A day of rest...

Today's Blog/Website of the Day is a wonderful, gentle visit to Northern New England: Letters from a Hill Farm can be found at http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/. Books and recipes and nature ...

I'm currently reading DEATH OF A SQUIRE by Maureen Ash. This is 2nd of 3 in series featuring Bascot de Marins, a Templar Knight recovering from imprisonment in the holy lands, in the early 1200s, in England. Here is a description:

Templar Knight Bascot de Marins is spending time at Lincoln Castle with his young, mute servant, Gianni. He is still recovering from the torture he suffered at the hands of the Saracans during his years of captivity in the Holy Lands. King John and King William of Scotland are on their way to Lincoln Castle and everything must be perfect to receive them. The body of young Squire Hubert de Tournay is found hands bound and hung from a tree in the forest. The murder doesn't appear to have been done by poachers as the squire has not been stripped of his fine clothing or accessories. As castellan of Lincoln Castle, Lady Nicolaa de la Haye is responsible for the fife and ensuring peace within it, thus asking Bascot to uncover the killer. Young Squire Hubert de Tournay was possessed of a temperament only a mother could love, and it appears that only person grieving his death is his mother. In the autumn of 1200 A.D. in the county of Lincoln, his body is found hanging from a tree in Sherwood Forest and the gruesome murder incites a torrent of suspicion, falsehoods, and relief. Hubert couldn't keep his hands to himself and wasn't above using force or blackmail to coerce a maiden's compliance. Was his death a vengeance killing by peasants angry at the assault of one of their own? What about his fellow squires who hated him and might have secrets that Hubert would have been pleased to exploit? Or was his end perpetrated by one of the victims herself? A complex web of deceit and anger surrounds the death of the unsavory Hubert, and the inhabitants of Lincoln rely once again on Templar Knight Bascot de Marins to unravel the murder and dispel the pall of distrust that ensues.

It was published in 2008 and has 256 pages.

Seems to be a little overcast today. Steve mowed yesterday and has water going on the lawn. I have some clothes laundry to complete today. I don't think anything is really a "must do" so perhaps the day with otherwise be spent just enjoying it - a novel concept, eh? Well Sunday is a day of rest, is it not.

Steve watched the movie The Spirit last night. I tried to watch it but it was really pretty bad. Visually it was lovely; acting, story and directing were baaaaadd. I left 20-30 minutes into it because I just couldn't stand it anymore. I haven't gotten Steve's full assessment of it yet. I think he enjoyed the badness of it because I heard him chuckle a couple times before I abandoned him.

Tv tonight may include Food Network's Next TV Star or whatever that's called. Or Gene Simmon's Family Jewels. After dinner (whatever that will be) and so forth, I'll probably flop in the living room and read while Tug chews on something at my feet until he dozes off.

So I've been cruising around the Net this morning, reading email and so forth. Lots of mystery book reviews to check out -- a fairly good roundup can be found at http://www.sarahweinman.com/. I got sidetracked on Smart Bitches Trashy Books in a long discussion about the ugly reality of medieval life versus stuff not mentioned in romance novels. Lots of quite knowledgeable back and forth there. And I keep meaning to list more books on Paperback Swap so maybe I can get that accomplished today. One has high hopes... :)

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster