Read in 2024 - 19: A Clock Stopped Dead

A Clock Stopped Dead

by J.M. Hall

In the summer of 2022, I came across the first book in this delightful series about three retired primary school teachers in Yorkshire who solve crimes mainly by discussing them over coffee and cake at the Thirsk Garden Center café.

You can find my review of that book here and the second one here.

This year, I knew about the 3rd book through a newsletter I regularly receive from The Little Ripon Bookshop, where the author has been not only to read from his latest work but also supports the shop as a customer, if I remember the newsletter correctly.

Usually, such events happen well before or after my annual stay in Ripon, but one day I hope I'll be able to make it to one.

Anyway, back to the book:

Of course I bought "A Clock Stopped Dead" at the bookshop this summer, and finished it a week or so ago.

Meeting the three main characters Liz, Pat and Thelma again was nice, and I did enjoy the book. But maybe I enjoyed it a little less than the previous two stories. This time, there is a lot of sadness not only in the actual crime(s) but there are also worries in the homelife of each of the friends.

This time, one of their former colleagues has an unsettling experience, bordering on the paranormal, at a very strange charity shop that seems to have vanished into thin air. But then, this former colleague has always been a bit odd herself... on the other hand, there is a very real death that may or may not be related.

A lot happens in the book: There is a "ghost hunt" experience where everyone wants their money back, an amateur play group are working hard to put a successful play on stage, a house that could hold important clues is for sale, and much more.

On the home front, one of the husbands has a complete change of career, one of the grown-up children moves back in, and one of the ladies has a hard time accepting her upcoming 60th birthday.

It is hard to describe, but the overall feeling I got from the story was that of a bleak and cold place. For our three, things end as well as can be expected. And of course I am going to be the next one, too; I really like the set-up and can relate to a lot of what these ladies, not much older than myself, are going through (although I am still many years away from retirement).

If any of you have read this one, I'd like to learn what you thought of it, especially compared to the first too.

First Week of September

Here in my part of Germany, the first week of September was still very warm. Apart from the light and some other signs, it felt more like summer than approaching autumn. 

All during the week, I took very few photos - there weren't that many occasions for it, or rather I wasn't inclined to take many.

In between working from home, on Monday (02.09.2024) I took a train to Stuttgart and went to my quarterly eye check-up. Everything was fine; in fact, my doctor said that the inner-eye pressure had never been so good. She encouraged me to continue the treatment we have started a while ago, with two different drops to be taken every morning, and one every night. 

For those lucky ones among you who have perfect eyesight or are otherwise unaware of such things, the pressure inside the eye is a determining factor for the optical nerve's condition. 

With my extreme shortsightedness, a hereditary condition I have been living with for as long as I can remember, especially in my left eye the optical nerve has not been "good" in decades. It needs careful monitoring, and an increase in pressue is to be avoided. I was very glad when my doctor told me that the new combination of drops is showing good results.

As almost always, I was early for my appointment and stopped at a church on the way to the surgery. I have showed you pictures of the outside of St. Fidelis before (click here for the 2018 post), but on that Monday I had enough time to venture inside.

And I am glad I did - it really is a beautiful and rather unusual church, only about 100 years old. The organ in particular struck me as something I have never seen before; it was renovated in the 1960s.

Angels outside St. Fidelis

The bright and airy inside

The organ is decorated unlike any church I have seen before.

Nearby Hoppenlau cemetery looked rather autumnal that day.

The weather was all over the place from rain in the morning to sun and clouds, at a high of 27C/80F.

On Tuesday and Wednesday (03./04.09.2024) I worked at the office. Tuesday was warmer than expected; on my way home from Zuffenhausen across the sunlit fields, I did enjoy the 2 hours of walking, but every little breeze was welcome at 28C/82F.

It rained both in the morning and evening on Wednesday, making for a combination of fresh and at the same time humid air. My sister and I met at our Mum's after work and enjoyed her home-baked Zwiebelkuchen ("onion cake" which is a specialty here, especially at this time of year; it is not a sweet cake but savoury and more like a pie).

Sunset last Wednesday

Once the early morning mist lifted on Thursday (05.09.2024), the sun warmed the day to 28C/82 F again. I worked from home and walked to Benningen afterwards, something I always enjoy.

The first autumn crocus I have spotted this season!

It was finally cooler, allowing for better sleep during the night, and still cool at 16C/60F on Friday (06.09.2024) morning. By mid-afternoon, it was warm again at 26C/79F; not an unusual range of temperature this time of year.

After work, I took the trains to Offenburg; my usual connection wasn't running but I still made it by 8:00 pm, when O.K. picked me up at the station.

We had a delicious meal of couscous and ratatouille at the cottage before joining the neighbours for a neighbourhood street party around the stone fountain on the small square in "our" part of the village.

