Under Vixen’s Mere is one of those novels that quietly gets under your skin and then refuses to leave.
From the opening pages, the prose immediately stood out to me. It’s spare without ever feeling sparse—clean, confident, and quietly assured. Dialogue and description are held in careful balance, each doing its work without calling attention to itself. Nothing strains for effect, and that sense of restraint builds trust early on, inviting the reader to settle in and follow where the story leads.
What makes this book especially satisfying is its sensory richness. The attention to detail is so precise you can practically smell the bread cooling on the racks, the sharpness of cheese, the damp stone after rain. It is comfort reading with substance: sunshine and laughter paired with the everyday complications life throws at us, and the quiet resilience required to meet them.
This is not a book about capital-H heroes. Instead, it centers on people who engage in small acts of service, kindness, and yes, heroism—not for recognition or glory, but because it was the right thing to do in the moment. These are stories of people showing up when it would have been easier not to.
The Locked Room is clever, cozy without being complacent, and deeply satisfying for puzzle-lovers. If you adore classic detective fiction but crave a fresh perspective, Harriet White deserves a place on your shelf—and very likely, in your reading rotation for a long while to come.
About the Book: A Treatise on Martian Chiropractic Manipulation and Other Satirical Tales Human beings are flawed creatures, and humor is the perfect means to exploit the endless fodder of our shortcomings. This multi-genre collection of twenty-one short satirical stories will leave you smirking, chuckling, scratching your head, and maybe even muttering to yourself […]
AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Ants! They swarmed in our bathtub last week, but we committed antocide.
Would that make you public ANTemy # one??
Just askin’…
Michele sent me,
Mike
Michele sent me.
Don’t like ants, spiders, roaches or those flying little tiny moths that get into the pantry. Spray away!
Not the time of year for ants in the UK. I agree, though, it takes such a long time to shoo them outdoors individually.
Here today via Michele’s – Hiya!
rashbre
Have you tried using boric acid? It works really well on roaches, and okay on ants. They recommend mixing it with sugar or jelly for ants (putting it outside I assume) so they’ll be attracted to it. The acid is nontoxic for humans and animals, but eats through bug carapace pretty easily. :)
er, nontoxic so long as you don’t actually eat it in quantity. our cats have never bothered with it.
I’m with you on this one! I HATE ants!!! I too am an ant murderer any chance I get. Perhaps I’ll have tshirts made declaring such :)
I’m with you on ants, Melissa. I like to watch them outside but when they come inside the gloves come off. I’ve got all sorts of chemicals for their “enjoyment” and I’m not hesitant about using them!