This has all been interesting. One thing to note is that when a woman married she was considered a "bride" during the first year of marriage. Sophie could have died during that time and been designated as such on the headstone. The designation would have indicated that yes, they were legally married but they did not share a long life together where they were known in the community as a 'couple' and they were probably childless. This archaic designation is sometimes still used today with introductions, such as "This is my cousin Jake and his new bride Mary" or "My brother has returned from his honeymoon with his new bride". Knowing local history can sometimes yield clues. Often times there was a sweeping pestilence that wiped out huge numbers suddenly and headstone markers where put up fast or further engraved years afterwards when some of the defining information had been lost or was unknown. One of the most interesting bits of history I learned was the time period designated Year Without A Summer. Large numbers of people died in the Northeast. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer Here is a link that might be useful: Year Without A Summer

Friedag, thank you for fascinating anecdote about Allingham and du Maurier. I had no idea about their rivalry. I think the two remind me of each other in that Allingham (in my opinion) is trying to write mysteries which can be taken seriously as novels in their own right. In this aspect I think she struggled as a writer, but she did succeed in adding a deeper level to the standard murder mystery. I'm still not sure whether I admire Margery Allingham as a writer, though I loved The Case of the Late Pig. Professionally, she was so eclipsed by Christie and Sayers, that I feel a bit sorry for her. In Dancers in Mourning, for example, her detective Albert Campion finds himself falling in love with the unhappy wife of a man who is a suspect in several murders. Campion agonizes about how to proceed with his investigation, and the reader is meant to sympathize with his personal unhappiness, and his professional scruples. I was reminded of My Cousin Rachel, in that the narrator's shifting perceptions of Rachel shape whether the reader perceives Rachel as a murdering fortune-hunter, or merely as a victim of jealous paranoia. With the exception of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (published at the beginning of her phenomenal career) Christie would not have added such a complex layer of characterization to an already successful formula. What amazes me about Christie is how she was able to churn out 3-4 novels a year for decades without going bonkers at the sameness of what she was writing. (To be fair, Christie was very pressured by her publishers not to stray from her set formula.) I hope to start Sayers in the fall. I have never read Georgette Heyer, but she is on my list of writers to try. Heyer's reputation has improved considerably in the last few years. She is an interesting example of the ebb and flow of a writer's respect among critics and readers. I know someone who helps choose the titles for a local book club made up mostly of career women in their 40s and early 50s. I suggested My Cousin Rachel as a possible title. She crinkled her nose in polite disdain, and made some dismissive comment about Daphne du Maurier's books. It was this incident that made me think she had become "old hat" to contemporary readers. Heyer suffered this same fate for years.

Thanks for the notice - I'm so excited to hear this - I just plopped down my $2.99 for my Kindle version. I've been away for 10 days and Microsoft wouldn't let me access my Hotmail account which is where all my book announcements and retailer advertisements are sent. I had 852 emails from a variety of merchants from Amazon to Zulily. I just sat and deleted the majority of them and of course realized that I don't really need to know which sweaters are on sale at Talbot's or that the Smithsonian has free shipping with only 2 hours remaining..............and on and on. It was the perfect reminder that I need to unsubscribe from most of them. And I need to update my Amazon settings - some days I get 4 emails about Kindle books.

I read The Tilt by Australian crime writer Chris Hammer. I have enjoyed his previous books (Scrublands, Silver, Treasure & Dirt) but thought this was the best by quite a bit. Very Australian settings and interesting characters, my only complaint is in the earlier books he gave the characters really odd names (Mandalay Blonde, for instance), which I found drew me out of the story a bit. I also read Breakfast at Tiffany's, which came in a volume with three other stories. BAT was interesting, and I have been told the movie is very different, which must be true if Audrey Hepburn played Holly, I think. The second story had such a very odd ending that I didn't bother with the others. I've now moved on to Essex Dogs by Dan Jones, who has previously written non-fiction, mainly medieval history. I'm only a little way in, and not sure if I'm going to like it or not. I have a copy of Demon Copperhead, and it looks like I should get on to that next.