The Secret of Stone Cottage

The new Mick Malone Mystery is now available for Kindle and in Paperback on Amazon.com.  The Secret of Stone Cottage takes Mick back to Scotland for his latest adventure. 

I had a lot of fun writing this one, including doing research on Tarot Cards (anyone want a reading?) and many of the mystical stone circles in Scotland. The more I read about these incredible man-made monuments, the more intrigued I got about what they were actually used for.  It has been over thirty years since I first visited Stone Henge near Salisbury, England. And there was an even more primitive stone circle in Avebury, England, a village only ten miles west of where I lived. Next to the stone circle, Avebury is a charming village with many activities that display what life was like in rural England many hundreds of years ago. Well worth a visit if you are ever in that neck of the woods.

In the middle of the circle, is a pub, the Red Lion. The locals, here, will tell you that the stones are identical to a ring of stones on Mars, lending fuel to the theory that these monuments were built by ancient aliens.  Well, honestly, there is a lot of evidence that makes this theory viable.

But back to the book. Mick and Jock are unraveling not only a current murder but also the disappearances of young women over the past twenty years. Detective Sergeant Galen Cullen joins them on another adventure, this time, based in the Aberdeenshire countryside.

Available in paperback and kindle versions. If you do read it, please let me know what you think. I am always interested in reader's feedback. Or better yet, please review it on Amazon. I would really appreciate your help to increase the number of reviews I have.

Thanks again to all of you that continuously send me good wishes. I really appreciate the support!!!

Regensburg and Kelheim

After another night of cruising, and more locks, we arrived in Regensburg which is a very interesting medieval city.  Another walking tour....sore feet but good for us since they feed us so well....through the narrow cobblestone streets, to see the ancient buildings and life along the river.

 And of course, another beautiful church, this time St. Peter's.

 We are learning much about the history and how south of the river was "civilization" brought by the Romans; north of the river were the barbarians. The oldest bridge in Germany is the Old Stone Bridge built in the 12th century. Unfortunately, this bridge is under renovation, so we couldn't cross it, but it was very interesting, nonetheless.  All along the bridge there are signs of the high water of the floods of 2012, when all the residents spent months cleaning up mud after the flood.  Where you see the plaster was washed away on the gate house shows how high the water was.

Near the bridge is the oldest restauraunt in Germany as well, the sausage house which is still in operation today (the green building).

After a great tour of Regensburg and lunch, we took a bus about thirty minutes outside of town to a small village of Kelheim. This was a village of very rich merchants, rich in the salt trade and breweries.  After a visit to another beer garden, we took a small boat down the Danube narrows where the river cuts a deep gorge and is only 80 meters wide to Weltenburg Abbey, where six monks still live and brew beer.

Atop the hill as you sail into the narrows sits a magnificent building, Independence Hall.

Nuremberg

From Prague we were bussed to Nuremberg. I must say, we were not looking forward to four hours on a bus, but we were pleasantly surprised.  The bus was only about half full, allowing everyone to spread out. It was very new and comfortable and the countryside in Czech Republic and later, in Germany was beautiful.

In Nuremberg, we boarded the Viking Idun for our river cruise down the Danube. If you are thinking about doing a river cruise, don't think twice.  The long boats are great, rooms nice, and service and food outstanding.  After a nice dinner and good night's sleep, we headed out the next morning for our tour of Nuremberg.  I must say, I was a bit sobered by the ruins of the Nazi stadium and meeting halls. Our guide was very knowledgeable and told the story of how Hitler was able to influence so many young people due to the dire economic circumstances that Germany found itself in after WWI. The Nazi party and flags and symbols are all illegal in Germany today.

After a sobering start to the tour, we were taken to the old town, to see the castle and look out over this pretty city.

In the afternoon, we returned to the boat for lunch and to start cruising through the many locks in the Main-Danube Canal. It is eerie and interesting at the same time, to sail into a huge concrete lock and then have the back door close and the lock fill with water.....slowly, slowly rising to the next level.

Prague

From London, we flew to Prague for a three-day visit before our cruise. Prague was largely spared during WWII and so much of the city is hundreds of years old. My first lesson learned, and the advice I will give is get a good guide!! We had a long, long walking tour of Prague on the first morning. More than once, during the 4+ hour tour, I thought I couldn't keep walking. But I did and I will always be thankful for that.  Prague, was occupied by the Nazi's during WWII, then liberated by the Russians after the war, only to be occupied some twenty years later by the Communists, and then, again liberated in the late 1980s. Now the economy is predominately based on tourism, and Viking has a huge presence there. Some of the things to see in Prague include Old Town Square:

This includes a lovely cobblestone square with small streets and shops all around.  One of the most interesting things to me was the market, which has been there since 1232 A.D.

Other must see sights are the Charles Bridge and Lobkowitz Palace. The Lobkowitz's were exciled during both WWII and the Cold War. The current owner, who was born in excile in Boston, moved back to Prague in the 1990's and was able to reclaim his family home. He and his wife are working hard to restore this beautiful palace and have opened it to the public. We were honored to be able to have a private lunch of goulash which was delicious and a private concert at the Palace.

Also a must is a walk over the Charles Bridge which is lined with statues of saints. This was the first bridge in Prague over the river Vltava and takes you from the edge of Old Town to Lesser Town which is at the bottom of Castle hill. Lesser Town floods often and you can see high water marks above the doors often on these old buildings.  Here, in Lesser Town, you will find the Kafka Museum, a very sobering visit if you are interested in his life and writing.

Don't forget to include the local pilsner, very nice! and goulash, sausages or duck. Yum!

London

Our son has been living in London for nearly three years. He works for an American company headquartered in Silicon Valley, so he does get home often on business. But we hadn't yet visited him in London until last week. What a glorious trip. I lived in England many years ago and so have wonderful friends that I hadn't seen in over 6 years. It was a great trip and we enjoyed great visits with our son and friends.

We stayed at a hotel in Westminster. The St. Ermins is a very nice boutique type hotel, and although a bit pricey it is within walking distance of Buckingham Palace, which was very convenient for my husband, Tom, who awaited anxiously the whole time we were there for an invitation to tea with the Queen.  She must have been otherwise engaged, however.......Here is a pic of our hotel.

 On the left, that's the hotel.....the picture on the right is New Scotland Yard which was right across from our hotel. While Tom was waiting for the Queen, I was hoping for a tour. No such luck. LOL.
We did a lot of the tourist things, many of which I had done years ago, but it was even more fun this time. London is still bustling and vibrant, and there are some new additions as well, such as the Eye, which I actually did get on and didn't pass out. (I am afraid of heights).

 That's Big Ben, of course, on the right.
We spent a whole afternoon in St. Paul's Cathedral. What a gorgeous and impressive place. During WWII, Churchill stationed artillery around it to protect it. The Germans wanted to destroy it because it is such a national symbol for England. But although one bomb did hit it, the damage was not total and the beautiful dome, designed by Christopher Wren, was saved. Probably one of the most touching parts of the trip so far, was finding my husband's uncle's name in the book in the cathedral that honors fallen U.S. soldiers from WWII. Tom's uncle, see below: Peterson, R. G. Pfc, was killed in the English Channel on Christmas Eve in 1944, right before the war ended. Incredibly moving!!