IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

Winter Warmers - Welsh Cawl Recipe

Most countries have rustic dishes of some sort, using up bits and pieces and leftovers.  The Welsh version would have to be Cawl, which essentially uses up winter root vegetables and the traditional, good old Welsh leek.  It can be made with lamb or beef; although as a child, my mother always preferred to make it with beef (shin pieces).  And so, in my adulthood, I have always made it with beef.  Quantities can be varied as it is a dish that uses up those bits and pieces from your larder/fridge.  Here’s one I made earlier (for about six servings):

Quigley's Return...

There'll be fireworks in Newcastle for another reason this evening. Today marks the publication of Sheila Quigley's The Road to Hell, her first novel with publisher Tonto Books and the fifth in her Seahills Estate series.

Congratulations to all!

Bestselling Crime Author Peter James heads west...

Bestselling crime author Peter James is heading west, but this time not as far as the Turks and Caicos Islands.  No, he's visiting libraries in Bristol, Newport and Cardiff to talk about his latest novel Dead Tomorrow.  Schedule and contact details are as follows:

1st December @ 7.30pm
Bristol Central Library, College Green in association with Borders, Bristol.
Tickets £2. To reserve tickets please call: 0117 903 250

2nd December @ 2.30pm
Newport Central Library, John Frost Square, Newport.
Tickets are free but must be reserved. To reserve tickets please call: 01633 656 656

2nd December @ 6.30pm
Cardiff Central Library, The Hayes, Cardiff.
Tickets £2. To reserve tickets please call: 02920 780920

(Info from Midas Public Relations.)

Three Weeks to Say Goodbye - C. J. Box

Again, thanks to those pretty good PR people at FMcM Associates in London, I have read a novel I'd otherwise have missed.  Three Weeks to Say Goodbye from C. J. Box, an award winning writer in the US, is a story based on something that happened to friends of the author.  It's available in the UK from Corvus, the Grove Atlantic imprint on 1 December. So, what's it all about?

With a sound marriage, there was only one thing that escaped Jack and Melissa McGuane for a few years: parenthood.  Eventually they decide to adopt and the beautiful baby that is Angelina comes into their lives.  They now have a daughter; a daughter to whom they have bonded.  But when Angelina is nine months old they discover that the dottings and crossings did not take place to the required level for their adoption.  Angelina's father did not sign away his parental rights.  More to the point, the biological father is but an eighteen year old and his father is a federal judge who wants to 'do the right thing' and see responsibility being taken.  Enter Judge John Moreland and his son Garrett with the best offer they can make as the law is on their side: the McGuanes have 'Three Weeks to Say Goodbye' to their adopted daughter Angelina.