More and more, there seems to be something exciting going on all year round in Torquay, on the coast of Devon, birthplace to the Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller Christie Mallowan. This spring, a one-day mini-celebration of Christie and the Golden Age of Detection will take place on Saturday, April 11, and … Continue reading THE FESTIVAL! THE FESTIVAL! THE QUEEN (OF CRIME’S) FESTIVAL!
Life
BRAD SOLVES A MURDER!! Cryptic Killers: Murder at Merivale Manor
Last month, I had a lot of fun reading Antony Johnson’s Can You Solve This Murder? (I didn’t), and I looked forward to having more opportunities of playing armchair detective. One of my readers, Macon Leary, suggested I look into a game called Cryptic Killers. For twenty bucks, you can receive a case file containing all the … Continue reading BRAD SOLVES A MURDER!! Cryptic Killers: Murder at Merivale Manor
A CALL FOR HELP FROM MY READERS!!!
Take a look at this: For over ten years, this wonderful cartoon has been the standard-bearer for Ah Sweet Mystery. The eleven figures here (from left to right, Lord Peter Wimsey, Miss Jane Marple, Dr. Gideon Fell, Father Brown, Inspector Maigret, Edgar Allan Poe – a mere mortal granted status here as the father of the … Continue reading A CALL FOR HELP FROM MY READERS!!!
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
THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY GREAT BIG GIGANTIC AGATHA CHRISTIE QUIZ ANSWERS
Ten years ago on this very day, I posted for the first time. I promised you I would cover classic mysteries in every format – page, stage, and screen - and I made no bones about my adoration for Agatha Christie. No wonder I decided to celebrate my first decade with a quiz for all … Continue reading THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY GREAT BIG GIGANTIC AGATHA CHRISTIE QUIZ ANSWERS
Oh #$%&! Not Another Blogger’s Tenth Anniversary!!
I have never been a trendy guy. It isn’t like I haven’t tried, but I’ve always been slow on the uptake. Just before I started high school, I demanded that my mom, who had forever dressed me in dark pants, white socks, and black loafers, buy me a pair of trendy bell bottoms and platform … Continue reading Oh #$%&! Not Another Blogger’s Tenth Anniversary!!
BRAD TAKES THE COLBERT QUESTIONERT
Something a little different today . . . Citing financial reasons, CBS has cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The timing couldn’t be worse. Colbert has the #1 rated program on late night TV and, quite frankly, his hilarious political commentary has gotten me through a rough ten years. We’ve waded through the dirty morass … Continue reading BRAD TAKES THE COLBERT QUESTIONERT
MYSTERY MOVIE TALK: Three Announcements!
I got into this blogging game for the conversations. Ironic, since the vast majority of readers tend to shy away from the comments section. So we scribes do what we can to get the conversation going. Over the past couple of years, my two buddies, Sergio Angelini and Nick Cardillo, and I have set aside … Continue reading MYSTERY MOVIE TALK: Three Announcements!
SIDE BY HOMICIDE BY SONDHEIM
“Seriously? What in the world do Sondheim and crime fiction have in common?” That question, gracing the back cover of Josh Pachter’s eighth “Inspired by . . . “ story anthology, Every Day a Little Death: Crime Fiction inspired by the Songs of Stephen Sondheim, has an easy answer. At least it does for those of … Continue reading SIDE BY HOMICIDE BY SONDHEIM
CURSE YOU, ROBBIE BURNS! The Reunion That Didn’t Happen
Having the poet’s worst predictions come true is never fun, but over this past weekend, my best-laid plans for a Christie reunion “gang aft very very agley” indeed! When my pal Christopher Diehl announced a few months ago that he would be directing a Christie double bill for the Riverside Community Players, it felt like the perfect … Continue reading CURSE YOU, ROBBIE BURNS! The Reunion That Didn’t Happen
Ah Sweet Mystery! 