Read in 2025 - 25: Murder on the Marshes

Murder on the Marshes

Clare Chase

The full title of this book reads "Murder on the Marhses: A completely unputdownable cozy mystery novel (A Tara Thorpe Mystery Book 1)".

You guessed it - it's one of the many free ebooks, first in a series, to get readers interested enough to buy the rest of the series. And you guessed it, too - I'm not going to buy the next instalments.

Not that there's anything wrong with the book, it just wasn't entirely my cup of tea. Also, I certainly didn't find it "cozy", and although I did want to find out what was going to happen next, it wasn't "completely unputdownable", either.

The story in short: An ambitious young professor is found murdered, shortly after she had received a rag doll with an anonymous note.

A young journalist (Tara Thorpe) is tasked with writing about the professor's life, and although she has had no previous contact with the murder victim, she has received an almost identical doll and anonymous note.

The journalist and the investigating detective are on opposite sides when it comes to finding out what happened before the other one does, but because of the death threat to Tara, the cases are connected and the detective has to protect the young woman as another potential victim.

Suspects for the professor's murder abound - she had as many admirers as she had rubbed people the wrong way. Was it a case of professional jealousy, a spurned lover taking revenge, or something else entirely? And where does the threat to Tara come in?

The setting is Oxford with its colleges and historic old streets, and although I have never been there myself, I found it well described.

Most of the characters were more or less credible, although some of the less important ones seemed rather black-and-white, not fully fleshed out. Also, sometimes Tara's actions weren't plausible to me as the actions of a young woman who has received a death threat (and not for the first time in her life).

But still, the story was gripping enough to make for an entertaining read; as usual with a 1st in a series, of course the reader knows that the main character is not going to die, even if it looks like it during the great showdown.

This wasn't my first read by Clare Chase; in 2024, I read another 1st in a series of hers. You can find that review as well as a link to the author's website here.

Last of September, First of October

Last week saw the transition from September to October, which to me means from early autumn into autumn proper, with little left to remind us of summer.

On Monday (29 September), I worked from home and as is often the case that day, went for a massage at the nearby Day Spa around lunch time. After work I went for a walk to Asperg and back via Eglosheim, catching what I could of the evening light.

Friendly cat I met along the way - even jumping on my knees for a cuddle!

It was another day working from home on Tuesday (30 September), and also the first time this season that my team and I were booked for the Pub Quiz at "our" Irish Pub. The quiz is held every Tuesday, but we rarely play more than once a month - it can be hard to get the group together, with everyone being busy one way or another.

I am pleased to tell you that we came 2nd, in spite of two who were supposed to join us dropping out only one or two hours before the quiz. Funnily enough, during the afternoon I reached a stage where I thought I might have to drop out, since a headache I had woken up with simply wouldn't budge, and I had a sneezing attack that left me quite exhausted. But I made it to the pub, and amazingly, amidst the noise and bustle I felt perfectly alright again. (I self-tested for Covid; negative.)

Wednesday (1st of October) was spent at the office in Weilimdorf. The day was sunny and beautiful, but chilly at only 6C/43F in the morning and 15C/59F by the time I left work. I got off the train in Kornwestheim and walked to my Mum's from there, which was really nice, as was the evening spent with her.

A foggy morning; 8:00 as seen from my kitchen window.

Between Kornwestheim and Ludwigsburg

It was even colder on Thursday (2nd October) morning at 4C/39F, but warmed up once again with the sun shining all day. It was perfect walking weather for my way home from the office, and even though I had an appointment at my place and needed to be back at a certain time, I got off the train at Zuffenhausen and walked from there.

Just about to reach Ludwigsburg.

The younger of the two brothers who co-own the house with me (I own the middle flat, the younger brother owns the attic flat, and the older brother owns the ground floor and basement flats) came to discuss a matter and have some documents he needs to copy. He is a very pleasant man, and it is nice talking to him - can't say the same about his older brother! 

The 3rd of October is a public holiday here, celebrating the reunion of East and West Germany, and so I didn't have to work on Friday.

Instead, I did my usual weekly cleaning and ironing in the morning, and then took three trains to Offenburg, where O.K. picked me up at the station. From there, he drove us directly to his sister's and her husband's, as we were invited there to celebrate the husband's birthday. The food was very nice (it always is with them!), as was seeing the family again; I had not been to O.K.'s since well before our recent holiday.

Saturday (4 October) was the warmest day of the week at close to 20C/68F, but it was very windy to the point of stormy, and rain was in the making.

We wisely went for a good walk of about 11.5 km in the morning, and indeed were caught in the rain during the last 15 minutes or so before reaching the cottage again. (We kept clear of the woods, not wanting to risk having any branches or entire trees fall on us with the storm.)

