Month: December 2018

Burst / Busted

BURST / BUSTED The common misuse here is substitution of the word busted to mean burst. Perhaps the confusion lies in similar definitions for these two verbs (bust, […]

Cozy Mystery All Through the Night

All Through the Night, by Mary Higgins Clark:   Retired cleaning woman and lottery winner Alvirah Meehan is on the snoop again in New York City […]

Biannual / Biennial

Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse writers. I have found the following to be among them: BIANNUAL / BIENNIAL  Since […]

Cozy Mystery Nutty as a Fruitcake

Nutty as a Fruitcake, by Mary Daheim: ’Tis the season for murder when elderly, cantankerous Enid Goodrich is found hacked to death in her home […]

Beside / Besides

Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse writers. I have found the following to be among them: BESIDE / BESIDES As […]

Psychological Thriller Envy

Envy, by Sandra Brown:   Perhaps money is not the root of all evil: perhaps envy is. When an over-the-transom submission lures New York publisher […]

Bare / Bear

Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse people. I have found the following to be among them: BARE / BEAR Since […]

Horror Novel 77 Shadow Street

77 Shadow Street, by Dean Koontz:   Ravenous animal-plant hybrids controlled by nanomachines prowl a midwestern luxury condo building, devouring and transforming residents into similar miscreants […]