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“What would you say about someone who is not WOKE? They are “asleep,” “unconscious,” “indifferent.” They are “Mind Closed, Mouth Open.”” – Diane Ravitch

“Beware the unwoke mind.” – Amanda Marcotte

I recently told a friend I was nominating the word ‘woke’ for the one most in need of retiring in 2023. It has become both ubiquitous and meaningless, useful only as a slur employed by right-wing types to hurl at everything they don’t like or agree with. They take great pleasure in accusing those interested in social justice, equality, and accurate history of being whatever they think ‘woke’ means. At this point it only serves as a weapon and a form of mockery. I don’t believe I can have a serious conversation with anyone using the word, since the only people still saying it are wielding it as a verbal cudgel they feel no obligation to define.

Now on Amazon! Why not start the new year with some page-turning detection? Join Maggie Dahl and the cast of characters from the Maggie Dahl Mysteries as she finds herself in a new life, new town, and new adventure searching for killers who may very well be searching for her.

Double Trouble brings together the first two Maggie Dahl Mysteries: Black Cat White Paws, and Open Secrets. Maggie and her late husband David had left New York City for a new life in Lambertville, NJ. Soon after following their dream there, Maggie finds herself pursuing it alone after David’s sudden death. She opens Dahl House Jams, she devotes herself to success, and she comes face to face with murder.

In Black Cat White Paws, Maggie throws herself into solving the murder of her neighbor, whose cat Checks quickly becomes part of Maggie’s family. Her sister moves from Philadelphia to help her in this difficult time and forget her own rocky relationships with men. Soon the sisters are tracking down a killer and revealing a shocking secret that has kept a notorious case unsolved … until now.

In Open Secrets, Maggie has become a minor celebrity in town, and she suddenly finds herself trying to learn what happened to another one: local author Shanna Delaney, whose second book of essays threatens to reveal secrets someone wants kept unknown. Throughout the two books, we’re introduced to characters who all have one thing in common: life in an idyllic Delaware River community that had not seen a murder in decades … until Maggie Dahl came to town.