From the pictures you can tell that the sky was changing very rapidly, thanks to the strong wind:

neighbouring village

View of O.K.'s village

The afternoon was spent resting and reading, and later we enjoyed bread, cheese, salad and wine - usually our staple meal on a Friday night to ring in the weekend, but this week on a Saturday because of yesterday's birthday party.

The storm kept on, even bringing thunder and lightning while we were eating.

Another relaxed day followed on Sunday (5 October), mainly because it was raining on and off and still very windy, although not quite as stormy as the day before. Nonetheless, we were able to walk for almost an hour around the village before the rain drove us back to the cottage.

For our Sunday evening meal, we had leftover spudsalad from Friday's party.

Although it had been only a short working week of four days, the relaxing weekend was quite welcome.

A Weekend Home

This post covered the end of our September holiday as well as Friday, 26.09.2025. That leaves the weekend to write about.

Saturday (27.09.) was a day of clouds and sun. O.K. left for his home right after breakfast, to give him enough time to unpack, do the washing and all the other things one typically does between returning from a holiday and starting work again.

The family living in the attic flat above me have two children, and they were celebrating their birthday. Because they don't speak German very well and I don't speak Farsi, I still don't know whether the children really share the same birthday or they simply celebrate together. Anyway, I was invited to join them; the little girl turned 4 and the boy 9. I brought gifts for the kids and chocolate for everyone plus a little something for the mother. Two ladies and another little girl were the only other guests, which made their small living room full enough.

We had very nice spiced tea and a home-made cake, which was delicious.

Conversation was a bit stop-and-go because of our language difficulties, but we did get some information about each other across, and I have once again noticed the progress my neighbour has been making in learning German. 

She is 29 years old and came to Germany never having learned to read and write, and has since been on what she calls her "alphabet" course (learning to read and write) as well as learning German - certainly no mean feat, and I think she can be quite proud of herself about what she has achieved already. 

Her husband fully supports her; he is not the type of man who prefers to keep his wife away from the world, locked up at home with no access to people and books and so on.

She explained to me that once she has completed her course and is better at German, she wants to work; by then, she says, her little girl will be old enough to start school, allowing her to take up a part-time job.

This family is clearly trying to make Germany their home, a place where their children can grow up well, and they are willing to work hard for that.

Of the two other ladies present at the small birthday party, the older one spoke some German. She said to me: "In my country are the Taliban. I was not allowed school or work. It was very hard." She, too, is looking for work, but her limited German means she can only hope for a cleaning job or something similar. Still, that's better than nothing, and again here was someone who was prepared to  make a living for themselves and not depend on others.

Mid-afternoon I thanked my hostess for the tea and cake and left. Just as I had arrived in my flat downstairs, my sister texted, suggesting a walk. I had intended to go walking anway, and now I set off to my sister's.

We went to Kornwestheim in a wide loop across the fields and back, and I was home a bit more than two hours later after a much enjoyable walk.

On the fields between Ludwigsburg and Kornwestheim

Sunday (28.09.) was mostly spent getting ready for Monday. I did my ironing, blogged, played my favourite computer game for a while, and read.

Late afternoon/early evening I walked to Benningen, part of my "coming home" process. It was a grey and rather chilly day, but good walking weather nonetheless.

Waiting for the train back to Ludwigsburg some time before sunset.

My evening was quiet with watching "Wednesday" and reading, and of course O.K. and I spoke on the phone.

Read in 2025 - 24: Life Sentence

Life Sentence

A. K. Turner

Another paperback I found at the second-hand book sale at the church in town centre and took home for 2 €, it went on holiday with me and provided really good reading during some rainy afternoons and evenings at the hotel, before and after dinner.

It is the second book in a series about Cassie Raven, a young woman who works as a mortuary technician and takes her job seriously to the point of conducting her own under-the-radar investigation when she doubts the verdict on someone's cause of death.

Not having read the 1st book doesn't really matter; there are occasional references to it, but the story and characters can be understood very well without it.

In this book, the main case is not related to one of her "guests" (that's what Cassie calls the dead people she has to prepare for identification or viewing by their loved ones as well as for autopsies and funerals) at the mortuary, but about her own family.

She lost both her parents in a car accident when she was only four years old, and was raised by her maternal grandmother. Recently, her grandmother has suffered a stroke, and while it wasn't life threatening, it has left the elderly woman with the wish to come clear about what really happened when Cassie was four: Her father murdered her mother.

Now, 17 years later, he is out of prison and makes contact, claiming that he didn't do it.

Cassie is torn between wanting to believe him - it wouldn't change the fact that her Mum was murdered, but it would bring her Dad back, whom she remembers as loving, gentle and funny - and doubting his story. After all, her grandmother tells her that she suspected domestic violence and alcoholism in her daughter's marriage, and that she wasn't surprised when her son-in-law was convicted of the murder.

