Where the Sidewalks Begin and End in My Cozy Mysteries

Something as ordinary as sidewalks has always intrigued me. I grew up in a small rural town with few sidewalks, and I thought of them as a luxury to walk on where I didn't get the mud caked on my shoes. Our Main Street even featured dual sidewalks. Maybe a few of the side streets did, as well. The other small towns I passed through either did or didn't offer its residents sidewalks.

The larger the town was, the more likely it featured sidewalks. Some of the hamlets were no more than a sign staked in the ground at a crossroads or at a railroad crossing. I guess there was no budget to build the sidewalks. Who would use them anyway? So, my small town with its sidewalk had arrived, so to speak.      

Flash forward many years later when we moved to our suburban neighborhood. Sidewalks were one of the criteria we used to pick the neighborhood we wanted to live in. I encounter the sidewalks on every street. Since I'm a big walker, I'm in walking heaven. I make it a point to take a walk daily (doc's orders) and take advantage of the sidewalks found just outside my front door.

When I started writing my Piper & Bill Cozy Mystery Series, they became a married couple who also like to take daily walks in their neighborhood. Bill's doc has told him to walk for health reasons, and Piper sees to it he does.[book:The Corpse Wore Gingham|24404034] is a fun, light-hearted cozy mystery suitable for bedtime reading or anywhere else the reader wants to relax and escape into the entertaining story.