Out of Options is a prequel novella to the Century Cottage Cozy Mysteries series, and introduces Lois Stone and her companions, Raggs and Ribbons, a pair of perceptive calico cats.
A dry district, a shocking secret, a missing person. When Lois Stone’s friend, Beth Darrow, arranges to meet her to reveal an astonishing discovery, Lois’s curiosity is piqued. Then Beth doesn’t keep their lunch date and Lois becomes worried. What has happened to her friend?
Middle-aged widow Lois is settling into life on her own in her neighbourhood and in the library where she works, and she is just about coping with her fear of strangers after her husband was mugged and died in the park at the end of their street. But her quiet existence is rocked when her friend and fellow local historical society researcher, Beth, arranges to meet her to reveal an exciting and shocking discovery she has made about the history of prohibition in West Toronto Junction, the last dry area in Toronto, and then goes missing before she can share her secret with Lois. There isn’t any proof that Beth is missing so the police won’t actively search for her. Only Lois and Beth’s niece Amy are convinced that Beth’s disappearance is very out of character, and they are worried about her. Where has Beth gone? Is she in danger? And, if she is, who might want to harm her and why? Lois knows she must find the answers to these questions fast if she wants to help and protect her friend.
And so begins a weekend of skulking in the park, apple and cinnamon pancakes, familiar faces staring out of old newspapers, calico cats, shadows on the windowpane, and more than one person who might want Beth to disappear from the quiet, leafy streets of the historic and staunchly dry West Toronto Junction neighbourhood.
An Interview With A Character
What is your full name?
Lois Lily Stone but I don’t tell many people my middle name. I like it, but it sounds a bit old fashioned for 1983. My best friend Marge knows what it is but then she knows most things about me, and she wouldn’t tell a soul if I asked her not to.
What is your Profession?
I’m a librarian and I spend a large part of my days at an almost ancient reception desk in Annette Library in Toronto. I love to run my fingertips across the scores in the oak made by previous occupants of the desk. It reminds me of the many librarians who have sat here during the past century. I love the sense of connection the desk gives me to my predecessors.
What is your current favourite book or movie?
I don’t often go to the movies – not since my husband died three years ago. But I love to curl up with a good book. I guess that’s not surprising for a librarian, is it? I’ve got M.M. Kaye’s The Far Pavillions on my bookshelf but I haven’t been able to open it yet. I planned to read it after my husband finished it but he was midway through it when he died. I will get to it but not yet. The Canadian author, Margaret Atwood, is one of my favourite writers, and I recently read Surfacing. Her books always make me think about life in new ways.
What is your go to comfort book or movie?
I’ve always loved The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. The world Tolkien created is so vivid that I can lose myself in it. If I want to forget my worries for a while I just need to pick up these books. I also enjoy an upbeat musical and the old westerns are hard to beat – ones like “Oklahoma” and “Paint Your Wagon”.
If someone was to play you in a movie who would it be? OR what would be the character you would want to be in a book?
Oh, I’ve no idea who might play me in a movie. I’m certainly not film star material so you’d have a hard time finding an actress who wouldn’t mind playing someone as ordinary as me. But, like I’ve said, I’m more familiar with books. I think I’d like to be Anne Shirley in the Anne of Green Gables series. It would be amazing to embrace life wholeheartedly the way she does.
What is your ideal evening?
My favourite kind of evening used to be a walk beside the river that meanders through our local park in Toronto with my husband. We’d chat and watch the sunset. But those evenings have come to an end since his passing three years ago. I’m not brave enough to venture into the park alone in the evenings so now my best evening is one where I sit on my front porch with a coffee and a good book and chat with neighbours who pass by. As I sit there, I’m surrounded by comforting sounds: the rumble of my cats purring as they watch me through the screen door and the whirring sound of grasshoppers in my yard.
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July 8 – I'm All About Books – GUEST POST
July 9 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
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