Serendipitous coolness in Amsterdam

The boss is a big history fan, as are Alan and Becky. (Me not so much.) Thus when he heard about a book called Murder in the Adirondacks, he asked Becky to get it for him on inter library loan. He reads a lot, but mostly newspapers and trade publications, so this was quite unusual for him. He finished it in a couple of nights and his asides as he read made me want to read it too, so as soon as he finished I did so.

We both really liked it. The murder tale offered a good thread to hold the whole works together, but what I found most interesting was the glimpse it offered of life in that period. This was long before modern forensics, long before the ease of communication we take for granted today (early 1900s) and yet the murder was solved to the satisfaction of most people. I was amazed at how folks kept in contact with one another much more easily than might be expected. I guess the mail was quicker back then, because letters went quite a distance in just a day or two. People could use the mail to set up meetings in just a matter of days. Nowadays you could drive a slow horse from here to Utica a lot fast than a letter would travel, which rather puzzles me.

Anyhow, I was quite tickled to read on Dan's Blog that Amsterdam Reads 2009 chose it as their title for the year. (The readers are in for a good time I think.)The event is even written up on the website of the paper that runs the Farm Side. How neat that we should read it just before it was chosen!
Thanks for the heads up, Dan.