Gregg Hurwitz; An Ode to L. A.

I most often skip a whodunit set in Los Angeles. Like the city itself, most novels set in the area strike me as taking on a sameness of crime among the sameness of glitz and grime. Well, thank goodness, I didn't skip THE CRIME WRITER by Gregg Hurwitz. The story line made me think that Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Sterling collaborated on a segment of Dragnet.

The story starts with the protagonist, a writer of crime novels, waking up in a hospital to learn that he has just undergone surgery for removal of a brain tumor. He had been found in his ex-finance's bedroom, suffering from a seizure. He also learns his ex-finance was also in her bedroom with him, dead from a stab wound in her heart. Guess who the cops charge with her murder? He's not certain if he killed her or not because he does not remember what happened the night of her murder. The cops don't like it when he goes free after the jury buys a plea of temporary insanity.

Then another young lady is found dead, her body tossed into the weeds underneath a viaduct (Where else? This is Los Angles.), and our protagonist is a prime suspect because of an overwhelming amount of evidence tying him to this second murder. The protagonist knows he didn't kill the second girl, but facts surrounding her death increases his frustration at not being able to remember what happened the night his ex-fiancé was killed. The rest of the book is the unraveling of the story. But that's not why I loved the book.

Gregg Hurwitz's prose manages to get past L. A.'s glitz and grime, down to the soul of a city I remember from past visits. Many of his descriptive passages beg to have John William Coltrane on tenor sax in the background. For me, it was a whodunit set in L. A. that proved to be a great read.

Knotts Island: By Water or By Land

There are two ways one can reach Knotts Island, North Carolina, located in the upper reaches of Currituck Sound. The traditional way is to take the ferry, a free 45-minute ride from Currituck Courthouse across the Sound to the island’s south end. Or one may drive to the island. But to reach the island by motor vehicle, one must start out of state, in the City of Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The story of the island with a road leading to it started back around 1900 when residents grew weary of traveling away from and back to the island by boat. They started looking at the five miles of marsh that separated the island from the high ground near the Virginia State line.

Not a lot of details are know about the early days of the road building across the marsh when the locals began to dig up mud from the marsh, piled it high enough to be above the tidal plane, and later added oyster shells to stabilize the mud. It was slow work. The road was not completed until the mid 1930s. The satellite photo below illustrates the size of the task undertaken by the road builders to cross the marsh (dark area) and connect their island to the mainland. (green) Once across the marsh, the road connects with Princess Anne Road in the city of Virginia Beach at the North Carolina-Virginia state line.

Driving the 4.8 miles along what is commonly called the Marsh Causeway is a unique experience. The entire marsh is part of The Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge, a winter haven for thousands of swans, geese, and ducks.

The causeway, officially designated Rte. 615, is a two lane road with a 55 mile and hour speed limit except for the area at the bridge that spans Corey’s Ditch, a canal that was dredged from Currituck Sound to Back Bay in 1936.

For a measurable distance, the road runs parallel to the southern shoreline of Back Bay. It is an interesting sight when at high tide, the roadway appears to be only inches above this vast body of water.

A water-filled ditch parallels the road, an excavation left behind when dirt was dredged and piled up to build the roadway.
Motorists are warned about stopping along the road, which has no guardrail. Because of the water table and borrows dug by aquatic animals, the shoulders of the road can be unstable under the weight of a vehicle. The wildlife refuge offers both roadways and hiking trails for those wanting a closer look at the life in the marsh.

The island, only some six miles long and half that width, still retains elements of charm that have not buried underneath decades of modern progress. It was not until after the Marsh Causeway was completed in the mid 1930s that the modern technologies of electricity, refrigeration, and telephones reached the island.

Peaches have been a historical part of Knotts Island, a tradition recognized with the island's annual Peach Festival. In recent years, grape growing has become a part of the agricultural scene. The Moon Bay Winery and the Martin Estate Winery offer enjoyable stops while on the island.

If one chooses to experience the causeway drive or to travel south to Currituck Courthouse on Rte. 168 and take the ferry, a visit to Knotts Island is the perfect outing to add to a day-trip list of memories.

Good-bye Amanda Pepper

I just finished reading ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS, the fourteenth and last book in the Amanda Pepper Mystery series, written by Judith Greber under the pen name Gillian Roberts.

