The Ragman Murders
THE MATTER OF A MURDER OF A MAID
The Matter of a Missing Stutz
What do two socialite sisters, two detectives and a Stutz Bearcat roadster have to do with each other? Kate and Betty Hadley stumble across another mystery, involving their father’s best friend, Professor McGovern. Together with Kate’s beau, Det. Casey Roach, and newcomer, Det. Joe Talbot, they search for the missing Stutz and find out why it was stolen.
The girls use methods the police don’t, gossip, the newspaper society pages and intuition, to help solve the case. They don’t look for trouble. Trouble just finds them.
The Matter of a Misplaced Document
Kate and Betty Hadley team up, again, with Boston police detectives, Joe Talbot and Casey Roach, to find out how a valuable, antique document got into an old copy of a popular book. Who does the document belong to and why did it get there? Not being detectives, the socialite sisters use their spunk, social contacts, and the daily newspaper, to find their way through a maze of plausible owners before finding the real one.
Books
17th Century
20th Century
Interviews
How to Avoid Hating History
My first exposure to history was living in Virginia as a second grader. I had a great-grandmother who told us about the past: the Civil War was the generation before hers. That was a most exciting lesson. She spoke of people and what they used to fight with and where they hid. It came alive!
Classroom history, on the other hand, was boring. All dates and names of battles or documents.
In college, I discovered two different history professors, one who could imitate the personalities of the history-makers and one who could only put actions and dates in order. Who would you prefer?
Read about cultures, not about dates. Find out what the people ate and what they ate with (hint: forks were invented late!)
I learned most of my history from novels, Anna Karenina, Tom and Huck, Jane Austen’s ladies. I learned much by reading between the lines, learning their attitudes and their surroundings.
It wasn’t until much later that I decided to study the real history. And I made a pleasant discovery: The text books weren’t the only ones to write history. It turns out that many have been writing real history right along and I never noticed. The DAR and many history professors have written for hundreds of years, each in their own little nitch interest. The internet has been the greatest teacher of history ever!
About Me
A mom, a writer, a gardener and an avid follower of current history and politics. Born in upstate New York, I have lived in Ohio, Virginia, Boston, New Haven Connecticut and along the Hudson River.
I have traveled to Europe, Japan and Uganda. Most recently we took a dog and a 24 foot trailer to go on an adventurous 12,500 mile ride to Alaska.
5 Top Resources for More Information
The internet is a wealth of information, no matter what your subject of interest. However, in addition to what is actually written out, there are references to an amazing array of books only in print, with a way of finding each one. They will direct you to the exact library where that book is found. That is not to say that the books are at your town library. Or even that you can take it out. Some books are too rare to allow people to touch!!!
Visit you local historical society. They have one of a kind items displayed. And there are people there who really know the history of the area.
If you are interested in your ancestors, or even another person’s ancestry, I recommend one of the free search engines, familysearch.org, geni.org or any number of others. Get out the paper and pencil and start writing down information in chart form. It is amazing who, or what, you find.
Visit historical places: Fort Stanwix in upstate New York, Jamestown in eastern Virginia, the Alamo in Texas. Listen to the actors and read the pamphlets.
You see those historical markers as you drive down the road, in some states. Stop and read them!
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