I was dazzled when I came outside and the morning sun hit one of the new Dahlia’s right in the heart. This is the photo of the day from me.

I learned that Archer Mayor’s new mystery Fall Guy came out today. I went to the Battenkill Bookstore and got it from the publisher right out of the box, which was still being opened.

Mayor is reliably great.

I love his gentle tales of Vermont,  a state with very few crimes.

Mayor never manages to be scary or creepy, although he does try; he is a superb plotter and uses Vermont very well as a backdrop. He is also a Vermont Death Investigator, which gives him creds.

His hero, Joe Gunther, head of Vermont’s fiction fictional crime unit, is perhaps the most thoughtful and honest in the mystery genre.

The investigations are interwoven with stories about Vermont, its people, and its fiercely individualistic lifestyle.

(Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti mystery series is also one of my favorites. Much of Guido’s life as an inspector is spent in cafes’, sipping espresso and worrying about what food and wine to bring home to his academic wife and two children for dinner. He rushes back and forth to his crime scenes and on water taxis and outfoxes his pompous and incompetent bosses.

Brunetti and Gunther have one thing in common. Neither one of them would hurt a fly.

Brunetti is also a gentle soul and corrupt, and tourist-overrun Venice is a fascinating setting.)

Gunther is almost too good to believe, but the stories are comforting and well thought out.

When I’m anxious, I start soaking up mysteries. Mayor is one of my favorites. I finished the excellent Thursday Night Murder Club  by Richard Osman in two readings over one night.

So I know what I will do after dinner (baked cauliflower heads).

I’ll be reading, and Maria and I will stay up to watch “Making The Cut,” the brazenly commercial but riveting Amazon Prime Video show about fashion designers killing themselves to win a million dollars and get their brands on Amazon’s cheesy fashion center.

We’re both working late tonight so we might miss it until tomorrow.

We are hooked on it for reasons we can’t quite explain. It might be the artist in Maria. I got hooked too. I can’t help rooting for some of the designers.

Every night, one gets tossed off the show. We have six or seven nights to go before we know the winner. We each choose our favorites and argue about who will win.

Anyway, I see it’s 9 p.m. Signing off. Good night and thanks for sharing my life with me.