“‘We’re going to miss you,’ (the receptionist) said. ‘We’re not used to this sort of excitement here in Alderny. We’ve never had a murder here before.’“‘You’re not the first person to tell me that,’ I said.” When it comes to literary festivals, Anthony Horowitz knows whereof he speaks. The creator of Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War, reviver in … Continue reading A LICENSE TO THRILL: A Line to Kill
Author: Brad
THE 2021 ROY AWARDS: Baby, You Can Drive This Carr
As you scroll down the list of books we’re all including in Kate Jackson’s 2021 ROY awards, there’s great cause for celebration. No less than three titles by John Dickson Carr have been reprinted this year. Is it mere coincidence, or is it the sign we have been waiting for, signaling a great resurgence of … Continue reading THE 2021 ROY AWARDS: Baby, You Can Drive This Carr
SPIELBERG’S WEST SIDE STORY: Update or Improvement?
In 1957, when live theatre still rivaled movies for social relevance, and the latest Tin Pan Alley songs burst through the radio and were hummed everywhere, Broadway was teeming with musicals. Considering that the heyday of musical theatre was the 1930’s-1940’s, what’s interesting is how experimental the major composers got. Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon enchanted audiences with its … Continue reading SPIELBERG’S WEST SIDE STORY: Update or Improvement?
TWELVE CHRISTIES FOR CHRISTMAS
You probably have heard of the phrase “A Christie for Christmas,” but I lived through it, at least through some of my most formative years. Beginning in 1968 with By the Pricking of My Thumbs, my late, beloved Aunt Rosalie presented “A Christie for Bradley” on my birthday (December 16) in the form of a hardcover … Continue reading TWELVE CHRISTIES FOR CHRISTMAS
THE 2021 ROY AWARDS (aka, Vote for Brad to Win)
Look around you: the air is nippy, the lights are strung up in your neighbors’ windows, and every station on your car radio seems to be playing the Carpenters singing, “Merry Christmas, Darling.” What does that tell you? That’s right – it’s time for the annual ROY Awards. That’s Reprint of the Year to those … Continue reading THE 2021 ROY AWARDS (aka, Vote for Brad to Win)
THE RATCHETT EFFECT: Kids Solve Krimes on Trains
I have to hand it to my pal JJ: through his regular feature, “Minor Felonies,” over at his blog The Invisible Event, he has been calling my attention to some amazing mystery novels written with young people (and the young at heart) in mind. Sure, my shelves are over-crowded and my pocketbook depleted, but I’m … Continue reading THE RATCHETT EFFECT: Kids Solve Krimes on Trains
FOR CATHERINE
“He got on to the bed, and wrenched open the lattice, bursting, as he pulled at it, into an uncontrollable passion of tears. ‘Come in! Come in!’ he sobbed. ‘Cathy, do come. Oh, do – once more! Oh, my heart’s darling! hear me, this time, Catherine, at last!’” (from Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte) When I … Continue reading FOR CATHERINE
A FINE-FEATHERED FINALE: Hitchcock’s The Birds
“This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a – caw caw!” (T.S. Eliot, via Woody Woodpecker) All good things must come to an end, and the end of my ten-week course on the best of Alfred Hitchcock has been . . . apocalyptic. In our final class last night the … Continue reading A FINE-FEATHERED FINALE: Hitchcock’s The Birds
A CUT ABOVE: Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho
I can just imagine the Hollywood studios in 1959 watching North by Northwest and heaving a great big sigh of relief! At last - they thought – the Master of Suspense has finally gotten the message!! NO more art films, NO more experiments. Just good old fashioned exciting-but-wholesome entertainment. Certainly they had cause for hope: Alfred Hitchcock had come this close to … Continue reading A CUT ABOVE: Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho
HITCHCOCK TO THE NTH BY NTH DEGREE: North by Northwest
The many varied stories about the inception of North by Northwest are as entertaining as the film itself. Here are the bare facts: Alfred Hitchcock agreed to a first-time two-picture deal with MGM, and for the first film he wanted to adapt Hammond Innes’ best-seller, The Wreck of the Mary Deare. This would give Hitchcock the chance to … Continue reading HITCHCOCK TO THE NTH BY NTH DEGREE: North by Northwest
Ah Sweet Mystery! 