Monkshood! A healing flower that is also poisonous. Gail Frazer and I used it in one of our Dame Frevisse medieval mysteries years ago. And it’s still around, of course. In fact, it very recently killed a woman in California and made a man extremely ill when they ingested it in a tea bought from a Chinese herbalist.

I’m beginning to think Tying the Knot is dead. I just can’t write it. I know the writing spark is still there; I’ve started to talk to a woman who served as a police chaplain and who tells inspiring, sometimes hair-raising, stories about her experiences. She could write a book – and I believe I could serve as her ghost.

Last night I was lying in bed with the cat Java draped across my upper legs and tummy and I was lazily tickling her under her chin. She suddenly turned a forepaw over and very gently grasped my finger with pad and claw to still my hand. She held onto the finger for about a minute then put her head on my hand and we both went to sleep.