Laura Elizabeth’s Personal Invitation to Return to the Little Island Where Mysteries Just Keep Washing Up

OUR COVER STORY, this week, comes in two parts as we celebrate the return of cozy mystery author Laura. Elizabeth’s friends on tiny Mongin Island off the Atlantic Coast of South Carolina. First, Laura herself updates us with a host of opportunities on the horizon from book appearances to four dinner-theater versions of her second mystery in Georgia in early 2025. That part of our Cover Story appears in our Front Edge Publishing website this week.

Then Second, Editor David Crumm has posted his own overview of this new novel, explaining in this Goodreads column why the cozy mystery formula is such a welcoming genre for so many readers.

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And more from our writers—

End of Summer Postcards from Rodney Curtis

ALL WE CAN SAY IS: You’ve simply got to visit author-and-photojournalist Rodney Curtis’s website to enjoy these gorgeous photographs from an end-of-summer Great Lakes getaway.

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Where on earth (and in the heavens) are all those people going?

ONE OF THE MAJOR RELIGION-NEWS TRENDS our writers have been following in recent years is the so-called “Rise of the Nones”—or, more properly, the rising tide of Americans who don’t give pollsters a specific religious affiliation. Now, 1 in 4 Americans are “unaffiliated.”

FIRST, we are linking, this week, to a very thoughtful overview of fresh Pew Research data by Calvin University scholar Debra Rienstra, which was just published by our colleagues over at the Reformed Journal. (We now co-sponsor the Reformed Journal Books publishing imprint, which debuted with Telling Stories in the Dark.) Debra’s September 7 headline is: Religious Churn in America—A New Study.

THEN, SECOND, please read about the little Illinois church that said, “Goodbye!” However—rather than simply vanishing without another word, the congregation and its pastor found their story going viral. MSU Bias Busters founder Joe Grimm writes about this story that’s sweeping the country—and the valuable lessons we all can take away from it.

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Holidays & Festivals

 

Already planning for Rosh Hashana 5785?

HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS columnist Stephanie Fenton looks ahead to the Jewish High Holidays coming in less than a month from now.

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WANT TO SEE ALL OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS? It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just remember the web address: InterfaithHolidays.com

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Faith & Film

ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with film reviews and discussion guides. This resource is used nationwide by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

Here are some of Ed’s most recent free reviews and columns:

• GOOD ONE—Ed highly recommends this indie coming-of-age film that unfolds over a hike in upstate New York.
• HAROLD and the PURPLE CRAYON—”Director Carlos Saldanha’s adaptation of the beloved 1955 children’s classic by Crockett Johnson gives us the adult version of the original series about a four-year old and his magical purple crayon who lives inside a book.”
• ALIEN: ROMULUS—Ed tells us this film is plenty scary in keeping with the Alien franchise.
• THE FABULOUS FOUR—Ed says we may enjoy this movie if we like typical comedies about “rambunctious senior citizens.”
• IT ENDS WITH US—“Director/star Justin Baldoni’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s best-selling novel starts as a passionately romantic tale that turns into a dark cautionary tale.”
• MY PENGUIN FRIEND—“I love interspecies films such as Fly Away, and Brazilian director David Schurmann’s film is a delightful addition to the genre.”
• SING SING—This inspiring film is based on a true story of prisoners producing an annual theatrical production at Sing Sing prison..

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