I have spoken before in this space about how every spring I twist my drama students’ arms offer my drama students a wonderful opportunity to create their own GAD-styled mystery plays! or else! This year is no exception. After whetting their script-writing whistles on the Peter Ustinov version of Evil Under the Sun (nobody in either class … Continue reading HONING YOUNG MINDS . . . TO MURDER!!!!!! – The 2019 Mystery Project
Agatha Christie
THIRTEEN EGYPTIANS SAT DOWN TO DINE: Christie’s Death Comes As the End
When we talk about Death Comes as the End, Agatha Christie’s 1944 tour de force set in ancient Egypt, conversation hovers around personal opinion about how well Christie balanced the mass of detail in this, the first ever historical mystery novel, with her trademark GAD plotting. But now that the book is about to receive its first … Continue reading THIRTEEN EGYPTIANS SAT DOWN TO DINE: Christie’s Death Comes As the End
GAME, SET AND (UN) MATCHED: A Discussion of Mirrors and Follies
Margot Kinberg taught me to seek inspiration in the words of my fellow bloggers, and that is what happened to me yesterday. My buddy Kate over at Cross Examining Crime re-read and reviewed Dead Man’s Folly. I figure that few Christie fans start a conversation with, “Oh, yes, and my favorite book of hers is … Continue reading GAME, SET AND (UN) MATCHED: A Discussion of Mirrors and Follies
FOR THIRTEEN PAGES, THE GAUNTLET IS THROWN
“I know there are lots of talented bloggers in this group. I have a suggestion for a future post: A proper rebuke to Raymond Chandler's essay, The Simple Art of Murder. For those of you who haven't read it, it's 13 pages and free online as a pdf. It is a scathing indictment of everything this … Continue reading FOR THIRTEEN PAGES, THE GAUNTLET IS THROWN
THOSE ELEVEN DAYS
Personal tragedy or publicity stunt? This is the question that has run circles around Agatha Christie’s fans since December 3, 1926, when Christie disappeared from her home after a fight with her husband, Archie. He had informed her that he wanted a divorce in order to marry his mistress, Nancy Neele, and when Agatha refused, … Continue reading THOSE ELEVEN DAYS
EVIL AGATHA: BREAKER OF RULES!
If I was a Londoner, I’d spend my evenings with my mates Daniel (The Reader Is Warned) and JJ (The Invisible Event), study-hopping between each other’s flats or spending an evening in the pub over Scotch eggs, bangers and mash, backed bubble and squeak, (do you people eat anythingnormal?), having a rigorous back and forth … Continue reading EVIL AGATHA: BREAKER OF RULES!
GAD = GORY AND DARK: Sarah Phelps Takes On the Establishment
The latest BBC rendition of an Agatha Christie classic , 1936’s The ABC Murders, has just dropped onto Amazon Prime. Now we forward-thinking Americans can add our two cents to the European reaction over Sarah Phelps’ treatment of the Mistress of Mystery. (I believe the words “Burn the witch and her laptop!” have been uttered in … Continue reading GAD = GORY AND DARK: Sarah Phelps Takes On the Establishment
“THESE PRECIOUS ILLUSIONS IN MY HEAD DID NOT LET ME DOWN . . . “
Author and blogger Margot Kinberg, who comes up with something thought-provoking every . . . single . . . day . . . recently offered up a tantalizing article about illusion. Her focus was on characters in mysteries whose lives, built to varying degrees around an illusory view of the world around them, form the … Continue reading “THESE PRECIOUS ILLUSIONS IN MY HEAD DID NOT LET ME DOWN . . . “
REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST: The Stirring of Memory in the Novels of Agatha Christie
I know, I know, friends! I was waxing reflective on Agatha Christie only the other day, and here I go again. Forgive me, but January is always a rough month to get some reading in. It’s the final stretch of rehearsals for the big school show, and this year’s entry, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, is … Continue reading REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST: The Stirring of Memory in the Novels of Agatha Christie
SINISTER OR SILLY: When Does Agatha Go Too Far?
Last month on the Facebook Golden Age Detection page, the great blogger Xavier Lechard opened up the proverbial can of worms, and I have this to say about that! First, though: if you are a GAD fan like me (and still brave membership on Facebook) yet do not belong to this amazing group . . … Continue reading SINISTER OR SILLY: When Does Agatha Go Too Far?
Ah Sweet Mystery! 