WARNING: If you have not read the following titles, certain facts are laid before you in the discussion below that give away all or part of the solutions: The Sittaford Mystery, Lord Edgware Dies, Dumb Witness, Death Comes As the End, They Do It With Mirrors. Don’t be a fool – turn back and read … Continue reading THE BIG FIVE, or, Brad’s Smartass Quintet

Two damaged souls meet cute while on the job in a two-bit village in the remotest part of British Columbia. Mason Deniaud is a homicide cop, a city boy who has arrived in disgrace - and with a tragic secret – to take over the tiny RCMP force in the town of Kluhane. Callie Sutton … Continue reading COMME SI, COMME CA: Loreth Anne White’s In the Dark

This is an analysis/reflection of a classic piece of mystery literature. Be warned that the identity of the murderer and other details salient to the plot will be revealed and discussed. Do not read this post if you have not already read the book. I wonder. I wonder if Collins Crime Club sensed when it … Continue reading ON THE CLEVERNESS OF CONSTANCE CULMINGTON: Eighty Years of And Then There Were None

The butler did it. A few years ago, in what turned out to be a hopeless attempt to keep up with Curtis Evan’s rapid-fire re-introduction of forgotten GAD crime authors to modern audiences, I downloaded works by several of these august personages. My method of choosing was non-scientific: either the title or the blurb caught … Continue reading RICH MAN/POOR MAN/BEGGAR MAN/THIEF: Only One Can Crack the Closed Circle