A Quiche Before Dying

A Quiche Before Dying
by Jill Churchill
Recommended Ages: 15+

Jane Jeffry is a widowed mother of three in a Chicago suburb who has an on-and-off romance with a police detective named Mel, with whom she has already solved a couple of crimes. One summer week while two of her kids are away from home and her too-perfect mother has dropped in for a visit, Jane decides to take a neighborhood writing class focusing on autobiographies. But instead of writing her own life story, she starts the memoir of a fictional character. Also, she gets sidetracked when a horrid woman gets murdered on the second night of the class.

Mrs. General Pryce – I don't know how she's styled to her friends, because she doesn't have any – is as battle-axy as they come, but even she isn't equal to a stiff snort of poison. It apparently got into her system through a quiche that Jane brought to the dinner party, attended only by members of the writing class. Difficult as it is her for her to suspect her friends and neighbors, Jane must wrestle with the fact that someone in that class is a murderer – and having killed once, they may kill again. And with the police making little apparent progress, Jane feels responsible to solve the crime before the week is up, and the class ends, and the suspect gets away.

This is a quick-paced, cheerful murder mystery with vivid characters, crisp dialogue, a bright streak of humor and some romance as well. Despite her self-image as a domestic frump, Jane proves to be a dangerous opponent for a killer to tangle with. It's a warm, cozy, down-to-earth mystery populated by suburban moms, teenagers, pets, appetizing dishes – and I'm not just talking about Detective Mel here – all livened up by one dastardly character and a murder that you almost don't feel bad about, except that it means there's a murderer about.

This 1993 novel, not to be confused with a mystery of the same name by Joanne Pence, is the third of 16 books in the "Jane Jeffry" series by Jill Churchill (1943-2023), an award-winning, Kansas City-based mystery author. It feels weird to say this about an era I lived through (I was in college in 1993), but these days this book reads like a period piece. Some other titles in the series include Grime and Punishment, The Class Menagerie, Silence of the Hams, War and Peas, Fear of Frying, Mulch Ado About Nothing and The Accidental Florist. From the 1970s to 2013, Churchill also wrote three "Lady of Fire" novels under the pen name Valerie Vayle, seven "Grace and Favor" novels," and around 15 other novels, often under the pen names of Vayle, Amanda Singer and Janice Young Brooks.

Adventure Tom

Let's call this a diary entry in my career as a movie-goer. If I reviewed this movie, even under what protection critical comment provides, I'd probably end up sued or slapped with a cease-and-desist. So, this was week 2 of a month-long independent film showcase at the local movie theater, and I'm planning to hit all four shows. But Adventure Tom did not meet the expectations I imagined from, like, the title of the movie.

It was not thrilling or even particularly fun. It had a few scenes featuring animation akin to early sketches for a comic book, and a little excitement like when the main characters inadvertently picked a bar fight. It had a cross-country trek during which the hero and heroine stopped to look at a variety of scenic attractions, from Devil's Tower to a life-sized model of the Town of Bedrock, yabba dabba doo and whatnot. Otherwise it was pretty much a road trip in which a guy and a gal talk amongst themselves. And talk and talk and talk some more. Their relationship goes through a bout of Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome. The boy looks for places to scatter portions of his mother's ashes. (The road trip is partly about disposing of a portion of the hero guy's mom's ashes.) A persistent pall of unhappiness drapes over it all.

One of my coworkers, who actually had to sit through this movie for work reasons, is calling it the worst movie she's ever seen. I don't think it was that bad. But it did nothing to lighten my mood after a week full of bad news. Cancer in the family. Both sets of parents fixing to move (in one case, much farther away). A stern coaching at work, etc., etc. My response when a theater employee asked what I thought was, "Meh. It's a bit of a downer." On further reflection, I recall having some mean thoughts during it – like wondering how the supposedly successful main characters could actually function in the adult world, wired as they are.

The ending may be intended to uplift, but for me it didn't. In the rear-view mirror, it all fades into a haze of a way-too-long and not particularly eventful road trip, stuck in an SUV with two bland characters who really should probably live with their (surviving) parents, rather than half a continent away. They even manage to have sex without making it look fun.

The writer and director responsible for this, um, low-key film is Miguel Duran, who has a short list of credits none of which I know anything about. The male lead is played by Graham Patrick Martin, whose face rings a bell; I've apparently seen him in the TV miniseries version of Catch-22 (2019), but none of his other credits are things I've seen. I've looked up other cast members to see if I've seen them in something before, and the answer is a firm no. So, look them up for yourselves if you're interested. I've never measured up as a prophet when it comes to predicting, based on a movie role, whether actors are going places, but I frankly don't think this movie is going to launch anyone into stardom. I recommend it in case you want to study a use case for taking the scenic, South Dakota-Wyoming route from Minneapolis to Phoenix, before most likely flipping a coin between the Nebraska or the Kansas route.

