I love a mystery!

Gone but not forgotten: My daughter Sheila called me from Southern California recently just crushed by the passing of author Sue Grafton (1940-1917). She has been an avid fan of the alphabet series and was waiting for the conclusion with the letter Z. “I will always wonder how it would have ended,” she said.

Grafton started writing at the age of 18 but not always with success. She turned to writing screen plays for television movies. It was through her experience as a screenwriter that she developed the skills that would lead her back to writing fiction.

Sue got the idea to write a series novel by using the alphabet after reading a children book. She started making a list of all the crime-related words she knew, ie: A is for Alibi, B is for Burglar, C is for Corpse, etc. Her protagonist is the hard boiled former Santa Teresa police officer turned private-eye “Kinsey Millhone.” She was considered the most popular female detective in the 1980s, often competing with Sarah Paretsky's, V.J. Warshawski.

Santa Teresa is the fictitious name for Santa Barbara, California. It lies between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. The coastline and sunsets are magnificent. As the sun sets, the rolling hills and the mountains to the east cast shadows that lend a bit of mystique to its surroundings. I can see why Grafton chose this setting for her series.

An author's story, protagonist and characters are a part of his or her imagination. The author alone is its creator and no one can replace that, try as they may. According to her family, Sue would never allow a ghost writer to write in her name. The alphabet will end in Y.

P.D. James (1920-2014) also known as Baroness James of Holland Park, was a well-known English crime writer. Like Grafton, James wrote in a series featuring police commander and poet “Adam Dalgliesh” of New Scottland Yard. Miss James worked in government service for several years.

Many of her novels include the criminal justice system and U.K. Bureaucracies. Several of her novels were adapted for television and could be seen in the U.S. on PBS.

“Death Comes to Pemberley” (2011) was considered James's last novel, however, four of her best Christmas stories (written for newspapers and magazines) were collected and published in 2016 titled “The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories.”

Sue Grafton and P.D. James share a place of honor in our library.

Happy reading mystery lovers!

Upcoming events

Refreshing the Whodunit: Saturday, May 12, 10:30 a.m. “A Cold Day For Murder” by Dana Stabenow.

Monday Night Book Club: Monday, May 14, 7:30 p.m. “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck.

Book Focus Group: Wednesday, May 16, 4:30 p.m. “In Defense of Women” by H.L. Mencken. Community Room.

Memorial Weekend Plant Sale: Saturday, May 26, 9 a.m. to noon, Library Lawn. Rain or shine.

Friday Story Hour: Hear a story, make a craft, and sing a song with Miss Pam and Miss Harolyn. 10:15 a.m., ages birth to 5.

Minecraft Play Club: Because BRES no longer dismisses students at 1:30 on Wednesdays, Minecraft Club will now be held from 2:45 to 4 p.m.