Sunday Snippets 12.22.24

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My only granddaughter, Marley, turned 16 on December 18th. She is in New York City with her other grandparents, her dad, and her dad’s girlfriend.

She’s going to be driving! That’s her new baby blue Bronco, which you see in the collage below.

Marley is my special girl! She’s a lot like me. She likes cottage gardens, crafts, and thrift stores. I want to take her thrifting, but she’s always so busy that it’s hard to carve out time with her. She’s always at school events or with her girlfriends. But then, that’s the normal life of a teenage girl.

Marley loves squirrels, as evidenced in one of the photos in the collage. She loves her big brother, Riley. She’s kind and sweet and thoughtful. Marley has a good heart.

While Marley is in New York City, Riley, who’s home from college, his mother, Kendra, Kasi, and I went to lunch yesterday.

What I’m Currently Watching:

I’m watching Hinterland. This is a great crime procedural set in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. Richard Harrington, DCI Tom Mathias, plays the main character.

I’ve read that the series is considered Celtic Noir, in the vein of Scandi Noir, or a noir crime drama.

The mood is somber and sometimes emotional. DCI Tom Mathias lost a daughter to drowning before he came to work in that part of Wales, and he is still grieving.

You wonder at the past interworkings of the rest of the team, which is only hinted at. What you see in the landscape is primarily hills and valleys. It is as though the sun never shines on that part of the world. But that sets the tone of the series.

Film noir is a style or genre of cinematographic film marked by a moody theme.

What I’m Currently Reading:

The Innocent One, from the internationally bestselling author of Everything She Forgot, focuses on a child accused of murder.

Innocent?
Ten years have passed, but everyone remembers The Angel Killer. Sebastian Croll was just eleven years old when he was accused of murdering his playmate.

Criminal attorney Daniel Hunter helped prove Sebastian’s innocence in a trial that gripped the nation. And now the past is being unearthed when he gets a call from his old client, who is again accused of murder.

Or guilty?

Sebastian’s university professor has been brutally murdered. And everyone who knew her is in the frame of suspicion. As Daniel steps in to represent Sebastian for a second time, news about the boy’s past spreads like wildfire, instantly branding Sebastian as guilty.

With tensions around the country rising, can Daniel again prove that Sebastian is innocent? Especially when he realizes that it’s not just Sebastian in danger but himself.

***

I read half of this book last night, as I wanted to savor the author’s writing style.

Also, the plot begs the question: Is a killer born or made?

Can a child that kills another child grow up to be a decent and contributing member of society? Or is violence an inherent trait that simmers just below the surface? And does a child have the capacity to understand the full ramifications of his/her actions?

That is the million-dollar question.