The mystery equivalent of the question, “Are you a dog person or a cat person?” is “Do you fancy Poirot or Miss Marple?” (Well, actually, it’s “Classic detection or hardboiled?” but that’s not where we’re going today.) I’m a cat person because I live with cats and love the ones I live with, but I’d … Continue reading IN THE END IS MY BEGINNING: Agatha Christie’s Nemesis
Agatha Christie
I SUSPECT MICE: A Discourse on the Dying Message
Smack dab in the middle of The Tragedy of X, the 1930 debut of mystery writer Barnaby Ross, detective Drury Lane, a retired Shakespearean actor who is stone deaf, resides in a castle called The Hamlet, and employs a hunchback dwarf named Falstaff as a butler, is philosophizing with a group of men – one … Continue reading I SUSPECT MICE: A Discourse on the Dying Message
NILE vs. SUN: Fair Play With Spoilers
Over at The Invisible Event, JJ has compiled a list, voted on by an erudite assortment of fans, consisting of twelve titles that purportedly demonstrate the best qualities of a “fair play” mystery. It’s a list that does what these sorts of lists are supposed to do: it provides a jumping off point for arguments … Continue reading NILE vs. SUN: Fair Play With Spoilers
BRANAGH TO THE RESCUE: “Not Your Granny’s Christie”
This classic mystery fan is always grateful when the modern press pays attention to anything related to the Golden Age, so it was with great delight that I received my latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, only to find the cast of the upcoming remake of Murder on the Orient Express splashed across the cover. Kenneth … Continue reading BRANAGH TO THE RESCUE: “Not Your Granny’s Christie”
CHRISTIE, CAMILLA AND THE CONCEPT OF FAIR PLAY
It’s a fine thing for a reader to expand his tastes, isn’t it? Having focused on classic mystery novels my entire life – and almost exclusively so over the past two years – it seemed like a good idea at the time to sign up for that Nordic Crime Fiction course at Stanford University. If you … Continue reading CHRISTIE, CAMILLA AND THE CONCEPT OF FAIR PLAY
HELEN: What’s In a Name?
My life changed significantly on November 19, 2014, when I joined a group on Facebook called Golden Age Detection. It is one of the few events of my life connected to the Internet whose effect on me I cannot overdramatize. I have been reading classic murder mysteries for nearly fifty years, and I had experienced the … Continue reading HELEN: What’s In a Name?
CHRISTIE/CARR SCATTERGORIES
Omigosh! I am so sorry, people! I was supposed to post this yesterday, as JJ so graciously reminded me this morning. (“Hey, um . . . so are you gonna post, or what?”) My excuse is that I’ve spent the weekend at work, producing the spring play. But here you go, as promised: the sequel to … Continue reading CHRISTIE/CARR SCATTERGORIES
ANATOMY OF AN ADAPTATION: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas aux Francaise
All month, the Tuesday Night Bloggers are dedicating April as “Anything Goes” month, and all our entries begin with the letter “A.” I seem to have found my niche by focusing on the greatest “A” of all: Dame “A”gatha Christie, of course! I’ve honed the focus even further from the author’s depiction of actors in … Continue reading ANATOMY OF AN ADAPTATION: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas aux Francaise
THE 2017 CHRISTIE VS. CARR SMACKDOWN
. . . isn’t here! So hie thee quickly hence, over to JJ’s blog site, The Invisible Event, to find out what all the hoopla was about. See what two humble (sorta) Carr and Christie fans made of the pair of titles YOU voted as the best of the best! I warn you that, in … Continue reading THE 2017 CHRISTIE VS. CARR SMACKDOWN
ACRIMONY! Agatha and Adaptations
This April theme to which All the Tuesday Night Bloggers Aspire is An Admirable Act. I Attribute it to the Allure of Alliteration. Anyway, As Bev’s Adorable Artwork Alludes, in April, Anything Goes . . . just as long as it begins with the letter A. You can imagine, knowing me as you do, my … Continue reading ACRIMONY! Agatha and Adaptations
Ah Sweet Mystery! 