Take a look at this: For over ten years, this wonderful cartoon has been the standard-bearer for Ah Sweet Mystery. The eleven figures here (from left to right, Lord Peter Wimsey, Miss Jane Marple, Dr. Gideon Fell, Father Brown, Inspector Maigret, Edgar Allan Poe – a mere mortal granted status here as the father of the … Continue reading A CALL FOR HELP FROM MY READERS!!!
THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT: Death on the Pier
It’s England, 1933, and Bertie Carroll is one of the most successful playwrights on the West End, with stage hits like Witness for the Defense, The Hollow Mousetrap, and And Now They Were Zero. Okay, I made those titles up, but you get the point: Bertie writes mystery plays, and he’s a hot ticket – just like what … Continue reading THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT: Death on the Pier
BOOK CLUB READS AN EALING COMEDY: The Wooden Overcoat
Today would have been my dad’s ninety-seventh birthday. In the Jewish faith, we believe that those who have passed never leave us – everything we ever loved about them stays in our hearts. I know my father is nearby, nudging me remember to water the plants. He was a brilliant gardener, something I could never … Continue reading BOOK CLUB READS AN EALING COMEDY: The Wooden Overcoat
NAUGHTY BUT NICE: The Case of the Sulky Girl
If the opening chapters of 1933’s The Case of the Sulky Girl emit for me a faint “been-there-read-that” whiff, I must remind myself that this was only Erle Stanley Gardner’s second Perry Mason adventure. That’s what comes of trying to read 80+ cases out of order. Fran Celane resembles half the female clients who will walk into Mason’s hallowed office … Continue reading NAUGHTY BUT NICE: The Case of the Sulky Girl
NETFLIX CLOCKS IN: Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials
You probably won’t ever find me sitting on a panel extolling the superiority of Agatha Christie’s thrillers. Oh, there’s fun to be had, but there’s also a good deal of silliness: Christie veered toward ideological conspiracies and hidden master criminals a lot. Still, even in the absence of Marple or Poirot, she could be clever … Continue reading NETFLIX CLOCKS IN: Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials
IT ONLY LOOKS LIKE A BOOK: Can You Solve The Murder?
I mentioned last year that John Curran’s latest book, The Murder Game, had revived those ancient armchair detective instincts that turned me into a serious mystery reader in the first place. Folks, I used to take notes when reading Agatha Christie!! Every generation has something to use as “training wheels” for exercising the little grey cells. For me, … Continue reading IT ONLY LOOKS LIKE A BOOK: Can You Solve The Murder?
ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE: Theatricality in Agatha Christie’s Novels and Stories
Let me set the stage for you . . . Everyone who loves Agatha Christie has discovered her in their own unique way. Ask someone “What was the first Christie you read?”, and there are sixty-six possible answers – and that’s if you’re only counting her mystery novels. Each of us has our origin story, … Continue reading ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE: Theatricality in Agatha Christie’s Novels and Stories
NEW YEARS EVIL AT THE COBEN-CABANA
On a cold and rainy weekend in Northern California, I curled up on my sofa with a cat on either side of me and binge-watched all eight hours of Harlen Coben’s Run Away on Netflix. AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Coben has written nearly forty books – well, they’re not books actually; they’re more like Rube Goldberg contraptions in print. They … Continue reading NEW YEARS EVIL AT THE COBEN-CABANA
PERRY MASON ’26! The Case of the Unveiled Theme
Yes! Yes! Yes!!! I confess it!! I love you, Perry Mason! More than that, I need you!! I need my monthly fix of history’s best defense attorney to cope with this life. Your formula works for me: take one downtrodden client and shove them through the doors of Mason’s office, where secretary Della Street and … Continue reading PERRY MASON ’26! The Case of the Unveiled Theme
THE (AH SWEET) MYSTERIES OF 2026
What is up for the Ah Sweet Mystery blog in 2026? Some of that is a mystery even to me! You never know what may be right around the corner, waiting for us to discover it! Still, there are a few things things I’d like to share that I hope will whet your whistle as much as … Continue reading THE (AH SWEET) MYSTERIES OF 2026
Ah Sweet Mystery! 