Aunt Bessie Considers Read online

  aye

  yes

  bickies

  biscuits

  cookies (informally)

  cookies

  car park

  parking lot

  cuppa

  cup of tea (informally)

  fairy cakes

  cupcakes

  holiday

  vacation

  knackered

  tired

  lift

  elevator

  pavement

  sidewalk

  pudding

  dessert

  queenie

  scallop

  sponge

  cake

  telly

  television

  Zimmer frame

  walker

  Other Notes

  CID is the Criminal Investigation Department of the Isle of Man Constabulary (Police Force).

  The phrase “knickers in a twist” means that someone is very upset about something, usually something that the other person considers relatively unimportant.

  “Noble’s” is Noble’s Hospital, the main hospital on the Isle of Man. It is located in Douglas, the island’s capital city.

  When talking about time, the English say, for example, “half seven” to mean “seven-thirty.”

  When island residents talk about someone being from “across,” they mean that the person is from somewhere in the United Kingdom. (across the water)

  There is an English expression, “mutton dressed as lamb,” which refers to a woman who is dressing too young for her age. Often shortened to “mutton.”

  A “carvery” is a buffet meal where roasted meat is sliced to order.

  Sunday lunch is typically a large family meal in the UK. It generally consists of a meat roast and many trimmings.

  The NHS is the National Health Service, which provides medical treatment for every person who lives in the UK, mostly without charge, although some types of care might have a co-payment. Wealthier patients have the option of accessing private treatment if they prefer, which may offer faster treatment options or access to amenities like private rooms.

  When someone in the UK is “on the pull” they are looking to attract a member of the opposite sex (or the same sex if that is how they are inclined). Similarly, “chatting up” is flirting.

  The TT (or Tourist Trophy) is a motorcycle road-racing event held on the island every May/June. It is held in a time trial format over approximately thirty-seven miles of closed public roads. The course takes in the mountains as well as travelling through several small towns and villages.

  A few notes on the Manx Museum (with apologies for my creative license):

  There really is an upper level in the museum that is used to host conference and other special events. If the various rooms on that level have names, however, I do not know what they are. In order to make sense of all the events that move around throughout this book, I have chosen to name the rooms. I have named them all after well-known historians who have studied the island (more details below).

  I don’t believe the main theatre on the ground floor has a name, either, although I’ve called it the “Ellan Vannin Theatre” in this book. (Ellan Vannin is the Manx name for the island.)

  The historians whose names I’ve borrowed:

  A.W. Moore wrote his two-volume History of the Isle of Man in 1900 and the volumes have subsequently been reprinted by the Manx Museum and National Trust.

  R.H. Kinvig published his The Isle of Man: A social, cultural and political history in 1975.

  William Blundell’s A History of the Isle of Man was written between 1648 and 1656 and subsequently published in two volumes by the Manx Society in 1876 and 1877 from the original manuscript.

  Acknowledgements

  Special thanks to my wonderful editor, Denise, who tries hard to make my work the best it can be, before I go back in and mess things up again! Any and all mistakes that remain are mine.

  Thanks to my first, best beta reader, Barb who is also my biggest supporter (and my mom).

  I can’t say enough wonderful things about Kevin, who supplies me with such stunning photos for my covers. Thank you, Kevin!

  And an extra special thanks to my amazing beta reading team (in alphabetical order), Charlene, Janice, Margaret and Ruth. Your input is invaluable to me.

  Coming January 16, 2015

  Preorder now available:

  Aunt Bessie Decides

  An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery

  by Diana Xarissa

  Aunt Bessie decides that she and her closest friends should have an enjoyable night out.

  Elizabeth Cubbon (known to almost everyone as Aunt Bessie) has made many friends over the lifetime that she’s lived in the village of Laxey, but few have been as close as the ones she’s made recently. Bessie relied on Doona Moore, Hugh Watterson and John Rockwell to help her through several recent murder investigations she’s found herself caught up in. Now she wants to treat them all to an open-air performance of a Shakespearean play on the grounds of historic Peel Castle.

  Aunt Bessie decides that it doesn’t much matter what show the troupe is performing as long as she and her friends can relax and have fun.

  Two members have recently left the theatre company. Now the troupe has thrown aside its usual repertoire in favour of a play written by one of their own. When those two former members appear in the audience, though, someone decides to get rid of one of them for good.

  Aunt Bessie decides to give the show another chance, but a second performance almost ends in a second tragedy.