I won’t say it is the best in the series, simply because I can’t remember back through fourteen books and that and half again as many years. But I did enjoy it as much as any I can remember. Maybe it was like eating that final bite of banana split, which always tastes best because it’s the last one.

I will say I’m a bit disappointed. As an apprentice sleuth, Amanda Pepper ventured further out into the real world and ran her sleuth skills up against adults outside Philly Prep. I would have enjoyed more of that. I’ll leave it up to readers to decide whom Amanda found tougher to deal with—the high school students or adults.

As one satisfied reader, I say thanks for the enjoyment. However, since in a previous cobbling, I poked a bit of fun at what I found to be PUNny titles of the books, I can’t pass up what I discovered about this one. During the process, the author “felt obliged to change titles midstream.”

What was once the book’s working title? “Beth Be Not Proud.”

A New Voice for Native Americans

Sandi Ault, with two published books to her credit, not only weaves a good yarn, she stands to become another major voice in depicting the heritage of the Native Americans of the southwest.

In WILD INFERNO, her second book featuring Jamaica Wild, a land management agent, Ault juggles the story lines of fighting a major forest fire, protecting a gathering of Native Americans on a mountain top, keeping a murder investigation going, stealing moments with her boyfriend, keeping her harried boss happy, and finding time for Mountain, a full-blooded wolf, which she raised from a orphaned pup.

It can be said that Sandi Ault writes what she knows and loves. She is a resident of Colorado, loves the mountains that are her home and what they represent, a feeling that shows in her writing.

She is a Fire Information Officer, part of the team that responds to wildfires on a local and national level. The sights, sounds, and smells of a forest fire and the people who fight them are reflections of real-life experiences.

And so is her knowledge of wolves. Between wolves and humans, there appears to be a question of who adopts whom. Her Web site has an excellent and heart-tugging story about the wolf named Mountain that was part of her family as well as a feature in her first two books.

In addition to giving readers an enjoyable mystery, Sandi Ault, like Tony Hillerman and others, is documenting, preserving, and presenting Native American culture and rituals that otherwise would never be known to the majority of her readers, and more importantly, she is preserving them against future loss.
Photo of Sandi with her wolf Tiwa by Tracy A. Kerns.

Pierce's Pitt Bar-B-Que

A vacation in Williamsburg would not be complete without a visit to the family-owned business that has grown from humble beginnings in 1971 to become a nationally known, award-winning establishment.


It will not be found among the chain restaurants and pancake houses that line Williamsburg's Richmond Road, Route 60 West. The drive to Pierce’s only adds to the enjoyment of the outing. Going west, past the wall-to-wall eateries, a right turn at the first traffic signal just beyond Williamsburg’s western city limits will put you on Airport Road.

This road is a pleasant drive through the woods of the watershed that surrounds Wolf Mill Reservoir. At the road’s end, a left turn will put you on Rochambeau Drive, and two miles away from the orange and yellow building that serves barbeque, which has earned Southern Living magazine’s “Readers Choice” award year after year.

The story behind Pierce’s starts with the sauce, a secret family recipe that can be traced back some 80 years to Flat Creek, Tennessee. In 1971, Julius C. “Doc” Pierce gambled that the appeal of his mother’s sauce could be turned into a profitable business.
With the help of his wife Verdie and his son J. C., a small 12’ by 14’ block building was built in the family horse pasture out near the highway. There was no dining room. It was strictly a walk-up business.

A sign, to be erected out by the highway, arrived with Pit misspelled. It had two TTs. The sign painter refused to change it without additional payment, which Doc did not have. On October 15, 1971, with 20 dollars borrowed from a neighbor for use as change, and with a misspelled sign out front, Pierce’s Pitt Bar-B-Que was open for business. The business was a success from day one. Pitt, with two TTs, has remained a part of the name.

Today’s visitor will find a modern facility that seats 104 inside and many more on the picnic tables scattered about on the lawn and wooded grounds. The menu is not limited to barbequed beef, ribs, and chicken. Burgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, catfish, and children’s meals are offered, making it a place where the entire family can have a picnic on the grounds, a great place where kids, young and old, can stretch their legs.

