Aunt Bessie's Holiday (33 page)

Glossary of Terms

English/Manx to American Terms

Other notes:

As far as I can determine, there really aren’t any US
equivalents to a UK holiday park.
 
Imagine a huge site where every family can stay in their own private
cabin or cottage with two or more bedrooms and multiple bathrooms.
 
Most of the parks offer a central
location for a large indoor swimming complex as well as shops and
restaurants.
 
Elsewhere on the site
will be sports fields, tennis courts, mini golf, possibly a full-sized golf
course, indoor sports courts for things like basketball and squash, pool
tables, table tennis, etc.
 
Some
even offer things like horseback riding or off-roading.
 
Such parks now also offer spa
facilities, but those weren’t yet popular in the late 1990s when Bessie visited
Lakeview.
 
The sites offer an
enormous range of activities for guests of all ages, from day-care facilities
for the very young to introductory classes in just about every sport you can
imagine for children from two or three and up.
 
They also offer arts and crafts, special
activities just for teens and their own small supermarkets.

Ronaldsway is the area of the island where the airport is
located.
 
Although officially called
the “Isle of Man Airport,” nearly everyone on the island calls it “Ronaldsway”
when talking about it.

Poohsticks comes from the Winnie the Pooh stories by A.A.
Milne.

CID is the Criminal Investigation Department of the Isle of
Man Constabulary (Police Force).

When talking about time, the English say, for example, “half
seven” to mean “seven-thirty.”

The emergency
number in the UK is 999, rather than 911, as used in the US.

The Lieutenant
Governor on the Isle of Man is the Queen’s official representative there.
 
Today the role is largely ceremonial.

Hop-tu-naa is a Celtic
festival that most closely approximates to US Halloween and takes place on
October 31
^st
each year.
 
Traditionally children hollow out and carve turnips and then light them
up with candles.
 
They also go
door-to-door and sing the Hop-tu-naa song in exchange for treats.
 
(The song varies depending on which part
of the island you live in.)

Holidays that
include “self-catering” have facilities within the accommodation to allow the
guests to cook their own meals rather than having to eat at restaurants each
day.

A “full English breakfast” generally consists of
bacon, sausage,
eggs, grilled or fried tomatoes, fried potatoes, fried mushrooms and baked
beans served with toast.

It has been pointed out to me
that I talk about different biscuits but don’t explain them.
 
Digestive biscuits (usually just called
digestives) are round, hard, slightly sweet and probably the most common
biscuit in the UK.
 
The closest US
equivalent that I can come up with is a graham cracker, but digestives are less
sweet and have a harder texture.
 
You can find them covered with a layer of chocolate or even caramel and
chocolate, which (to my mind) only improves them slightly.

Waterproofs are rain jackets
(and sometimes matching trousers) that attempt to keep their wearer dry in spite
of the heavy rain that is common in the UK.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to my
wonderful editor, Denise, who works so hard on my behalf.

Thanks to my beta readers, Charlene, Ruth,
Janice and Margaret.

Thank you to Helene and Anne for suggesting
some of the names for characters in this story.

Thanks to Kevin for the wonderful cover
photo, yet again.

And special thanks to all
the readers who have taken the time to get in touch via Facebook and email.
 
I love hearing your thoughts on Bessie and her friends!

Coming April 15, 2016

Aunt Bessie Invites

An Isle of Man Cozy Mystery

By Diana Xarissa

Aunt Bessie invites her dearest friends for a traditional American
Thanksgiving feast.

Having spent her childhood in the US, Bessie Cubbon still celebrates an
American-style Thanksgiving every November.
 
Now Laxey’s favourite “Aunt Bessie” is
planning for her biggest feast ever, but when a body turns up on a nearby farm,
she finds herself in the middle of yet another murder investigation.

Aunt Bessie invites herself to more than one house as she questions
various people about the dead man.
 
But the more she learns, the more complicated the case seems to get.

Aunt Bessie invites the dead man’s sister for tea.

But the sister has her own theory as to who might have killed her
brother.
 
Can Bessie help the police
sort out who really had a motive for murder all those years ago?
 

This is book nine in the Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Series.

Have you
read all of the Aunt Bessie Cozy Mysteries?

Aunt Bessie Assumes

Aunt Bessie Believes

Aunt Bessie Considers

Aunt Bessie Decides

Aunt Bessie Enjoys

Aunt Bessie Finds

Aunt Bessie Goes

Aunt Bessie’s Holiday

Aunt Bessie Invites
(Release date:
 
April 15, 2016)

By the same author

The Markham Sisters Cozy
Mystery Novellas

The Appleton Case

The Bennett Case

The Isle of Man Romance
Series

Island Escape

Island Inheritance

Island Heritage

Island Christmas

About the Author

Diana Xarissa lived on the Isle of Man for more
than ten years before returning to the United States with her family.
 
Now living near Buffalo, New York, she
enjoys having the opportunity to write about the island that she loves so much.
 
It truly is a special place.

Diana also writes mystery/thrillers set in
the not-too-distant future under the pen name “Diana X. Dunn” and
fantasy/adventure books for middle grade readers under the pen name “D.X.
Dunn.”

She would be delighted to know what you
think of her work and can be contacted through snail mail at:

Diana Xarissa Dunn

PO Box 72

Clarence, NY
 
14031.

Or find her on Facebook, Goodreads or on her
website at
www.dianaxarissa.com
.
 

You can sign up for her monthly newsletter
on the website and be among the first to know about new releases, as well as
find out about contests and giveaways and see the answers to the questions she
gets asked the most.