t find games as often as I find mystery puzzles, but I have been known to come across a gem or two. One of my most recent gems is the Whodunit Mystery Detective Game. The game is from 1985 and published by Selchow & Righter Company. It can be played by 2-6 players, ages 8 to adult.  

Here is the description on the box:

A suspenseful mystery game for super sleuths. Players snoop through an elegant mansion searching for clues that will identify suspects to the crime. Each player tries to outsmart his opponents and be the first to discover “Whodunit.” But if a player falsely accuses an opponent he must leave the mansion. At the end, the player with all the correct clues solves the crime and is declared the winner.

Love the art on the box!

Ok, so you had me at “snoop,” but you really had me at “elegant mansion.” In the spirit of the game Clue, your playing piece is able to wander around different rooms of the fictional country estate located in the fictional town of Brimfield. The owner, who has been found murdered, was Lord Edward Peter Percival Pembrook. There were 10 occupants in the mansion at the time of the murder, including the butler, the maid, and several mysterious houseguests. 

At the start of the game, each player chooses a detective card, which is that player’s new identity. There are six different detectives available to investigate the murder. As players learn different characteristics of the murderer, murder weapon, and scene of the crime, he or she is able to record the information on a Detective Sheet. Players can be questioned when another player draws a “pursue alibis” card, or when a player’s pawn lands on their space. 

In order to win the game, you must uncover the why, where, what and who. In other words, the motive, scene of the crime, murder weapon, and guilty suspect. It is a fun game and a great addition to my mystery board game collection.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter for all of the updates: @mysteryplaygrou

The World's Largest Mystery Convention: #Bouchercon

I just got back from the world's mystery convention, Bouchercon. As usual, we overestimated what we would be able to cover in real time, but here are some of my favorite happenings at the convention.

Jonathan Del Arco, Kathe Mazur and Kendall Sherwood

One of the biggest highlights for me was the visit from the head writer of TNT's Major Crimes, James Duff. He brought Jonathan Del Arco (Dr. Morales), Kathe Mazur (DDA Hobbs), Detective Mike Berchem (writer and advisor to the show), Adam Belanoff (writer), Kendall Sherwood (writer) and Damani Johnson (writer). Major Crimes returns on November 24th and we'll have more on what we learned later this week. 

Another highlight was the surveillance workshop by RT Lawton. This was a practical session where first former DEA agent Lawton tells you how to tail someone and then you are assigned to a group and an author who has volunteered to be tailed. You have to try to tail that individual without being identified as tailing them. This is much harder than it looks on TV and everyone in our group thought we'd be much better at it than we actually were. We weren't identified, but mostly because we lost the mark early... I guess we'll have to keep practicing. Thank you to author Cathi Stoler, who was my partner in tailing. 

It was great to see my fellow Mystery Playground authors, Kim and Kerry Hammond. 

Love catching up with old friends Laura K Curtis, Clare Toohey and Terrie Farley Moran plus meeting new friends Lisa Alber, Shawn Reilly and Judy Bobalik. 

Laura K Curtis moderating the Four Funerals and A Disappearance panel

A big thank you to all my fellow Bcon 2014 committee members - Ingrid Willis, Sue Carpenter, Karen Ringer, Janet Rudolph, Robin Berry and Tammy Kaehler. I love my Murder on the Beach award.

Long Beach - what a beautiful place to hold a convention!

Hanging with Martha Stewart

                     

I had a chance to hear Martha Stewart speak in person last week about why she wrote her now classic first book, Entertaining, and what's important in being an entrepreneur. While the subjects are not entirely germane to the usual Mystery Playground fare, it is interesting enough to share. I will apologize in advance for the quality of the video. 

Martha was interviewed on-stage by E! News anchor and Fashion Police co-star, Guiliana Rancic. 

Here's what Martha has to say about the most important thing for any entrepreneur to do and how writing a great non-fiction book makes you can expert in other people's eyes...

Here's the story behind Martha Stewart Living Magazine...

In this clip, Martha talks about how she stays inspired...

You can see the entire interview here. 

Literary Costumes

We're taking a break from Drinks with Reads today so Kerry Hammond can tell us all how to whip together a last minute literary themed Halloween costume. Happy Haunting! 

As sad as it is, it’s generally frowned upon for adults to dress up in costume and walk the streets. But Halloween is that one time of year when it’s encouraged. Why not take advantage of the season and come up with a fun, yet literary costume idea. You can dress as your favorite author, or better yet, a character from a book. Here are just a few ideas for those looking for a literary Halloween. I found quite a few costume ideas and accessories for purchase (at prices that won’t break the bank) on Candy Apple Costumes. You can also get great ideas from the site and hit your local thrift stores to create the look by yourself.

Sherlock Holmes is always a recognizable costume. You can find a pipe and magnifying glass from any costume shop. Pair it with a cape and deerstalker hat and you’re good to go. If you’ve got a friend, he or she can go as Watson. We all know from watching Elementary that Watson works as a Joan, not just a John.

If you’re a fan of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are a lot of costumes you can find to dress in the style of the Roaring 20s. Girls can go as flappers and call themselves Daisy Buchanan. Guys just need a suit and fedora and viola, you’ve got Jay Gatsby. Call everyone around you “Old Sport” and you’ll be a hit. I found some neat and inexpensive accessories for these costumes on Candy Apple: cigarette holder for the ladies and shoulder holsters with toy guns for the guys. 

If you want to go more fun and juvenile, there are some great Where’s Waldo and Where’s Wenda costumes at Target online. You can create these on your own by finding a red and white striped shirt and socks, and any black glasses from a costume shop. A hat with pom-pom ball is really a must, though, to pull it all together.

Lastly, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are always a favorite of mine. My husband and I attended a murder mystery dinner one year and costumes were encouraged. I found the clothing and most accessories at a local goodwill, found the cane and bowler hat at a costume shop, and purchased the pince nez and lapel pin on Ebay. Hercule won the best costume award.

Poirot's Apartment

It's Agatha Christie week and this time we are venturing into the physical world of Poirot. The Agatha Christie Website has a wonderful panoramic video on their website showing details of Poirot's apartment from the BBC/Masterpiece Mystery! Show, Poirot, starring David Suchet. Once you reach their site, you click on the little bullseyes on the screen to reach the virtual adjoining rooms. Little mustaches lead you to details, like Poirot's pocket watch stored in a drawer. It's great fun. 


And before you go, don't forget to enter our Agatha Christie giveaway...

Geography Puzzles

My friend Pat introduced me to these online geography puzzles from National Geographic. You can race against the clock to improve your puzzle skills while boning up on geography at the same time. I have to warn you, they can be a bit addicting. My favorite is the one of Africa.