Nobody seems to be interested or willing to pick up the old case, and so Cassie sets out on her own to find the truth, ruffling more than one set of feathers along the way. 

At the same time, she handles several cases at work, finding clues to a different cause of death than what was first assumed, which in turn creates problems with her boss who is annoyed at her acting "above her station".

I really liked this book. Some detail can seem a bit gory, but nothing is unnecessarily drawn out, and it all serves the story's purpose. The overall impression of Cassie and her work is her very respectful dealing with each dead person and their loved ones, and I like the way she does not treat death as a taboo - it is all around us, after all, and shutting ourselves completely off it doesn't change that, it only makes it harder to accept this fact of life.

According to the book's first page, the author works also as a TV producer and writer of documentaries, and her character Cassie Raven was first introduced in two short stories on BBC Radio 4. Her website with more about her and her books is here.

September Holiday: Thursday, 25.09.2025

Our last day here was again chilly at a max of only 10 C and as rainy as the previous day.

Morning view from our room

Nonetheless, we started on another one of the walks suggested in the booklet we'd picked up at the tourist information, this time a short one of only about 2 hours. Of course, the time it took us to get from the hotel in Kues across the river to where the walk starts in Bernkastel added another half hour or so each way, and the chance to take some more photos on our last day.

It was obvious that a lot of rain had made the river's level rise.

The vineyards directly rising behind the houses of Bernkastel are called "Doctorberg", doctor's vineyard. There is a legend behind it, and for convenience, I have taken a photo of one of the information boards along the way that gives a short summary:

If you think steep slopes, think really steep - almost a sheer drop, and I truly wonder how the people who work those vineyards do it! Where do they even place their feet?! It's not possible to work there with machines, everything needs to be done by hand. No wonder this is one of the most expensive wine terroirs in the world!

We walked on as the rain changed from a slight drizzle to proper rain, but of course we were well equipped. 

Another mysterious gate leading to an abandoned garden.

Still, it was nice to reach the end of the walk and spend some time in a shop selling sparkling wine; we were able to taste three different ones and then made our purchase.

By that time, we were as good as dry, and at around 4:00 pm we were back at the hotel, having our customary quiet time before changing for our last dinner here.

The next morning after breakfast, we said good-bye, paid the bill and were on the road at 10:00 am; three hours later, O.K. pulled up in front of my house.

Unpacking and loading the washing machine was soon done, and then we walked into town for an errand, followed by an espresso at our favourite Italian coffee bar.

For the evening, we met my Mum and my sister at the Italian restaurant within easy walking distance from my Mum's. After a nice welcome-home meal, we went back to Mum's for a drink and chat before calling it a day.

September Holiday: Wednesday, 24.09.2025

At a max of 10 C and nearly constant rain, it was the perfect day to visit a museum, and we knew just which one we wanted to see: The Zylinderhaus, a cars and motors museum right here in Kues, about half an hour‘s walk away. (Clicking on the link takes you to the museum‘s website, also in English.)

Morning view from our room

Of course we were not the only holidaymakers who had that idea, but the museum is large enough and well organised to cope with a good number of people.

Now, most of you know that I am not a car person at all, and so you may wonder what my interest in that particular museum was. Well, it is about much more than cars and motorbikes; it is also about our recent past and how the availability of individual transport changed our society and culture forever. Last but not least, it is also about some of the people who made it all happen.

My favourite part of the museum was the ground floor. There, a whole row of shops is set up like a high street in a small town where you can walk past a clothes shop, apothecary, village shop, café, toy shop, kiosk with magazines and cigarettes, post office and more. Each and every one of those shops is lovingly put together, with wallpaper, lamps, doors and windows to match, and everything is original, down to the last detail. In short, it‘s like time travel, and although I wasn‘t around yet in the 1950s or earlier, I still saw lots of things I remember from my childhood and youth in the 70s and 80s.

Bleyle was a producer of knitware and other close just down the road from where I live!

My sister and I played with a miniature shop, too; ours was handmade by our granddad for his children when they were little, i.e. my Mum and my late uncle.

Our grandparents had an orange telephone, too, but without the German eagle!

And besides not being into cars, I do appreciate the style and design of classic cars and motor bikes. The ones presented on the two upper floors were all in excellent condition, some of them so rare that according to the information provided, they are the last known of their kind still existing.

Some come with personal stories of their owners and the journeys they undertook in that car. It was all well done and really interesting.

That would be my car!

I well remember police cars looking like that.

Before leaving, we browsed the shop but didn‘t buy anything. 

Back at the hotel, we had coffee in our room and then spent the rest of the afternoon resting and reading. For a change of scene, we didn‘t eat at the hotel but went to the restaurant about 10 minutes from the hotel, where we‘d been on Sunday evening.