MY READER'S BLOCK: GAD Mystery Word of the Day: Willy-Wagtail

SCAM artist alert

Apparently there is someone calling themself "Luigi Calloway" out there who is claiming to be associated with the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. He is contacting authors and telling them if they pay him, then their books will be used for the challenge. It's possible he's also telling people they must pay to participate in any way. Please know that there is absolutely no charge associated in any way with this reading challenge and that this person does NOT represent me or anything associated with my blog. I DO NOT endorse anything that he claims.There will NEVER be a reason for anyone to have to pay for participation in any way for any of my challenges. If only people who exert this much time and effort on scamming people would put it into something worthwhile....like reading their own books!

Thursday, July 30, 2026

GAD Mystery Word of the Day: Willy-Wagtail

My newest mystery meme: the Golden Age of Detection (GAD*) Mystery Word of the Day. Whenever I find a word that I'm unfamiliar with--or shall we say not absolutely confident I know the exact meaning of, I'm going to actually take time to look it up and share it with mystery-lovers everywhere. There will be occasional words from more modern mysteries as well. 😊

Today's GAD Mystery Word of the Day: Willy-wagtail (noun) A passerine bird native to Australia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, and Eastern Indonesia. It is black with a white belly, eyebrows, and whisker marks.

Outside the hut wherein Bony was pondering these theories a willy-wagtail shrilly chirped its warning call and, thus warned of someone's approach, he quickly stacked the weather reports and was wrapping them in their brown-paper covering when Stella Borradale appeared in the open doorway. (Winds of Evil by Arthur W Updike)