Mark Pghfan’s Comments (group member since Mar 06, 2014)

Mark Pghfan’s comments from the The Parlor PI's group.

I hope to finish soon. I've been busy with cooking and cleaning for tomorrow! I hope no one steals my thyme.

Here we are in the final section. There may be spoilers, but please alert us to them, should we not all be done with the book.

This final section starts with a bang, with an intruder in the house with Sophie. Wearing a Paula Deen mask, of all things. I think that the intruder is Natasha, though I'm not much into this section yet. Just my gut.

Meanwhile, Humphrey is along, misguided though he is about Sophie and himself. The head with Nina to a somewhat low brow bar that Bernie frequents.

Meanwhile, Wolf, though being very stern and unfriendly kisses Sophie!

Agatha Christie wrote The Theft of the Royal Ruby. It is a Poirot short story and was adapted with David Suchet. As Tina noted, no snow!

I'll move on, perhaps tomorrow.

I am curious about the Colonel as well. I'm not sure where you all are in this middle section, but in it we do find a motive for the Colonel.

Let me know where you all are, so I can judge when to start the final section. (I'm not quite there yet myself!)

I've enjoyed the Pennyfoot hotel books in the past and may even have this one already. On the other hand, Tina's pick, though pricey, looks very intriguing!

Keep 'em coming!

It is probably not too soon to select a December group read. Any holiday mysteries on your front burners? This month is always a hard choice. We often get things that promise to be very Christmassy, but end up not so much. And there are only so many times we can read Hercule Poirot's Christmas! (Actually, I re-read it every year, but not for the discussion!)

I've watched some of the older Father Brown's but not up to date on the new ones. I understand from a Facebook group that Syd has left the show!

Who is everyone's guess at a perp so far?

Hannah's beau is a bit different, but not as much as Humphrey. I am suspicious of Clyde now, Simon's chauffeur. How is it he is the only person to like Simon?

I'm trying to fit together four things which are problematic: The PI's murder, Simon's murder, the attempt on Mars (which may have been directed to someone else) and the sabotage of the dressing competition.

Savannahs, that's right!

You are welcome. We will here in the discussion before Thanksgiving, but have a happy one, lest I forget! And enjoy the dressing! (I just love the cooking for Thanksgiving!)

Me either. Especially with regard to Natasha's comments as Sophie was preparing dinner.

Tina, Here is the Cornbread-Sausage Stuffing recipe. Feel free to adapt it. I do it a bit different each time.

Cornbread-Sausage Dressing
12 oz Breakfast Sausage
4 T Butter
2 Onions, medium, chopped coarse
2 stalks Celery, chopped coarse
1 med Granny Smith apple, peeled, chopped in ½ in cubes
½ c Dried cherries or cranberries (chop the cherries)
3 T Fresh Thyme, minced
2 T Fresh Sage, minced
2 large eggs
1 c Chicken or turkey broth
1 t Salt
½ t Pepper
4 c Dried bread cubes
4 c Dried cornbread, cubed
1 c Pecans chopped coarse
¼ c Parsley, chopped

Sauté the sausage in large skillet. Add onions and celery, sauté until softened. Add apples, cherries or cranberries, thyme, sage, and sauté until apples soften. Cool mixture to room temperature.

Whisk eggs, stock, salt and pepper in large bowl. Add bread cubes, cornbread, sausage-vegetable mixture, pecans and parsley. Mix gently to coat (try not to break up bread and cornbread too much.)

Place in 13X9 baking dish and bake at 350o, covered with buttered aluminum foil until warmed through, about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, or until top crisps.

Here we are in the second section. As we left previously, we find that Mars has become violently sick at Sophie's Thanksgiving dinner, after eating the soup. The paramedics come and take him to the hospital. The police are collecting samples of the food served so far (fortunately, this didn't happen later in the meal, or there would be no food remaining for the non-poisoned people.) Natasha thinks Sophie poisoned him, Humphrey is still pathetically pining for Sophie, and surprisingly, the rest of the guests continue on with the dinner!

I'm wondering whether this was an attempt to poison Sophie, and it backfired on Mars?

And finally, the weapon that killed Simon is found.

Are we ready to move on? I'll start the next section and join in when you can.

Thin mints first (I love chocolate and mint) and then the peanut butter ones, I can't remember the name right now.

Tina, Certainly not going vegan for Friendsgiving, or any other time! (I did do a vegetarian dinner once, very out of my comfort zone, though it worked very nicely.)

Traditional stuff--turkey, cornbread dressing, butternut squash soup, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetable (that does change) and pecan and pumpkin pie.

I just finished chapter 11 last night and will start on the next section tomorrow. Meanwhile, things are moving FAST in this book. I'm enjoying it very much.

If you are that far in the book, let me ask: would you be as open to adding all the people to Thanksgiving dinner as Sophie was?

As we move along through this section, we are culminating on Thanksgiving dinner at Sophie's house. The relatively small dinner originally planned, has expanded HUGELY! Not really a spoiler, but by my count, there are 15 people: Sophie, her Mom and Dad, her sister Hannah and the fiance, Craig, June (Mars' mother), Mars and Natasha, Andrew (Mars' brother) and his girlfriend Vicki, Bernie, the Colonel neighbor, and now Humphrey (whom Sophie's mother brought as a date for Sophie, the detective Wolf, and crazy neighbor Francie. Plus Daisy, Moochie and the colonel's dog MacArthur. Should we count the deceased Faye? Whew!!

(And you're welcome for summarizing most of the characters in the book for you. The living ones, anyway.)

And if Natasha came to my house and criticized things like she did to Sophie, I wouldn't be nearly so kind!

Tina, yes, we did read a book with the heroine finding a body in a dumpster, but I don't think it was in the Diva series. I can't remember the book, though.

Clearly, we all should have read this book first!