If I were to bother with Three Scenes That Made It For Me, I'd probably mention the one where the flight attendant makes the hero girl wet her pants. It made me angry on her behalf, a strong reaction that came early in the movie but wasn't the sign one might expect of an impending deep connection to the characters. That's about it for scenes that made it for me, and the rest of the movie just didn't do it for me. Oh, well. You can't love them all.

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary
by Andy Weir
Recommended Ages: 13+

Ryland Grace wakes up in a weird, mechanized hospital with no memory of how he got there. In the neighboring beds are two dead bodies. To start, he can't even remember his name. He applies a little science and math – things he's evidently good at – to figure out that he's on a spaceship traveling at high speed, far from Earth. And he's been put in a medically induced coma to pass the time before arriving ... where? And for sake's sake, why?

The pieces slowly fall into place. Grace is a sometime middle school science teacher who, before he was that, wrote a major paper in which he rudely told off the entire scientific community and declared that alien life didn't have to be water-based. Then a threat to all life on earth pops up – little alien microbes that are stealing energy from the sun. Given enough time, their effect on the sun will cool the earth to the point where crops will fail and billions of people will die. Because of the strangeness of these bitty bugs, which Grace dubs Astrophage, that rude paper of his suddenly becomes very relevant, and – well, to make a long story short, he finds himself second in command of a mission to save the planet that has a blank check from every country on Earth. A mission from which there can be no return.

They've spotted similar issues of stars going dim all over the galaxy – and exactly one star, Tau Ceti, that should be dimming but isn't. So that's where the starship Hail Mary has to go, powered by brand-new technology (such as a propulsion system that uses Astrophage for fuel – I don't know, read the book for more details). But only a tiny minority of would-be astronauts can survive the trip, thanks to a rare gene that gives them a better-than-even chance of surviving years in a medical coma. And though he wasn't supposed to be one of those astronauts – how he got on the ship at all is the very last memory to come back – Grace is, fortunately or otherwise, the only crew member who actually woke up. The fate of humanity depends entirely on him. He isn't alone for long, however. Almost as soon as he arrives in Tau Ceti orbit, he encounters a ship from Epsilon Eridani that has come for the same reason. Like (gulp) first contact with aliens and whatnot.

So much for the blow-by-blow synopsis. It's generalities from here, so you don't get bored and go read something else, or so I don't spoil the whole book for you. Grace and Rocky, the sole Eridian to survive his planet's mission to discover what makes Tau Ceti special and how to use it to save his world, hit it off and quickly form a touching friendship, despite Rocky being the least anthropomorphic alien you've ever met in sci-fi. What sets him apart from humankind? A better question would be, what doesn't? Despite the challenges of communicating and working together – such as mutually unpronounceable languages and life-support environments that would almost instantly kill each other if they went over for a visit – they form a highly productive partnership and get right to work cracking the problem of how to save their worlds from the Astrophage. Whenever everything seems to be going well for a moment, a disastrous setback almost destroys all hope. And then, like the STEM heroes they are, they fight back with science, tech, engineering and math. Big time.

It's a novel teeming with thought-provoking speculative concepts, mind-expanding scientific facts, heartstring-tugging emotions, excitement, humor and suspense. It's written like a science fiction twist on Raymond Chandler's recipe for a hardboiled detective story: whenever the plot stalls, bring in a guy with a gun. Only in this genre, the "guy with a gun" is just space with its endlessly creative ways to kill you, your whole family, and the planet you rode in on. It has some characters, most of them only seen in flashbacks, whom you won't quickly forget, such as the all-powerful Ms. Stratt (Project H.M.'s first-in-command), and a devastating twist toward the end ... and another ... and another ... some of which you'll start to anticipate (I remember counting the paragraphs until one particular penny dropped) while some will keep you guessing until the end. It's good stuff. It definitely makes me keen to see what Hollywood does with it.

I went in search of this book after I saw a trailer for the (at this writing) upcoming film adaptation, featuring Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace. It may be unwise to judge such things from a film trailer, but it looks like the movie might preserve some of the non-sequential narrative structure of the book. Andy Weir is also the author of the fantastic novel The Martian, previously made into a terrific movie starring Matt Damon, and a heist-on-the-moon novel titled Artemis, which I haven't read. Yet. His short stories/novellas include The Egg and James Moriarty, Consulting Criminal. From the two works of his that I've read, I gather that he's a highly intelligent guy who does tons of research and, at the same time, doesn't lack a popular touch. These are, bottom line, fun books to read.

