Can you blame me if, at the halfway point in our yearlong exploration of the Perry Mason Menagerie, I have decided to return to the Hall of Cats? I happen to have a pair of feline monsters of my own, which might be why I enjoyed the earlier adventure where a family caretaker was found … Continue reading DELLA IN THE LION’S DEN: The Case of the Careless Kitten
Author: Brad
THE LONG GOODBYE: Marble Hall Murders
In Anthony Horowitz’ acknowledgements at the end of Marble Hall Murders, we learn that his original intention was probably not to write a third novel about Susan Ryeland, the book editor with the worst luck in friends. “This is the third outing for Susan Ryeland and Atticus Pünd and you wouldn’t be holding it in your … Continue reading THE LONG GOODBYE: Marble Hall Murders
MYSTERY MOVIE TALK: Three Announcements!
I got into this blogging game for the conversations. Ironic, since the vast majority of readers tend to shy away from the comments section. So we scribes do what we can to get the conversation going. Over the past couple of years, my two buddies, Sergio Angelini and Nick Cardillo, and I have set aside … Continue reading MYSTERY MOVIE TALK: Three Announcements!
CRIME WATCH: New Mysteries on TV
A new trailer has dropped for the upcoming third Knives Out movie, Wake Up, Dead Man. The lovely thing about it is that it is heavy on imagery and light on spoilers, and it trumpets to the skies that it concerns what detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) calls “for a man of reason the Holy Grail” – an … Continue reading CRIME WATCH: New Mysteries on TV
THIS MASON MENAGERIE BONUS IS FOR THE BIRDS
Back in January, I promised you a year-long journey through a bountiful bestiary beset with blonde bombshells and redolent red-heads, all connected to the creatures of the air, land, and sea, all created by Erle Stanley Gardner, and all of them starring that peerless legal eagle for the ages, Perry Mason. I promised you twelve … Continue reading THIS MASON MENAGERIE BONUS IS FOR THE BIRDS
THE POIROT PROJECT #8: The Big Four
It’s easy to argue that The Big Four represents the artistic nadir of Agatha Christie’s career. It barely makes a mention in the biographies: Laura Thompson calls it “one of the worst pieces of writing she ever published but . . . it sold well.” Janet Morgan dismisses it as “a stopgap.” Gillian Gill takes a more … Continue reading THE POIROT PROJECT #8: The Big Four
QUACK, QUACK, GLUG, GLUG: The Case of the Drowning Duck
In our year-long visit through the Perry Mason Menagerie, we have been wandering through the Hall of Birds for an awfully long time. Canaries in 1937! Parrots in 1939! Time moves along, it is now 1942, and we find ourselves still stuck in the avian section - only now the birds go “quack” and float … Continue reading QUACK, QUACK, GLUG, GLUG: The Case of the Drowning Duck
MILLAR’S CROSSING: Beast in View
Sometimes you have to look around at all the great authors you’ve added to your collection – and still never read – and just hang your head in shame. Among my unforgiveable omissions is a charming married couple, the Millars. (Sounds like “Miller.”) He (Kenneth) wrote primarily under the pseudonym of Ross MacDonald and created one of … Continue reading MILLAR’S CROSSING: Beast in View
G-G-G-GAME CHANGER: Poker Face, Season Two
I’d like to see you try and name a better mystery series on TV these days than Poker Face. Creator Rian Johnson (Knives Out) has taken the beloved Columbo formula and gone one better by creating the delightful cocktail-waitress turned amateur sleuth Charlie Cale, played by the ever-delightful Natasha Lyonne. Season One chronicled Charlie’s cross-country adventures trying to elude … Continue reading G-G-G-GAME CHANGER: Poker Face, Season Two
POOH AND PIGLET ON THE CASE: The Red House Mystery
Like most classic mystery fans, I have long been aware that in 1922, three years before he created that immortalis ursi Winnie-the-Pooh, A. A. Milne wrote a single crime novel called The Red House Mystery. The book was a great success! Even Raymond Chandler, Public Enemy #1 when it comes to country house mysteries and locked room puzzles, … Continue reading POOH AND PIGLET ON THE CASE: The Red House Mystery
Ah Sweet Mystery! 