Monday, November 16, 2009

Molly and Me


Victorian Pictures, Images and Photos
Who is that, you say? Well, lean near and I will tell you a story. A long time ago (perhaps 1929) a very intelligent woman wrote a fascinating tale about a dashing young man who many thought silly and pompous. But there are some that know better than that, and some would say they knew all along that he was too smart by far, and just covering up his real self so as to assist many. That man, in a long about way, could be considered a relative of sorts if the reader prefer. So be it, a relative from even further back, perhaps around 1792. That man, as I was saying, was no other but the famously known Sir Percy Blakeney.

Richard E Grant Scarlet Pimpernel Pictures, Images and PhotosWhat’s that you say? You never heard of ‘im? Why he’s the Scarlet Pimpernel. You know, the one that saved all those French aristocrats, from Mam’zelle Guillotine. A very brave lad, but I digress. It’s me that you want to know about, and rightly so, for I am the female strategist on par with Sir Percy, I do say, but get very little credit for it being the softer, gentler sex, but by no means the weaker in the workings of the mind.

I know what they say about me, though I pretend I don’t care. What is it they say, you ask? Well, let’s not be dense. It’s right there in the first paragraph of, The Ninescore Mystery.

“Well, you know, some say she is the daughter of a duke, others that she was born in the gutter, and that the handle has been soldered on to her name in order to give her style and influence.”

I’ll not be defending myself because I need no defense. I’m known as Lady Molly. I am a detective in charge of the Female Department of Scotland Yard. Is it my fault that Percy got all the attention?




Okay. It’s me, Jill Nutter here.




Molly of Scotland Yard is my alter ego. Why? Because she was a woman doing a very rare thing in her day and ahead of her time thanks to both Percy’s and Molly’s creator, the awesome, Baroness Emmuska Orczy.

B. Orczy Pictures, Images and Photos



Sherlock Holmes would have been proud to call Molly sister.

Basil Rathbone Pictures, Images and Photos



I’ve always been a detective at heart. I love exploring peoples problems and why they do the things they do. Maybe that's how I ended up studying psychology and social work, but it's literary detecting I love best. We writer types are literary word solvers as we piece together our stories one word at a time. It’s a constant mystery we unravel as we piece together our stories and search for the right word, phrase, character, conflict, etc. Every writer must be a detective. Researching and reasoning out why our characters do what they do.

I also try to detect how God is working in my life. I look for clues and try to connect with God and what He wants me to do. That often leeds to the need for prayer. Now Molly of Scotland Yard, while trying to solve the Ninescore Mystery may have stopped into Canterbury Cathedral to pray as she and her collegue Mary went tramping around the countryside.

Shrine in Canterbury Cathedral Pictures, Images and Photos


Molly will return with interesting intuitions as she solves one crime after another. I hope you will continue to detect right along with me as you solve mysteries in your own life and in the books you love.

Question: Who is your favorite detective from any time period? OR What is your favorite mystery?


have a look Pictures, Images and Photos

22 comments:

  1. Being the mystery lover that I am I can't narrow it down to a single favorite. I love the classic British mysteries by DL Sayers and Agatha Christie all the way up to modern day sleuths such as SJ Rozan's Lydia Chin and Amanda Matetsky's Paige Turner. I fell in love with mysteries when I was little, reading Nancy Drew and the Boxcar Children and lots of others. I had never heard of Lady Molly though, (and I LOVE the Scarlet Pimpernel!)

    Thanks Jill for bringing her to my attention, she sounds just like my kind of gal!

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  2. Hi Jill,
    The biggest mystery right now is who is posting this week and will Gina's kids come down with Chickenpox?

    I hope Lady Molly can come back and join us from time to time. We need someone to track down the answer to these mysteries and others!

    I'm a Miss Marple fan but probably my favorite sleuth of all time is Nancy Drew. I can't recall her boyfriend's name but it was short and started with a K, didn't it? He had nice wheels. I remember that.

    And I like another great sleuth, Sherlock Hemlock. Is he still on Sesame Street? It has been 25 yrs since I watched it with my kids after all.

    thanks Jill!

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  3. I can't say I've ever been a huge detective fan, but I do like funny chic lit type detective books. I recently fell in love with Christy Barrit's Hazardous Duty and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

    Funny thing about relating detective work to writing. I've learned that I tend to hide the tension and motivations to deep beneath the surface in my books. You have to be an amatuer psychiatrist to find them. I'm always having to pull them up and make them more apparent.

    Dina

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  4. Okay, I do see my spelling mistake in above post, but it's early and I don't feel like rewriting it. By the way, I forgot about Encyclopedia Brown. I loved him as a kid.

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  5. I'll have to check out Lady Molly since I LOVE Sir Percy Blakeney!

    As for other detectives I enjoy: Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and William and Hester Monk (from Anne Perry's books), Sarah Brandt and Frank Malloy (from Victoria Thompson's books), and of course Miss Marple and Poriot (from Agatha Christie)!

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  6. Jill,
    My, you're ready to take on the world with that dashing scarlet scarf! Great article.

    For me it's Hercule Poirot, all the way. I've read, reread, rereread, all the Agatha Christie mysteries. My favorite? Curtain....

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  7. Nancy's boyfriend was Ned Nickerson. Love that he never interfered in her investigations. (Unless asked to help of course) SO anti-type for the times.

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  8. What a great interview and discussion.
    tarenn98[at]yahoo[dot]com

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  9. Good Morning Inkies and Friends,
    I just love detective work and my favorite newest detective is, Rick Castle from the tv show Castle. I think some of us may have mentioned him at some other time in conversation. :) I didn't realize till recently that they actually sell the books that Nathan Fillion's character writes. I saw one the other day. Great promotion idea.

