TOO LATE FOR ANGELS

A LETTER TO MY READERS

The Angel and the Jabberwocky Murders

Augusta Goodnight has had a busy time of it since she came to live with Lucy Nan Pilgrim in Stone's Throw, S.C. After helping to solve a series of murders during her first few weeks in town, she has been there less than a year when she finds herself again immersed in an alarming puzzle when a student is killed at the local college. With Lucy Nan, her friend Ellis, and the rest of the Thursday Morning Literary Society, (which now meets on Monday afternoons) Augusta learns the girl's suspicious death wasn't the first on the campus and that the murders are somehow connected.

Having attended as a freshman a women's college much like Sarah Bedford, I found myself indulging in a bit of nostalgia remembering my own first year away from home. Like Sarah Bedford, our school also had a tree house on the front campus - but no murders, thank goodness! It was called the Crow's Nest and only seniors were allowed there. Never one to turn away from a dare, I, of course, had to check it out, looking over my shoulder the whole time, terrified that the forbidding Dean of Women would suddenly appear and expel me on the spot. (I still cringe just thinking about it.)

Last spring I went to my class reunion there - and I'm not saying which one. What fun to visit with many old friends and to find that the Crow's Nest is still there!

Spring was an especially exciting time for us as the local playhouse presented our original two-act musical, "Bandstand Tales," based on the history of our town. After several years of research, interviewing, and a whole lot of help, I completed writing the script and lyrics for the play featuring a cast of fifty. What a thrilling experience to actually see scenes I had written acted out in front of me! Our own talented Ray Doughty wrote much of the music and my husband Gene was initiated into the theater with his first speaking role. (I think he's looking for an agent!) The musical ran for two weekends to a full house and was even held over for an extra performance. The Playhouse plans to present "Bandstand Tales" next May, and our wonderful director, Polly Adkins, will again head up the cast. To view photos, go to www.fortmillplayhouse.org and click on photos.

As for Augusta, I hear another mysterious death has taken place in Stone's Throw - and at Christmastime, too! Amid the decorating, caroling, and festivities of the season, a murderer is lurking in HARK THE HERALD ANGEL SCREAMED. I'm not sure how things are going to turn out as I haven't written the ending. Augusta knows of course.