New 06.25.05

Astrid Wiesner-Hagedorn is a teacher of English in Wuppertal, near Koln (Cologne), Germany and lives in nearby Remscheid. I met her one summer at a seminar at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, and Kris Wedding and I have both been guests in her home. Last summer she was recuperating from surgery and reading a great deal. She wrote, back in August '04. As you will see, she's a cat fancier. "I have indulged myself in reading. Lillian Jackson Braun is a great favorite of mine. Not only do cats play the prominent part in her books they deserve, but she writes with an old fashioned charm about lovable characters. Among them are the "old timers" that Quilleran [a cat] goes to see from time to time. From them readers learn the history of the area Braun writes about. That history and the description of small town life and developments (or fads related with tongue-in-cheek seriousness) are probably particularly interesting to the foreign reader (like this English teacher). "The everyday life and problems also make the Sneaky Pie Brown mysteries by Rita Mae Brown interesting for me. I have stumbled on one of the Southern Sisters mysteries by Anne George, Murder on a Bad Hair Day which brings in more aspects of the South. It is beautifully written and makes very enjoyable reading. What is more, the narrator, one of the sleuth sisters, relaxes by reading Tony Hillerman (and mentions Joe Leaphorn on p. 76). If that isn't a recommendation, I don't know what is. "Reading introduced me to Hillerman, and I have been a great fan. I just finished Hunting Badger and The Wailing Wind. I found the latter rather gloomy despite Jim Chee's oncoming romance with Bernie Manuelito. "I have just started The Eagle Catcher by Margaret Coel and find it very promising. Her sleuth, reformed drunkard Father John, is certainly an unusual one in an exotic setting. Speaking of exotic settings, I found in non-exotic Remscheid (of all places) a reduced price, English language copy of Witch of the Palo Duro. It's a wonderful mystery by Cherokee writer Mardi Oakley Medawar. I thoroughly recommend it. Medawar not only introduces Kiowa culture but also tells a good story. It's funny too. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get another book by her so far. "I can recommend a few other mysteries: Alison Gordon's Kate Henry mysteries for the baseball fans; Della Borton's Fade to Black for the movie buffs; and Barbara D'Amoto's Hard Christmas for those who want to learn something about how Christmas trees grow and about the early Dutch settlers in America."