525. Hymn in a Time of Public Unrest

Shelter, Lord! Give shelter!
Be Your doors unclosed
When to storm and welter
Your lambs lie exposed:

When the hateful neighbor
Thirsts for blameless blood;
When with cries of labor
Evil bears her brood:

When our faithful actions
Men but count as crime;
When fanatic factions
Seize and rule our time:

When the world surrenders
Reason, rule and right;
When deceitful splendors
Squelch Your truth and light:

Let Your cross stand o'er us,
Nerving us to stand,
As the martyr chorus
Bravely bore its brand.

Let Your blood-bought pardon
And the hope of life
With steadfastness harden
All who face this strife.

Feed us the Passover
Of Your flesh and blood,
Promiser and Prover
That all works for good.

Through the bath You bathed in,
Cup whereof You drank,
Raise us up, unscathed in
Saints' and angels' flank.

Even as we suffer
Threat or pain or loss,
We as shield and buffer
Will hold up Your cross.

Why should death appal us,
Bringing us to You?
Christ, what may befall us,
Be our Shelter true!

While writing this, I had in mind not only a certain Christian's vile political assassination in the recent news, but the disgusting rhetoric flooding social media right now. But no tune in particular. That can come later. Art: the Stoning of St. Stephen by Carlo Crivelli, Demidoff Altarpiece, public domain.

Light of the World

On Saturday night, I attended a local screening of this new, 2D-animated film, co-directed and animated by former Disney Animation mavens Tom Bancroft, John Schafer and Tom's twin brother, Tony. It's the result of something called The Salvation Poem Project, which is going to feed into my criticism of the movie – but that's a theological matter. As an animated film, I think it stands up well against the cell-animated output of Disney's golden era. It has charm, humor, dramatic shape, lively characters with touching relationships. It doesn't shrink from the harsh facts of Jesus' death for the sins of the world. It condenses the story and reorganizes the material around what Tony Bancroft, in a "live" Q&A session (via Zoom) following the movie, called a buddy movie focusing on Jesus and the youthful apostle John. It has some parables. It has some miracles. It depicts doubt and faith. It goes to some pretty emotionally gripping places. And it does it without glib song-and-dance numbers, one thing that sets it apart from a Disney animated feature.

I have a few issues with the movie. The first thing that all but knocked the breath out of me, like a punch in the gut, was putting the words (more or less) "Baptism is just a symbol" in the mouth of John the Baptizer. That does not represent what the John of New Testament record said or would say. Second, the movie gives a rushed account of Jesus' Last Supper – so rushed that, I noticed, nobody actually eats or drinks the bread and wine that Jesus holds up when he says "my body and my blood." And whether he means "This is" when he holds them up is rather left to the audience's pious, or impious, imagination. Third, when Zebedee comes to John at the end of the movie and asks him how he can start being a believer, John's answer is (to paraphrase) "You just have to say this prayer," and then leads Zeb through the Salvation Poem – basically, an abbreviated, rhyming form of the Sinner's Prayer. Fourth, young John (in the movie) defines faith as the result of your decision – a position, known as decision theology, that runs at a 180-degree angle to the John who wrote John 1:12-13, and John 15:16, and 1 John 3:1-2, etc. It would have been a more Johannine story if John's answer to Zebedee had been, say, "Be baptized and receive forgiveness of your sins." But enough.

Here's Three Scenes That Made It For Me: (1) We find Pontius Pilate reading the charges against Barabbas, the murderer. I happen to know enough Greek to recognize that the lettering on the scroll in Pilate's hand spelled out the first few lines of John's gospel: "In the beginning was the Word," etc. To a Bible scholar it's as much an "Easter egg" as when Andrew, observing a miraculous catch of fish, exclaims, "You're going to need a bigger boat!" (2) The earthquake that ripples through Jerusalem at the moment of Jesus' death. The whole crucifixion scene is powerful, if condensed. (3) When John (the Baptist) baptizes Jesus – a beautiful depiction of that scene. A bonus scene, perhaps more in hindsight than from the impression it made on me at the time, is when young John gives a coin to a sick little boy named Josiah. According to Tony, this character was named after Schafer's son, who was critically ill during the making of the movie; and apparently, Schafer experienced a series of devastating personal losses during the two years it took to make this movie.

I also learned, from Tony Bancroft's chat with the owner of our local theater, that this movie was made in half the time, with about one-tenth of the money and by a very small percentage of the people-power of a typical Disney animated feature. But it's still of very high quality and an entertaining and moving film. With the doctrinal reservations stated above – for the faithful to bear in mind and discuss after seeing it – I recommend it highly. Much can be gleaned from it without drinking the "Salvation Poem" kool-aid to its dregs. It may even be for the better that there are reservations to think and talk about. It's barely made it on Rotten Tomatoes – I heard that as of Saturday, it had just received enough reviews to register on that aggregator, with a score of 91 percent freshness – but give it time. It's at least faithful enough that it doesn't insult Christianity or turn God into a villain, like some movies that I won't mention by name ...

