The Cases of the Disappearing Dentist, the Lean Librarian, and the Man Who Saw Purple

There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. Proverbs 30:18-19

1. Last week I inquired about the curious absence of the female dentist from the practice we have been frequenting for several years. I hadn't seen her for months; her name had disappeared from the sign outside the office door. "She took a year off to write a murder mystery, and now she's trying to market it."

What was she thinking, as she worked on our teeth?!

2. Librarians are scarce, since the advent of online catalogs and self-checkouts (scanners) at our local library. Last week, unexpectedly, one asked if she could help. I was perusing the classics, but told her I liked mysteries. I liked good writing, had read most of the old mysteries, and the new ones were either cutesy or had too much violence and psychological darkness. She nodded, referring to several writers who had started well, and gone off track. "That's what sells." She shook her head over Patricia Cornwell, Michael Connelly and Ruth Rendell.

Suddenly, the librarian became animated: she had liked Rendell's Judgement in Stone. The murder was because of illiteracy! The woman killed people because she couldn't read! That was a good one!*

3. Friday, my son and I toured a local mall (wheelchair-assisted) to search for school clothes. We ran into a friend in the domestics section of Kaufmans's. I bemoaned the difficulty of choosing paint colors. She said she and her husband find it difficult to agree on colors. He's colorblind in the blue/green part of the spectrum. They're having trouble leaving their white walls behind.

A royal blue couch she liked appeared to be Barney purple to him.

*The librarian recommended the historical mysteries of Lindsey Davis (particularly Silver Pigs) and Ellis Peters. I prefer to read historical fiction only if written at the time in which it is set. I once heard Niall Ferguson, a Harvard history professor, voice this preference during a C-span interview, and realized I shared it.
I did follow the librarian's recommendation and try Silver Pigs. I did not enjoy it enough to continue beyond the first 30 pages or so. I will give Ellis Peters another try. I think I read that Madeleine L'Engle enjoys her.
Note: If you follow the Ferguson link, you will find it is an off-topic, but fascinating, article (by an atheist): Heaven knows how we'll rekindle our religion, but I believe we must (HT: Mere Comments).