Do not judge a book by its cover - fib or fact?

My mom loves reading so much that she even reads the labels of the shampoo bottles! This is what my daughter wrote when she was in primary (junior) school.

I love reading!

I was on a one day, business trip, in Durban, South Africa, when I walked past a well known bookshop advertising their book sale. I could not stop myself from not going in and pretty soon I found myself browsing amongst rows and rows of books. For me it was like being in heaven.

I bought a lot of books. How many? I cannot remember the exact amount but what I can remember is that I had to buy a bag from a luggage shop nearby to fly the books back home.

When I got home I could not wait to have a good look at my new books. As I was looking at the covers and titles of the books one caught my eye, “Who killed Marilyn Monroe?”. Oh no! Not my kind of book. I truly do not want to read about who killed Marilyn Monroe. I gave the cover one look and put the book back in the bag.

Pretty soon I have read all the books in the bag except for that one. The one with the dreadful title, “Who killed Marilyn Monroe?”. As it was the only book left in the bag and I had nothing else to read I slow opened it and started to read. Oh my word! What a surprise! It was one of the best books I have ever read, witty, entertaining and easy reading.

This Marilyn Monroe was a donkey who was "murdered". The owner, Mr. Drysdale, whose first name is December, called in Grace Smith (PI) to investigate the murder. For many years the family business offered donkey rides to children on the beach. These donkeys were like humans to Mr. Drysdale, his family.

Very quickly Grace found herself drawn into a mystery of not only a murder of a donkey but also that of a young women, far more than what she had bargained for.

The story of Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart and the rest of the donkey gang kept me entertained from the moment I opened the book until the very last page. I just could not put it down.

For years I kept wondering how this book landed up in my purchase. I don’t know. One thing I do know is that I got to understand the true meaning of never judge a book by its cover, for me a fact!

Who killed Marilyn Monroe – Author Liz Evans