Lasagna Means I Love You

Lasagna Means I Love You
by Kate O'Shaughnessy
Recommended Ages: 10+

Mo's mom is long gone. Her dad is out of the picture. Her beloved grandmother just died, and her only other known relative – Uncle Billy – is too busy being a soldier to take care of her. So, into New York's foster care system she goes. And honestly, she probably has a better time of it than the average kid. But it's still a rocky adjustment, moving from one family to another, meeting with case workers and a therapist, looking for a home where she feels she belongs. Mo clings to her grandma's memory, writing a diary in the form of letters to her and begging for a little heavenly help. She insists on going back to her old school, even though it means traveling to another borough of the city. She starts a hobby – cooking – inspired by a cookbook she temporarily liberates from the case management office. And then she starts a website, gathering other people's family recipes in search of a connection to her own family. If they're out there.

Mo is an exceptional kid, and her search for a Gallagher family recipe takes her to some interesting places and exposes her to a variety of cultures and family shapes. She starts to feel like she might have found a real family to be a part of, but even after that, things don't go in a straight line for her. There's a distant cousin whose blandness is strangely alarming. There's a Chinese-American family where she'd feel at home if they had room for her. There's a well-to-do couple who want to give back to society. And there's a salt-of-the-earth couple whose family greeting, "Lasagna!" means – well, you know.

This bright, articulate 11-year-old makes some mistakes, doesn't always have a good attitude and isn't completely sympathetic. Nevertheless, your heart will go out to her as she navigates anxiety issues, grief, feelings of rejection, anger, joy, success, failure, apathy and hope, cycling around and enveloping her in unexpected ways. Mo's a girl who loves the Jets despite knowing what to expect from them; who roots for them to win even while watching a recording of a game they already lost. She brings together a diverse group of helpers to pull off an extraordinary event, even while the bottom is dropping out of her heart. She's a wise-for-her-years youngster with a wit that'll make you smile and a heart you'll ache for. What becomes of her will hold you to the last page.

California-based Kate O'Shaughnessy is also the author of middle-grades children's novels The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane and Newbery Honor Book The Wrong Way Home. From the descriptions I've read of them, both books have in common with this book a hero girl who is searching for where she truly belongs.

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

The Strawberry Patch Pancake House
by Laurie Gilmore
Recommended Ages: 15+

Michelin-star chef Archer just found out that a sometime kitchen colleague with whom he had a brief fling has died, leaving behind a daughter he didn't know he had. Now he has to move to the quaint small town of Dream Harbor to take care of a tiny girl named Olive. To pass time while they get to know each other, he takes over the kitchen of a diner that specializes in pancakes. It's a humbling experience, from being a high-powered gourmet to being unable to reproduce the pancake recipe the locals swear by. And also, not knowing what to do with a kid.

Archer hires Iris to serve as a nanny, to bridge the gap between his shifts at the diner and when Olive gets home from kindergarten. You know Iris, right? A highly sexed young lady who has never held down a relationship, or a job, for very long. And now she's partly responsible for the happiness of a precious little girl. And also, things are steaming up between her and the sexy chef she works for.

It's a hot romance – we're talking Adult Content Advisory here – set in a twee little village that would riddle the Hallmark Channel with tooth decay. Somehow, everyone in town seems to be either an attractive young adult or their adorable little kid, and the older lot are pairing off like Twix bars. But at the heart of it, there's Archer, who is surprised to find himself losing his heart to a child he just met, and Iris, who is terrified by the feelings she's having for both of them and her certainty that she's going to hurt them. It's a plot you can set your watch by – but executed with charm, humor and a steaminess that belies the family-friendly production design.

This is the fourth and (currently) latest of the "Dream Harbor" novels written by Melissa McTernan under the pen name Laurie Gilmore. The other titles include The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, The Cinnamon Bun Book Store and The Christmas Tree Farm. Plus, a fifth book, The Gingerbread Bakery, is slated to come out a little over a week from now (Sept. 16, 2025), and a sixth, The Daisy Chain Flower Shop, is supposed to follow in May 2026. Fantastic Fiction describes McTernan as an author of "sweet and steamy romantasy," as you could probably guess from these titles. Based in upstate New York, she is also the author of A Curse of Blood and Wolves (soon to be part of a trilogy), Marked for Each Other: The Princess and the Barbarian, some shorter erotic fairy tales, and Secret Family Recipes for Love and Butter Cookies.