We’re nearly halfway through our celebration into the Girls! Girls! Girls! of Perry Mason. The truth is that I selected a dozen novels that, title-wise, fit the thematic bill, but the titular ladies abound in the 82-novel canon that comprises Mason’s career. The feminine gender even seeps into the four novelettes that Erle Stanley Gardner … Continue reading BONUS GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS!: The Case of the Crimson Kiss
THIS ONE’LL SLAY YA! The Architecture of Murder by James Scott Byrnside
What is the most existential birthday present you’ve ever received? I hope that question doesn’t seem too foreboding! It’s not my aim to inspire dread in any of my readers who are about to celebrate their own Big Day. I simply wanted to tell you all about the most existential birthday present I ever got. It happened on my … Continue reading THIS ONE’LL SLAY YA! The Architecture of Murder by James Scott Byrnside
BOOK CLUB FLIES SOLO, PART ONE: Ten Favorite Stand-Alone Mysteries
Every once in a while, my Book Club eschews the single Title-of-the-Month format and opts for a more general discussion. We select a topic – say, our favorite mysteries of the 1920’s or the best debut novels by a mystery author – craft our separate lists, and pool them together at our meeting - and … Continue reading BOOK CLUB FLIES SOLO, PART ONE: Ten Favorite Stand-Alone Mysteries
NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY GIRL! The Case of the Vagabond Virgin
Can we talk about titles for a minute? Who doesn’t feel comforted by the consistency found in the titles of 82 novels and four short tales that comprise the Perry Mason saga. Each begins with those pithy four words . . . The Case of the . . . and finishes with an adjectival modifier, followed by the … Continue reading NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY GIRL! The Case of the Vagabond Virgin
ALL HER WORLD’S A STAGE: Theatricality in the Novels and Stories of Agatha Christie, Chapter 5: Design for Murder – Setting the Scene (of the Crime)
The centerpiece of every mystery is the crime itself. Procedurals usually begin with the finished product: a police team rushes to the scene of the crime and begins to piece together the events by sorting clues and interviewing witnesses. The classic detective story might begin with a client approaching the world-famous sleuth with a question: … Continue reading ALL HER WORLD’S A STAGE: Theatricality in the Novels and Stories of Agatha Christie, Chapter 5: Design for Murder – Setting the Scene (of the Crime)
ALONG COMES MARY: Giant’s Bread
I make this confession with a stinging sense of shame: in all my years of reading and re-reading my favorite author Agatha Christie, I have never given Mary Westmacott a chance. I suppose in my early days there was some sense to this decision. I love a good mystery, and the Queen of Crime wrote the … Continue reading ALONG COMES MARY: Giant’s Bread
COMING UP! The Greatest Screen Sleuths Draft
“The important thing is the rhythm. Always have rhythm in your shaking. Now a Manhattan you shake to fox-trot time, a Bronx to two-step time, a dry martini you always shake to waltz time.” I love my buddies Sergio Angelini and Nick Cardillo. We are three lifelong mystery fans who are joined at the hip. … Continue reading COMING UP! The Greatest Screen Sleuths Draft
KISS AND TELLER: Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief
“’We are in a nucleus here, and I just get the feeling something is colliding. We’ve got a dead body in Byron, two hours’ drive from here, a police raid a year ago that resulted in another dead body, a missing banker, a vault that can’t be opened, a bank robber who doesn’t seem to … Continue reading KISS AND TELLER: Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief
OH, LADY, BE NO GOOD! The Case of the Dangerous Dowager
For me, part of the joy of reading classic detective fiction is stumbling across lines like this: “Go home and doll up in your soup and fish, Paul, and wipe that worried look off your map.” Naturally we wear our “soup and fish” when we’re heading to a fine dining establishment. I know that whenever … Continue reading OH, LADY, BE NO GOOD! The Case of the Dangerous Dowager
ALL HER WORLD’S A STAGE: Theatricality in the Novels and Stories of Agatha Christie, Chapter 4: The Devils in Disguise
In classic literature and drama, the concept of characters going about in costume was a commonplace plot device. The Greek gods disguised themselves as mortals to wander about causing trouble. Odysseus disguised himself as a beggar to check up on his wife’s fidelity. In nearly every Shakespearean comedy, somebody wanders around in disguise: often it is … Continue reading ALL HER WORLD’S A STAGE: Theatricality in the Novels and Stories of Agatha Christie, Chapter 4: The Devils in Disguise
Ah Sweet Mystery! 