Thankfully, this year the party didn't continue in our next door neighbour's garden until 4:00 in the morning, but ended at 1:30 - still less sleep than we'd have liked, but we did at least catch some. (This neighbour's garden goes right up to the bedroom window of O.K.'s cottage with only a wooden fence between the two properties, and when people are in the garden, it can feel as if they were sitting and talking right in our bedroom.)

We left before 10:00 on Saturday (07.09.2024) morning for the small and picturesque town of Zell am Harmersbach, where O.K. had an appointment at the optician's. I went along, reading magazines until it was time to help choose a new frame for his glasses. (And I had fun trying on some frames myself, just to make silly faces.)

It was lunch time when we finished, and we had something to eat at a café before strolling back to the car, stopping along the way to buy icecreams - very welcome at 29C/84F.

At 6:00 pm, we were expected in the vicarage garden: It was 100 years ago to the day - almost to the hour! - that the village band was founded, and the occasion was marked for the musicians and their families with a BBQ. Many were still on holiday, though, and so it was a relatively small gathering, but nice to sit and chat with the others.

Sunday was very different from the rest of the week: It rained intermittently nearly all day and was chilly at only 18C/64F. We didn't do much; even a walk we attempted late afternoon was cut short when rain set in once again.

But we met mid-afternoon at O.K.'s Mum's with his sister and her husband for coffee and delicious home-baked apple pie, which was nice.

A cosy evening with a meal of grilled cheese and salad plus watching a documentary about the Dolomites with great mountain views ended this first week of September for us.

Last Week of August

The last week of August had a definite "end of summer" feel for me, even though from Wednesday onwards the days were hot again and the nights weren't cool enough to get good sleep.

Monday (26.08.2024) was off to a sunny, but chilly start - only 10C/50F, colder than what it had been in many months. I was glad that the train was on time and I didn't have a long wait on the cold platform in Offenburg.

After work, I went to my Mum's. For her birthday, she had chosen a chest of drawers to fit better in her bedroom than the old one. My sister bought it with her from the big IKEA just outside Ludwigsburg, we shared the cost, and I offered to set it up. 

Maybe I am one of the few people who actually enjoy working through the instructions, starting by unpacking and laying everything out, then counting all the parts to make sure nothing is missing. When I turned 40 (16 1/2 years ago), I bought new bedroom furniture as a present to myself, and set it all up on my own, with the exception of the wardrobe - those parts were simply too big and heavy for me to hold them up while putting the screws in etc., so I needed an extra pair of hands there.

I really enjoyed doing that back then, and have had occasion to put the odd bit of furniture together since. Now I had a chance to get my teeth into another piece!

My Mum's bedroom is on the attic floor of her flat, and it was really, really warm up there - I was literally dripping sweat all over the instruction booklet. But apart from that, everything was fine; no parts were missing, and the instructions were clear and easy to follow.

Still, it took a long time, and shortly before 9:00 pm, I had enough and called it a day, to return on the Friday.

For most of Tuesday (27.08.2024) I worked from home, but mid-afternoon I took a train into Stuttgart to attend a work-related event. Afterwards, I walked from there to Nordbahnhof, repeating the walk I had taken here, only this time the park looked rather different with the spring flowers all gone and the golden light of a late summer early evening instead of an April day.

The day was warmer than Monday but not yet hot (26C/79F).

Wednesday (28.08.2024) was an uneventful day at the office with a wide range of temperature: 15C/59F in the morning and 30C/86F in the afternoon. I didn't feel like an after-work walk; it was too hot for comfortable walking. Also, I had enjoyed the walk on Tuesday and was fine with a walk-less day in between.

It kept getting warmer; by Thursday (29.08.2024), the thermometer showed 18C/64F in the morning and then a high of 32C/89F.

Working from home meant I was able to meet a friend for lunch;both the food and the conversation were very good. 

My Mum had her second cataract operation in the morning; everything went fine and she was back home a few hours later. 

It was too hot for a proper walk, but there was still a bit of daylight left after the main news on TV, and so I went for a stroll around the neighbourhood. It was a good time to meet cats - several were out and about, clearly having spent the hottest part of the day somewhere else. Only one talked to me, though, and allowed me to stroke her.

Friday (30.08.2024) was the hottest day of the week at 33C/91F. I would have liked to finish the chest of drawers at my Mum's in the relative coolness of the morning, but it wasn't possible due to work.

Therefore, once again I spent a sweaty few hours upstairs at my Mum's and was really glad to put the finishing touches at the chest of drawers, followed by passing the hoover round. (Before I started, I had coffee with my Mum and her friend who had come up from her ground floor flat for a chat, and to look after her after the eye operation.)

