Dave Lull's holiday selection

During my quiet phase over the holidays, Dave Lull has been his usual creatively active self. I have pretty much caught up with him now over at Librarian's Place. Many of the articles he has sent are worth more than simply putting up over there, but realistically, I don't have time to comment on them all. So let me instead urge you to go over there to look at the articles. Here are some of the highlights:

• A fascinating interview with the talented, unique author Clare Dudman, friend of Petrona and, of course, Keeper of the Snails.
• Mary Jackson's “Google-thwart” -- the realisation that you are not as clever as you thought you were, and that minds far greater than yours, and sometimes an embarrassingly large number of them, have got there first.
• A moving article by Prairiemary about Steve Solovich, her brother, survival and loss.
• Why so many detective stories are set in churches. (One answer is that they aren't, particularly, you can find tens or probably hundreds of detective stories in virtually any context you care to dream up.)

For all these and more, please visit Librarian's Place and partake of the feast of articles and links provided by our ever-vigilant OWL.

Comments

[Debra Hamel]

I've been wondering: is Librarian's Place meant to be sort of anonymous? Why is the librarian from Wisconsin? Is it just because of the acronym? Am I being dense?

[Maxine]

I've replied to Debra by email, but for anyone else who has similar questions, this is from Petrona "about" page:
"Librarian's place is a collection of articles sent to me by an omnipresent Wisconsin librarian, and a few others."

[Minx]

Happy New Year, Maxine!

[Maxine]

And to you Minx!

[Peter]

Your answer to "Why are so many mysteries set in churches?" -- One answer is they aren't -- is a good deal more clever than the original article, which was glib, vapid and thoroughly unsurprising. The author missed one obvious possibility: the mystery story's incubation in the English village. Set a story in a confined area where the most prominent buildings may be the church and the manor house, and it's no surprise that writers will set stories there. Pretty soon, the tradition becomes a habit.

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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

[Maxine]

Too right, Peter, as long as the village still has a church of course, which, increasingly, it won't have. I suppose according to the thesis of this article we can therefore look forward to a rash of "pub" mysteries, as that's the closest thing many villages have to a central meeting point (the village shop/post office being an endangered species also).

[Peter]

Hmm, do you have comment moderation enabled? I posted a reply to this, but it has not appeaterd.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

[Maxine]

No, comment moderation isn't enabled, Peter, so I am afraid your reply is lost in the e-aether. We are bereft.