Tuesday, April 12, 2016

26+ Ways to Kill: J is for Jambiya or Joug


Welcome! Since I write culinary mysteries, “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time” deals with food topics and with mysteries. This month I am sharing ways to kill people—in your mysteries, of course—and some tips on getting away with it! To avoid the pronoun problem, I’ll use heesh (he or she), shis (his or hers), and shim (him or her) throughout the entries. Tune in for murder and mayhem.

There are several options for killing with J. A jib (sail or projecting arm of crane) was essentially dealt with as blunt force trauma when I wrote about boom. Jibs are related to boom.

Another blunt force object is a jimmy, a burglar’s short crowbar. That would hurt! But I can see a murder if the crook were interrupted in the midst of a burglary. I wouldn’t use it for Murder One, but you certainly could with the right plot.

But consider two other options.

I was introduced to the Jambiya by my critique partner, Sandra Bremser. She prominently features a jambiya in her soon-to-be published historical fiction, Crimson Veils, set in the mid-east. A jambiya is a nasty piece of work, though beautiful in its deadliness. A jambiya is a thick, double-edged, curved-blade knife.

A slice in the right place, would do great damage to the victim’s innards. This is an up close and personal kind of killing. Expect your killer to get bloody. While we may think of the jambiya as an old-timey weapon, it is still carried today in Yemen.

A Joug is an iron collar attached to a post and put around the neck as punishment in Medieval Scotland. In my scenario, I would have the screws tightened each day so that breathing is so obstructed death occurs. This method has the advantage (for the killer) of seeing shis victim suffer more each day. I’ll deal more with death this way on Q day.

Jougs are very fit for an historical mystery. However, you could set your mystery in a modern-day castle with its old torture chamber intact. How much fun could that be, killing one of the tourists while others look on thinking it's an historical re-enactment?

Have you had enough fun with this blog series? If so, DON’T come by to see ways to kill with K.

If you take time to share this post on social media, I would be most grateful. 

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#Mystery writer need ideas to kill? J is for Jambiya or Joug. Many killer tips this month #atozchallenge http://bit.ly/1MqwOxH
 
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Blogging from A to Z Challenge offers a wide range of topics. If you want to kill someone (in books of course), check out killing by Jambiya or Joug on “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time” at http://bit.ly/1MqwOxH

Check out Sharon Arthur Moore’s culinary mystery, Mission Impastable  

6 comments:

  1. Killing off tourists under the guise of an historical reenactment is a great idea for a book!

    Cheers - Ellen | http://thecynicalsailor.blogspot.com/2016/04/j-is-for-jetty-nancy-drew-investigates.html

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  2. Yeah, I thought you could do a nice twist with that, Ellen. I can imagine shim pleading for help as people munch their popcorn. I'm really a nice person, but I am beginning to think that's not the image I am projecting! lol

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  3. I don't know Sharon - if you're going to do me in in a J fashion, I'm going to vote for poisoned jambalaya and a julep. Deal?

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  4. Just when I thought I'd heard everything... But then again, a member of my writing group loves to kill characters. I'll have to ask her if she's heard of a jambiya.

    Liz A. from
    Laws of Gravity
    and
    Unicorn Bell

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    1. Hi, Liz! Thanks for dropping by. Yes, do check! I've been having huge fun with this challenge!

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