Even the colors of the building have a story. Son J. C. and his father selected the bright yellow and orange after seeing them on many of the trucks passing by on the adjacent highway. They decided that if the colors were such a popular color for trucks, it would work for the restaurant.

The brightly colored building and its barbeque became too appealing to truckers and motorists after Interstate 64 was completed directly across Rochambeau road from the restaurant. Many drivers were stopping on the shoulder of the Interstate and walking over to the business, The state highway department erected a fence to block the foot traffic since stopping on the Interstate was illegal.

Your visit does not have to mean the end of your enjoyment.
“Doc” Pierce’s Bar-B-Que Sauce is now available in two flavors, Original and Honey. A 17.5-ounce bottle can be purchased at the restaurant, and a national distribution system is growing.

Book Reviews?

To those who asked if The Old Word Cobbler will be doing book reviews, the answer is no. I tried that once in a previous life.

The editor at the daily newspaper where I once worked as a news reporter thought it would be a good idea for me to take on the additional assignment of writing a book review each week for the Sunday edition. It was a short career. The Sunday editor and I failed to reach an agreement on what constituted a book review. I feel the same way now that I felt forty-five years ago.

While I have respect for the time and effort devoted by those who write book reviews, they are no longer on my reading list. At one time, they were, as were autopsy reports. However, I reached the point that I saw little difference between the two.

I never questioned the fact that a person with a medical degree was qualified to discuss a cadaver's liver. However, I was not able to give the same degree of credence to some of those who felt qualified to criticize the writing of a best-selling author.

I read far more books than will ever be commented upon. One, time does not allow words for all of them. Two, some don't merit the time. If I had to pick a number, I'd say one in twenty prompts me to start cobbling words together. I've considered starting a list of "recent reads," containing only title and author. Saying nothing else would be a statement.

I love to read books. I love to write. I love to write about books I've read and enjoyed and the authors who wrote them. I’ll leave it to others to decide what the word cobbling should be called.

What's in a Book's Title?

The experts tell us neutral tones are best for interior colors when preparing a house for sale. Does that same advice apply to book titles?

I ask this question after a personal experience with a book at the local library. Some two months, in a corner of the bottom shelf of new arrivals, I saw the title of a book that totally turned me off. It struck me as an attempt at a pun, but one that, to me, failed miserably. I saw the book on the bottom shelf every week when I went to the library. It was not getting a lot of circulation. Because of the color scheme and type sizes, the title was the only thing I could read.

Finally, after avoiding this book for two months, my curiosity got the best of me. When I had the book in hand, I recognized the author’s name, realized I had read her previous books in the series, and should have smelled the latest title coming. The first six in the series had on occasion, emitted the wafting aroma of a pun: CAUGHT DEAD IN PHILADELPHIA, PHILLY STAKES, I’D RATHER BE IN PHILADELPHIA, WITH FRINDS LIKE THESE, HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION, and IN THE DEAD OF SUMMER. But the next six titles went further down the slippery slope. THE MUMMERS’ CURSE, THE BLUEST BLOOD, ADAM AND EVIL, HELEN HATH NO FURY, CLAIRE AND PRESENT DANGER, AND TILL THE END OF TOM.

The book I had been ignoring because of its title was the thirteenth and penultimate book in the Amanda Pepper Mystery series by Judith Greber, under the pen name of Gillian Roberts. The title: A HOLE IN JUAN.

Then, when I turned to the Acknowledgements section at the front of the book, the first words were, “Many thanks to clever Christine Day for coming up with the title for this book…” Having heard how seldom an author gets to keep the title that she or he selected—David Baldacci has been quoted as saying he managed to kept only one out of his first six—I couldn’t help but think that Judith Greber was saying, “Don’t blame me. I didn’t pick the tile.”

A HOLE IN JUAN is the penultimate book in the series. The fourteenth book in the series will be the last Amanda Pepper mystery, “for at least a while.” It’s title: ALLS WELL THAT ENDS.

For those not familiar with Amanda Pepper, she is an English teacher at Philly Prep, a private high school. It is a must read for all public school teachers who thing they have incompetent administrators, and classes filled with students who give more attention to their hormones than their homework.
While Judith Gerber is taking a break from her Amanda Pepper series, she is not saying good-bye to her readers. She will be adding to her already existing list of books written under her own name.