  With all of the suspects blaming one another, and several of them turning up on the doorstep of Bessie’s cottage, it’s time for Bessie to decide to solve this murder herself.

  Aunt Bessie Assumes

  An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery

  By Diana Xarissa

  Aunt Bessie assumes that she’ll have the beach all to herself on a cold, wet, and windy March morning just after sunrise, then she stumbles (almost literally) over a dead body.

  Elizabeth (Bessie) Cubbon, aged somewhere between free bus pass (60) and telegram from the Queen (100), has lived her entire adult life in a small cottage on Laxey beach. For most of those years, she’s been in the habit of taking a brisk morning walk along the beach. Dead men have never been part of the scenery before.

  Aunt Bessie assumes that the dead man died of natural causes, then the police find the knife in his chest.

  Try as she might, Bessie just can’t find anything to like about the young widow that she provides tea and sympathy to in the immediate aftermath of finding the body. There isn’t much to like about the rest of the victim’s family either.

  Aunt Bessie assumes that the police will have the case wrapped up in no time at all, then she finds a second body.

  Can Bessie and her friends find the killer before she ends up as the next victim?

  Aunt Bessie Believes

  An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery

  by Diana Xarissa

  Aunt Bessie believes that Moirrey Teare is just about the most disagreeable woman she's ever had the misfortune to meet.

  Elizabeth Cubbon, (Aunt Bessie to nearly everyone), is somewhere past sixty, and old enough to ignore the rude woman that does her best to ruin the first session of the beginning Manx language class they are both taking. Moirrey's sudden death is harder to ignore.

  Aunt Bessie believes that Moirrey's death was the result of the heart condition that Moirrey always complained about.

  The police investigation, however, suggests that someone switched some of the dead woman's essential medications for something far more deadly.

  Aunt Bessie believes that she and her friends can find the killer.

  But with Doona suspended from work and spending all of her time with the dead woman's long-lost brother, with Hugh caught up in a brand new romance and with Inspector Rockwell chasing after a man that might not even exist, Bessie finds herself believing that someone might just get away with murder.


  Island Inheritance

  An Isle of Man Romance

  By Diana Xarissa

  Carly thinks her life is just about perfect. She recently bought an adorable little house in her hometown in Pennsylvania. She has a job she loves, teaching first grade at the same elementary school she once attended. And she has the same boyfriend that she fell in love with in that very school, when they were both in third grade. He’ll get around to proposing one day, she’s just sure of it. Carly doesn’t want to change anything in her life.

  Doncan thinks his life is just about perfect. He’s followed in his father’s and his grandfather’s footsteps and is an advocate (lawyer) on the Isle of Man, dealing mostly with estates and trusts. This earns him a generous income that allows him to drive a luxury car and live in a fabulous penthouse apartment. He’s never short of female company and he doesn’t want to change anything in his life.

  When Carly’s grandmother inherits a cottage on the Isle of Man, Carly makes the journey to the island to settle the estate. Doncan wants the paperwork signed and the cottage safely sold to his cousin, who is ready to tear it down and build luxury apartments in its place. Carly falls in love with the old cottage and the beautiful island, while Doncan tries hard to keep her happy so she will sign on the dotted line. Suddenly both of their lives are changing in ways neither of them ever imagined.

  Island Escape

  An Isle of Man Romance

  By Diana Xarissa

  Katie’s life changes dramatically only a few months before her planned wedding. With the wedding cancelled, an unexpected opportunity to do some research on the picturesque Isle of Man seems the perfect escape. She can get away from all the sympathetic looks and gossipy remarks and focus on her career while nursing her broken heart.

  Finlo Quayle is the gorgeous owner of the island’s only charter airline. William Corlett is the intelligent and sexy man who runs the institute that is funding Katie’s research. Katie finds herself being fought over by two very different men, both of whom attract her in very different ways.

  Now the only thing Katie is sure of is that she isn’t going to let a ghost make any decisions about her love life for her.

  About the Author:

  Diana Xarissa lived on the glorious Isle of Man for more than ten years before returning to the United States with her family. Now living near Buffalo, New York, she enjoys having the opportunity to write about the island that she loves so much. It truly is an amazing and magical place.

  Diana also writes mystery/thrillers set in the not-too-distant future under the pen name “Diana X. Dunn” and fantasy/adventure books for middle grade readers under the pen name “D.X. Dunn.”

  She would be delighted to know what you think of her work and can be contacted through Facebook, Goodreads or on her website at www.dianaxarissa.com.