I admire my fellow bloggers who are able to read and post reviews for one, two, even three books a week (how do you do it, PD and Kate?!?) I’m too slow a reader to get that job done. I’ll also admit that reviewing books, most of which others have been far more insightful about, … Continue reading INSIDER, OUTSIDER, ALL AROUND THE TOWN: A Return to Wrightsville
Author: Brad
FELICITATIONS, DAME AGATHA!
You may not be reading this until tomorrow (Monday) because I’m sure that, like everyone else, you’re outside celebrating Agatha Christie’s one-hundred-twenty-eighth-and-one-day birthday! Some fools posted yesterday during the pre-celebratory festivities, but the real fans are out there right now, spreading the cheer about the world’s most famous mystery writer. Okay, look, I had a really busy … Continue reading FELICITATIONS, DAME AGATHA!
ADDENDUM WITH FAERIES
A couple of days ago, I wrote about the latest Paul Halter translation, The Man Who Loved Clouds. I bought the book as soon as it came out because, for some perverse reason, I like to be among the first to review Halter. But work prevailed, I read slowly, and several fine bloggers beat me … Continue reading ADDENDUM WITH FAERIES
“IT’S CLOUDS’ ILLUSIONS I RECALL . . . “: The Latest from Paul Halter
I can hardly begin to sort the barrage of thoughts and feelings that have swirled around me like the wind while reading The Man Who Loved Clouds, the latest novel by French author Paul Halter to be translated into English courtesy of John Pugmire and Locked Room International. The announcement several months ago of its … Continue reading “IT’S CLOUDS’ ILLUSIONS I RECALL . . . “: The Latest from Paul Halter
THE BRIDGE TWIXT GAD AND MODERNITY: Christie’s The Body in the Library
The difference between Agatha Christie in the 1920’s and the 1930’s was, in every way, startling. Although she was thirty when she published her first novel, there was something of the gawky girl in Christie’s writing and the tragic romantic in her personal life. Of the nine novels she published between 1920 and 1929, five … Continue reading THE BRIDGE TWIXT GAD AND MODERNITY: Christie’s The Body in the Library
PUTTING MORE BRAN(D) IN MY GAD(IET)
Christianna Brand has long been one of my favorite mystery writers. After Christie and Carr, Brand and Ellery Queen were the most formative authors of my lifelong obsession with all things GAD. The truth is, however, that I devoured the ten mystery novels Brand wrote over thirty years ago, and I never returned. Now that … Continue reading PUTTING MORE BRAN(D) IN MY GAD(IET)
GOING OCD ON MY GAD
Recently, I had the pleasure of listening to three blogger pals discuss John Dickson Carr on the podcast that two of them host on a bimonthly basis. Dan, of The Reader Is Warned, is an artist, and JJ, of The Invisible Event, is a mathematician, so between them they brought a lively blend of stats … Continue reading GOING OCD ON MY GAD
A GREAT CONVERGENCE: Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero
“I like a good detective story . . . But, you know, they begin in the wrong place! They begin with the murder. But the murder is the end. The story begins long before that – years before sometimes – with all the causes and events that bring certain people to a certain place at … Continue reading A GREAT CONVERGENCE: Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero
YA DYSTOPIAN DIVERTISSEMENT
Alright, I’ll admit it: this GAD mystery lover needs a little break. I could tell something was happening as I watched the stack of books beside my bed grow taller and taller. These are the one that I’ve removed from my veritable TBR Tower of Babel and am “actually" reading, yet each of them has … Continue reading YA DYSTOPIAN DIVERTISSEMENT
UNRELIABLE ME: The Woman in the Window
As mysteries go, you may know that I'm an "old soul." The unfortunate side effect of this is that my relationship to modern crime novels is . . . er, problematic. I get especially angry when today's writers create or seek comparisons with past greats. Only today, I picked up the latest Ruth Ware novel … Continue reading UNRELIABLE ME: The Woman in the Window
Ah Sweet Mystery! 