Can I just say how much this animal lover has enjoyed our year-long excursion through the Perry Mason Menagerie! Heck, any chance to hang out with Perry, Della, Paul, Lieutenant Tragg, and even D.A. Hamilton Burger are just the cure for what ails you in these troubling times. Are the Mason books formulaic? You bet they are … Continue reading “WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD . . . ?” The Case of the Waylaid Wolf
Author: Brad
WAKE UP, DEAD MAN: A Knives Out Mystery
Here’s a mystery for you: why is Netflix trying to murder the filmgoing experience as we know it? Don’t worry, you don’t need to provide me with any clues. The solution, as in so many classic mysteries, comes down to greed. Produce a film and then control the distribution – that’s the business model for … Continue reading WAKE UP, DEAD MAN: A Knives Out Mystery
THE 2025 REPRINT OF THE YEAR – Brad’s 1st Nominee
Around the middle of this year, my Book Club compatriots staged an intervention meant to curb my out-of-control habit of . . . buying books?!? Yes, folks, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, and for me the term “gummy” refers to store-bought tapioca. But I do feel a deep yearning every time a new title … Continue reading THE 2025 REPRINT OF THE YEAR – Brad’s 1st Nominee
THE POIROT PROJECT #14: Death on the Nile
“He was her man and he did her wrong . . .” Death on the Nile is my favorite Hercule Poirot novel. I ranked Five Little Pigs higher on my Top Ten Christies list, and it deserves its place there. But it is a different sort of book than Nile, and I enjoy Christie’s 1937 tale more. Pigs is one of … Continue reading THE POIROT PROJECT #14: Death on the Nile
“Double, double, Doyle and trouble” – The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars
“In a way the orange seeds helped. They were the final touch of unreality. No one could feel the actual tragedy of death in a world where people drew dancing men for murder threats and sent dried orange seeds by special messenger.” The closest Agatha Christie came to writing a Hollywood mystery was 1962’s The Mirror … Continue reading “Double, double, Doyle and trouble” – The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars
MASON IN THE MONKEY HOUSE, PART II: The Case of the Mythical Monkeys
Our penultimate visit to the Mason Menagerie also completes our extended stay in the Monkey House. Except here we’ll find no gorillas, grinning or otherwise; this time, the monkeys are purely metaphorical. However, if you are craving some real-life apes, then have I got a true story for you! It’s even a Thanksgiving tale, as … Continue reading MASON IN THE MONKEY HOUSE, PART II: The Case of the Mythical Monkeys
MAYHEM IN MINIATURE: Murder at the Black Cat Cafe
Ten years ago, English-speaking fans of the classic Japanese mystery fiction known as honkaku and shin honkaku would have been lucky to find one newly translated novel a year to enjoy. Nowadays, there’s practically a glut of them, thanks largely to publishing house Pushkin Vertigo and the talent and non-stop effort of translators like Louise Heal Kawai, Ho-Ling Wong, … Continue reading MAYHEM IN MINIATURE: Murder at the Black Cat Cafe
“IT’S A HARD WORLD FOR LITTLE THINGS . . . ” The 1955 Film Noir Draft
It has been months in the making: Sergio Angelini, the Noir Master and host of the noir-centered podcast Tipping My Fedora, reached back seventy years and compiled a list of thirty-six films made in 1955. Our task was to watch (or, in some cases, re-watch) these films and come together in Noirvember to draft a list of the … Continue reading “IT’S A HARD WORLD FOR LITTLE THINGS . . . ” The 1955 Film Noir Draft
BRAD DONS A FEDORA
Next week, you will all find out the results of the Noirvember '55 draft being held this weekend with my friends, Sergio Angelini and Nick Cardillo. In a quick aside, if you can't get enough of film noir, you really should be listening to Sergio's podcast, Tipping My Fedora, where he talks to all sorts … Continue reading BRAD DONS A FEDORA
NOIRVEMBER ’55, PART 12
At last we reach the final trio of films on our 36-title list of 1955 films noirs. What a ride it has been! A revisit to a few old favorites, a discovery of new delights . . . and a whole lot of titles that, out of kindness, I will simply say fit into a decidedly … Continue reading NOIRVEMBER ’55, PART 12
Ah Sweet Mystery! 