It has been just over five years since Janice Hallett introduced us to her modern epistolary storytelling style with The Appeal, easily my favorite read of 2021, both for the multitude of mysteries it contained, which were quite clever, and for its scathingly funny portrait of a small-town community theatre, a milieu that both Ms. … Continue reading TSK, TSK, TEXT: The Silent Appeal, by Janice Hallett
Janice Hallett
BECAUSE YOU LIKE THE LISTS . . . Brad’s Top Ten Reads of 2025
This is my final post of the year, and for what you are about to receive . . . well, I apologize for the lack of originality! But this is what we bloggers do: we write and write and write and WRITE for you, and then at the end of the year we drag ourselves, … Continue reading BECAUSE YOU LIKE THE LISTS . . . Brad’s Top Ten Reads of 2025
PLAYING THE GAME, PART TWO: The Killer Question (Plus, Ah Sweet Mystery’s Monday Pub Quiz!!!)
And now to open the second box . . . “I’m flattered our quiz means so much to you - it means a lot to me, as you know - but perhaps enjoy it for what it is, an entertaining evening out with friends, rather than focus on winning?” “Winning is everything, Mal. Why take part … Continue reading PLAYING THE GAME, PART TWO: The Killer Question (Plus, Ah Sweet Mystery’s Monday Pub Quiz!!!)
MORE FUN AND GAMES WITH BOOK CLUB: Five Great Mystery Debuts
My Book Club is full of fun and fascinating people, but our collective book selections have been a decidedly mixed bag. And so last month, we took a break from these doldrums (perhaps mystery lovers should call them “humdrums”), and did something a little different: each of us shared their ten favorite mysteries from the … Continue reading MORE FUN AND GAMES WITH BOOK CLUB: Five Great Mystery Debuts
FA LA HA HA HA: The Christmas Appeal
“It’s a panto in a church hall, Elsie, what’s the worst that could happen?” In her acknowledgments at the end of The Christmas Appeal, author Janice Hallett reveals that she never had any intention of writing a sequel to her stunning debut novel from 2021, The Appeal. It was not until she sat down and began to … Continue reading FA LA HA HA HA: The Christmas Appeal
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!!
DATELINE MEETS “THE OMEN”: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
The laudatory editorial comments that appear on the front and back covers and fill four pages of Janice Hallett’s latest novel do her no favors. “Agatha Christie has found her heir . . . “ “The Queen of tricksy crime . . . “ “Agatha Christie for the 21st century . . . “ “A new Agatha Christie … Continue reading DATELINE MEETS “THE OMEN”: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels
AIM (NOT SO) STRAIGHT AND TRUE: My Resolutions for 2023
A few weeks ago, my pal (and Book Club Arch Nemesis!) the Puzzle Doctor reached his 2000th post on In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel. Not bad for a man who’s only been blogging since 1954. I hit my 500th post last August (it was a dreary review of a dreary book, Dorothy L. Sayers’ The Documents in … Continue reading AIM (NOT SO) STRAIGHT AND TRUE: My Resolutions for 2023
PAT ON THE BACK: Meeting (Some of) My 2022 Goals
“There is no Frigate like a Book to take us Lands away . . . “ These words by Emily Dickenson were emblazoned on the bookplates my grandparents gave me when, at an early age, I declared my love for reading. I pasted them into every volume I owned and used up my stock long ago. … Continue reading PAT ON THE BACK: Meeting (Some of) My 2022 Goals
DID ENID BLYTON INVENT Q-ANON?: The Twyford Code
As voracious a reader as I have been since the age of six, I didn’t pick up a book by Enid Blyton until my fifties, when I discovered her fifteen-book series about The Five Find-Outers, privileged children who, from 1943 to 1961, spent each school holiday solving mysteries and calling their leader “Fatty.” My British … Continue reading DID ENID BLYTON INVENT Q-ANON?: The Twyford Code