    I recently discovered Lady Molly and thought she should at least get some recognition for all her hard work because it's really hard to live up to the reputation of the Scarlet Pimpernel. But Molly is a gutsy gal and wanted to make sure that readers and writers knew of her existense.

    Hey Dina,
    Let's not worry too much about spelling mistakes while were blogging. No worries for any of us regarding that today.

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  10. Hi, Jill: Great pictures, esp of you! Love the scarf and loved getting to know Molly. I've always loved mystery and suspense. I adore Castle, too. Murder She Wrote is one of my favorites, though the books were awful! I grew up on the Bobbsey (glad spelling isn't counting today!)Twins and Nancy Drew. No one comes out as a favorite. I love reading Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, but Jack does some mightily incredible things! I wouldn't get away with it if I wrote it. :-)))

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  11. Creative post!
    I loved Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew as a kid. And I always loved Columbo too. Murder She Wrote was fun to watch as well.

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  12. Hey Gang,
    Glad you like my picture.:) What I do for a little attention. I remember reading Nancy Drew for hours as a kid and Lisa I'm so proud of you for remembering Ned. I couldn't think of his name.

    And Connie, I loved Murder She Wrote too, but I never tried to read the books. Now, I'm glad I didn't.

    I have never heard of Encyclopedia Brown. How did I miss him/her? Fill me in.

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  13. Fun post, Jill! I hadn't heard of Lady Molly either. And everyone's right: you look gorgeous in your pic. That scarf is fabulous.

    I am so glad Lisa mentioned Ned, b/c I confess my daughter and I are Ned Nickerson fans. He's such a doll of a guy, supportive of Nancy's sleuthing, concerned, but not overly protective... We play Nancy Drew computer games, and Ned is always just a phone call away if Nancy needs a friendly voice. Or a hint.

    As for favorite sleuths, I loved Hercule Poirot. I also liked Chee and Leaphorn in Tony Hillerman's books.

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  14. Wow! There really have been a lot of different detectives who have touched our lives. Susanne, I'm so glad you mentioned Tony Hillerman's books with Chee and Leaphorn. I have read a couple of these books as time allows and theyr'e great. Sounds like there are a lot of Ned Nickerson fans out there with Nancy Drew too.

    And Hercule Poirot as Patti and you mentioned is fabulous.

    Lisa, I have to admit I've never read SJ Rozan's Lydia Chin and Amanda Matetsky's Paige Turner. I love that name, Paige Turner. How do you think she came up with that? :)

    Oh and I just remembered Amelia Peabody who is in Elizabth Peter's books about Egypt and the Pharaohs, etc.

    Who are we still missing?

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  15. Loved reading this post...and I liked the pictures, too.

    I agree w/ the ladies who commented on Nancy Drew...I must have read all of her books growing up...But, I, too, enjoyed Agatha Christie...and Miss Marple was an ol' favourite of mine, too.

    karen k
    kmkuka(at)yahoo(Dot)com

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  16. Hey April, adge and Karen,
    I am so glad you are in on this discussion today. I think Nancy Drew is probably the most often noted of the detectives here, but it's really amazing how many there are.

    Did anyone see the latest Sherlock Holmes movie with I think it was Robert Downy Jr. I missed it, but I might get it at the video store if anyone liked it.

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  17. My favorite detective as a young reader was Nancy Drew. I had every single one of those books... hard cover, no less! I loved how Nancy and her friends were pretty much autonomous. There were responsible adults around, but they didn't do much. Neither did the boyfriends. It was all about girl power!

    As for favorite modern crime fighter, I've got to cast my vote for Rick Castle. Okay, he's a writer, not a cop or detective, but that's part of what makes him so much fun.

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  18. Jennifer,,
    I think Castle is very much a detective. Okay, he doesn't have the badge, but he's got the smarts and Kate Becket counts on him even if she doesn't admit it.

    Oh my gosh, I almost forgot Charlie Chan. Any of you out there remember those movies? I'm really dating myself now. :) Ouchie!

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  19. Okay,
    I admit it. I'm out of control. I remember laughing so hard at the Charlie Chan movies when I was a kid. Here's some of Charlie Chan's wisdom.

    "Mind like parachute - only function when open!" (from Charlie Chan at the Circus)

    "Wisdom is but knowing what to do."

    "Success comes to man who works calmly and knows what for."

    "Can eternity be measured or the worth of friends appraised?"

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  20. Well everyone, it's time for this sleuth to catch some zzzzzzz's.:) I hope you've had fun learning a little bit about Lady Molly of Scotland Yard today. I know I've enjoyed hearing from every single one of you.

    For any of you night owls, I'd still love to hear who your favorite detective or mystery is and how you came to discover them.

    Molly will be back with a few more tidbits about her life. Until then you may want to read up on some of her adventures. Follow this link for a nice surprise. http://manybooks.net/titles/orczybarother0_molly_of_scotland_yard.html

    Until next time, may all your sleuthing be successful as God gently guides you on your journey.

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  21. Hey Jillie, what a fun post. I've never read the Scarlet Pimpernel.

    Many of my favorite detectives have already been mentioned: Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Nancy Drew, Jessica Fletcher, and YES Rick Castle. Oooh la la. But I have two more to add: Monk, and My all time favorite detective: Mrs. Polifax. I love Emily Polifax. She's this sweet little old lady who decides she wants to be in the CIA. Great, fun books.

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  22. Well, I didn't know who Molly was so thank you for introducing her.

    My fav detective? Here's the order I thought about them:
    - Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote
    - Charlie Chan & #1 Son
    - Rick Castle & Beckett (oh yeah)
    - Magnum PI
    - Simon & Simon
    how long have you got?

    Okay let's face it... I love detective shows but I didn't devour detective books. Hmmm.

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