Last night, Theatre Works, one of the Bay Area’s most accomplished theatre companies, opened its 53rd season – and welcomed its new artistic director, Giovanna Sardelli – with a production of Mrs. Christie by Heidi Armbruster. Sardelli herself had directed the world premiere of this play in 2019 at the Dorset Theatre Festival, but Armbruster had been workshopping … Continue reading “WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THE DISAPPEARANCE . . .
Agatha Christie
THE CASE OF THE BODACIOUS BOOK COVERS
Mystery publishers have long adhered to the well-known adage – and I’m not talking about “Crime Doesn’t Pay! here” The concept that sex sells applies to books as well as anything else. This is all well and good; in fact, it leans right into the world of pulp fiction where the best of hard-boiled detectives … Continue reading THE CASE OF THE BODACIOUS BOOK COVERS
REVENGE OF THE OCTO-BLOGGER!!
Can you believe it?!? Eight years ago today, I slapped the title of a very very old song on a shingle and set up shop as a blogger. My goal was to be a part of the conversation about all things having to do with the mystery genre that we all love. If I tend to run … Continue reading REVENGE OF THE OCTO-BLOGGER!!
A HAUNTING IN VENICE: La terza volta è il fascino!
Recently, the publisher William Morrow released a paperback tie-in to Kenneth Branagh’s latest Agatha Christie-inspired film that has this cover: The book’s original title can be found waaaayyy down at the bottom in smaller letters. It took me back to 1965 when I found the paperback tie-in to George Pollock’s film Ten Little Indians and purchased my … Continue reading A HAUNTING IN VENICE: La terza volta è il fascino!
RANKING MARPLE #9: The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side
"Out flew the web and floated wide . . . " "The mirror crack'd from side to side . . . " "The curse is come upon me cried the Lady of Shalott." That “special” look is one of my favorite Agatha Christie devices, and the myriad ways she employed it throughout her career illustrates … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #9: The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side
IN DEVELOPMENT: What I Wish Was Coming Up in the Christie-Verse
In about two weeks, I’m going to drop a review here for Kenneth Branagh’s A Haunting in Venice, the latest film adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel. This time, it’s not set on the Nile or the Orient Express; instead, we have a lesser-known (and less liked) late novel, Hallowe’en Party – you remember, the one set in Italy … Continue reading IN DEVELOPMENT: What I Wish Was Coming Up in the Christie-Verse
SNOOP SISTER: The Alarm of the Black Cat by Dolores Hitchens
Maud Silver, Consulting Detective I have a great fondness for little old lady detectives, but they can be a problem. It’s not that the classic mystery genre ever made a claim of being realistic. And goodness knows that the “shock value” of an sweet, elderly spinster beating the big bad policemen at their own game has entertained … Continue reading SNOOP SISTER: The Alarm of the Black Cat by Dolores Hitchens
RANKING MARPLE #8: 4:50 from Paddington (aka What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw)
“Another locomotive one – murder seen as two trains pass each other in the same direction. Later settles down into a good old family murder. Contains one of Christie’s few sympathetic independent women. Miss Marple apparently solves the crime by divine guidance, for there is very little in the way of clues or logical deduction.” Robert … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #8: 4:50 from Paddington (aka What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw)
RANKING MARPLE #7: A Pocket Full of Rye
Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye. Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie. When the pie was opened the birds began to sing. Wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king? Juxtaposing nursery rhymes with mysteries is an effective way to mix the balm of childhood innocence with … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #7: A Pocket Full of Rye
RANKING MARPLE #6: They Do It with Mirrors
“. . . All the things that seemed to be true, were only illusions. Illusions created for a definite purpose – in the same ways that conjurers create illusions, to deceive an audience. We were the audience.” Nobody excelled at misdirection better than Agatha Christie. Her bag of tricks was large and, if it wasn’t infinite, she … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #6: They Do It with Mirrors
Ah Sweet Mystery! 