Dilys tonight

sunny, cold, temps minus 5

Winter just keeps clinging on. But the sunshine really does make it easier.

We took advantage of our new hair cuts, and the fact we were actually dressed at 6:30 last night, to go to the Bistro on the Avenue for dinner. I had a hankering for steaks frites. Off we went - love that restaurant, on Greene. Feels very much like a Parisian bistro, though because it's in Westmount most people speak English.

We both had grilled ribeye, but instead of frites we had vegetables. And then shared the most wonderful slice of key lime pie.

We absolutely love our Montreal apartment. It's small, but perfect for our needs. And the location is wonderful, as you can tell. Walking distance to all sorts of great restaurants, and food shops and a bookstore, and the metro (subway). In the summer we can even walk to the Musee des beaux arts if we wanted. But not in the winter. We're far too delicate for that.

Tonight, in Santa Fe, the Dilys Award is being given out - and Bury Your Dead is on the shortlist! It's awarded at Left Coast Crime, which is an annual gathering of crime readers and writers, on the west coast. The Dilys is a particularly meaningful award since it's voted on by booksellers. It's for the book the Independent Mystery Booksellers across North America most enjoyed selling last year. Here's the complete list of nominees -

LOVE SONGS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE, Colin Cotterill
THE LOCK ARTIST, Steve Hamilton
MOONLIGHT MILE, Dennis Lehane
BURY YOUR DEAD, Louise Penny
ONCE A SPY, Keith Thomson
SAVAGES, by Don Winslow

An amazing list of nominees - and again, it really is enough to be on the list, especially when you consider all the great books that were published last year.

By the way, the forecast for Santa Fe is sunny with highs around 55 degrees. I'd have thought it would be much warmer, but I guess not.

Have just finished the writing for today - wish I could tell you what's happening...but that would be a mistake.

Heading back to the country in an hour or so. Taking pizzas and chicken wings to Pat and Tony, to thank them for looking after Trudy and the house.

I'll let you know what happens at the Dilys. Fingers crossed!

Lost and Found

clear, cold, windy, minus a gazillion


Hard to believe just a week ago I was in a cotton sundress in Phoenix, Arizona. On one side of me a honey-mooning couple were doing 'something' in the hotel pool and on the other side of me the inauguration of Barack Obama on television. I chose to watch the television.

It was 85 degrees and I was there to launch my latest book, A RULE AGAINST MURDER.

Now, here I am in Quebec City - minus 25 - and clutching a hotwater bottle like a babe. Indeed, there seems something biblical about this. Definitely Old Testament.

However, in the midst of the bitter cold, we found Paradise. Well, steak frites. And, in case any doubt remained, profiteroles. We had dinner last night half a block up the street (Saint-Stanislas) at the Entrecote St Jean - on rue Saint-Jean. Outside the mullioned and frosty windows people hurried by and Christmas lights gleamed on the snow, and inside we were toasty and warm eating steak and french fries and ice cream filled pastry drizzled with warm, dark chocolate.

The only thing that might have marred the picture was us...our clothes were fine, but our heads lacked a certain je ne sais quoi. It's the bane of a Quebec winter. Hat Head. And static electricity. As soon as we get indoors and take off our tuques (hats) our hair stands straight up, as though we've had a fright or a particularly good idea.

But then comes the fall. At some point during dinner some of the static electricity leaves (I wonder where it goes) and the hair falls. But not all of it. The hair that does subside then clings to whatever skin is exposed. Neck, cheek, ears. Half the hair plastered to the face, the other half reaching for the stars.

A Quebec winter is a test of true love. I had the great pleasure of sitting across from Michael and his grey Mohawk. And he got to see me - little Richard Simmons.

Then, when we touch each other we run the risk of electrocution. If we could just harnass this energy we could run the whole city.

Had a wonderful day yesterday...read 100 pages of proofs for the next book and set up an appointment with someone who knows all the history of this place where the body will be found. That will be on Thursday. I still need to find someone who can tell me about Samuel de Champlain. The founder and father of Quebec, 400 years ago. Whose body has never been found. They've somehow lost the founder. And it remains the biggest mystery in Quebec history.

I'm here to solve it. And eat croissants. Wish me luck.