Having first come to the Nithsdale parish of Kirkmahoe in 1997, it’s a joy to still be getting to know people around here with extraordinary interests, passions and talents. Barbara Mearns is one such person. We live just a couple of miles apart but until this year we had only met a few times, althoughContinue reading “Staying in one place: an interview with the naturalist Barbara Mearns”
Category Archives: Nithsdale
Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 12: The Advent of New Ways of Being
Whilst Andrew nurses a bad cold, Anne-Marie and Caitlin are Christmas shopping, and Michael is discovering a new-found enthusiasm for things culinary. Meanwhile the art robbers are awaiting sentence following their guilty plea and DC Harris makes arrangements for the safe return of the stolen goods. On the night of the Winter Solstice, The MaxwellContinue reading “Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 12: The Advent of New Ways of Being”
The unreliable narrator: a Christmas mystery story
In writing not one, but two previous Christmas mysteries, I have come to be regarded as something of an ‘unreliable narrator’. One who misleads and beguiles the reader in order to gain advantage. Apparently, it’s a trope much loved by writers, but I have to say it’s not one I care for. After all, I’mContinue reading “The unreliable narrator: a Christmas mystery story”
Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 11: Further Revelations
Andrew, Michael and Anne-Marie are taken on an extraordinary day out by DC Harris. The amateur sleuths are getting a measure of fame and recognition for their efforts, whilst the accused are now behind bars and expected to put in a guilty plea. Esme and Michael’s divorce is also passing through the legal process, but relationsContinue reading “Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 11: Further Revelations”
Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 10: The Fall
The arrival of Autumn sees all our main characters engaged in enjoyable tasks and projects – picking apples, stacking firewood, making a woodland labyrinth, singing in a choir. Anne-Marie even makes a surprisingly successful Sunday visit to her mother. Andrew is also waiting to hear about the outcome of his phone call from the WigtownContinue reading “Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 10: The Fall”
Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 9: Closing In
News breaks of two further robberies, this time in Kircudbright, apparently back in July. Harris shows Andrew a series of images of two campervanners and sailors, taken over the last few months. It’s now clear these are the thieves, but the police are nowhere nearer to catching them. Michael, Esme and the girls seem toContinue reading “Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 9: Closing In”
Quotidian 