Sunset that day, as seen from my Third Room

O.K. and I spent the weekend separately; on the Saturday (31.08.2024), he was busy playing with the village band at a wedding of two band members, and I went on a trip down memory lane with two friends from Librarian School.

It was a lovely day, albeit a bit hot for all the walking that we did; especially the steep uphill bits took their toll at 30C/86F. Good job we wore sun hats, stuck to the shade as much as possible, walked no faster than what felt comfortable, and made sure to drink plenty of water.

We started with a sumptuous breakfast at 10:30 in Hirsau, where we used to go for coffee & cake many times. A short walk along the river took us into the town of Calw, where we went to Librarian School and lived at the hospital's dorm for nurses from 1986 to 1988.

Bridge across the river Nagold in Hirsau

Café in Hirsau (formerly Café Essig, now Gugelhupf)

Of course we revisited all our old places - the dorm, our school, the shops and cafés we remembered. A lot in Calw is still familiar, but the town has also changed a lot, mostly for the better. There really wasn't much there for young people back in the 1980s - we were 18 years old when we started. Now, one is spoilt for choice in terms of shops and places for going out.

Dorm in Calw; my room was on the first floor above the entrance, the third from the left here.

Calw market square

Calw

Calw

It definitely was a day for ice cream!

I went to Librarian School here in Calw-Wimberg from 1986 to 1988.

I was back home a bit before 6:00 pm after what had been a good day of time-travel and of course catching up with my friends; they both live about an hour's drive from me, and we don't get to see each other often.

Sunday was here, and the 1st of September! Another hot and sunny day, just right to stay indoors and do my taxes... Like cleaning my windows, this is one of the few jobs I postpone until the last possible moment, and then when I tackle them, I have to admit that they aren't really that horrible, and I finish quicker than expected.

It was the first time that I had to do my taxes with two employers to consider, but it was less complicated than I had feared, with most of the data already automatically transferred by my employers - all done in a couple of hours.

After a bite to eat and a little rest, I walked to my sister's and spent the rest of the afternoon in her garden, reading in the shade of the big old trees.

Black Forest Hike

This is the continuation of my previous post about the week from August 19 to 24. Do not continue reading if you are bored by pictures of trees and paths, and more paths and more trees, the odd rock thrown in, and blue skies with white fluffy clouds.

On Sunday (25.08.2024), the day was forecast to be no hotter than 24C/75F, dry and mostly sunny - very good for a hike in the woods, where even the uphill bits were going to be manageable in the shade of the trees.

For several years, O.K. and I had made it a kind tradition to visit the Moosturm at the start of a year, a viewing tower on top of Mooskopf, a hill in the Black Forest a short drive from O.K.'s village. The first time I went there with him was in 2016, and you can find my post about that hike here. Several repeats followed, usually around New Year's Day. The last time we've been was in 2022; click here for that post.

We both felt it was time to go there again, and at around lunch time, we left the car park designated for walkers, hikers and cyclists, and set off towards the Moos.

After the first bit on a wide and well-trodden lane, a narrow path followed, all of it uphill, much of it covered in tree roots and rocks. Of course we were wearing our hiking boots - I wouldn't want to walk such a path in just regular sneakers/trainers.

A more open landscape followed, with beautiful late-summer wildflowers and shrubs creating quite a jungle:

You can see how high the flowers have grown - and this is the official path, signposted and all!

The climb had me puffing and panting as always, but the views at the top were as rewarding as always:

Almost there!

We rested on a bench at the bottom of the tower, had our sandwiches and then climbed the tower. The views from there were beautiful, too:

Back down we went, walking to the Lothar memorial next. I have written about that memorial a few times on my blog, for instance here.

Looking back at Moosturm

I can still spot the tower in the distance.

Here it is, not far from the tower, and a popular spot for walkers and cyclists alike.

We moved on, slowly but surely making our way down the wooded hills and back to the car park, with a brief stop for a cold shandy at the "Friends of Nature" hut which was open and doing brisk business.

Close to the car park

Arriving at the car, O.K.'s watch showed that we had covered 13.8 km.

The picturesque town of Gengenbach is not far from there, and O.K. suggested we have ice creams and a stroll, both of which we enjoyed:

Gengenbach Town Hall, used as an Advent Calendar in December, as it has 24 windows.

Back at the cottage, we set up chairs and a table in the courtyard in front of the house where the shade made it pleasant to sit, almost cool after a while.

Some of you weren't familiar with Merguez when I mentioned this type of sausage on my blog a while ago. It originates from North Africa, as does Harissa, the spicy red paste eaten with it. You need VERY little of that unless you wish to spit fire afterwards. Here is my plate of Merguez, bread, tomato with basil and a small dollop of Harissa.

It had been the kind of Sunday I love - sleeping in, then a hike, a stroll in a picturesque place, ice cream and then a good meal.