It has been exactly one month since I reported that I had enrolled in a class at Stanford University on Nordic crime fiction, both written and filmed. At that time I reviewed The Terrorists by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahoo. Since then, our class has read Firewall by Henning Mankell, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo … Continue reading Hjälpa! Jag är fångad i en svensk boklista! (Translation: Help! I am trapped in a Swedish booklist!)
Life
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: The Terrorists
If I could find a local group, or a class, or convocation of fans who share my passion for classic mysteries, believe me, I would. Embracing the esoteric makes a guy lonely! Honestly, the main reason I became a blogger was to find other weir- er, GAD lovers who view life as one gigantic “Challenge … Continue reading AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: The Terrorists
A IS FOR . . . ANTICIPATION
I’m so excited to tell you that the Tuesday Night Bloggers are back! After a month-long hiatus, during which, frankly, most of us were plowing through 1937 mysteries for Rich’s Crime of the Year feature at Past Offences (I clocked in three!), the TNG is returning next week with a new topic, accompanied by a … Continue reading A IS FOR . . . ANTICIPATION
WHERE DO YOU START? Mysteries, My Students, and Me
Every spring, I commit the ultimate act of selfishness: I drag my high school drama students into the swirling maelstrom of my GAD (Golden Age of Detection) addiction by putting them into groups and giving them the assignment of conceiving, scripting, and performing an original murder mystery in the classic tradition. I don’t make it … Continue reading WHERE DO YOU START? Mysteries, My Students, and Me
LARCENY IN LAVENDER: Curtis Evans’ Murder in the Closet
It has been a pleasure hosting the Tuesday Night Bloggers during February’s exploration of Love (and Murder) in Bloom. Here are the months’ previous posts: Week I Week II Week III This week, Kate at Cross Examining Crime assesses the degree of success with which Dorothy L. Sayers combined murder and romance between her ace … Continue reading LARCENY IN LAVENDER: Curtis Evans’ Murder in the Closet
. . . A PLACE WHERE DREAMS ARE BORN: Finding Neverland
As you get older, one of the more interesting and, perhaps, melancholy aspects of life is watching things you identified as cultural icons slip into the darkness of lost memory. Mary Tyler Moore, who died recently, starred in two of my favorite sitcoms of all time and represented a certain type of woman who combined … Continue reading . . . A PLACE WHERE DREAMS ARE BORN: Finding Neverland
WHO’S ON FIRST? A Man, a Mug, and a Da Vinci, That’s Who!
All this month, the Tuesday Night Bloggers are talking about "firsts," famous and otherwise. After writing about the first detectives in literature and the first Christie, it suddenly occurred to me that, if you're going to take a purely historical approach to a theme, you had better know a damn sight more about mystery history than … Continue reading WHO’S ON FIRST? A Man, a Mug, and a Da Vinci, That’s Who!
MY READINGS (AND REVISITINGS) OF 2016
Happy New Year, everyone! As a new blogger, I have only just become aware of the tradition in this community for those who blog about books to reflect on the past year in reading. Yes, let’s focus on the reading because in most other respects, for me at least, 2016 was not a keeper! So … Continue reading MY READINGS (AND REVISITINGS) OF 2016
FOUR FILMS TAKE US OUT OF THE DARK
The end of a year brings a great many things, two of which loom large for me. First, it’s time to reflect on the past twelve months, and, on a personal level, 2016 can’t end soon enough. The New Year looms uncertainly as the nation embarks on the frightening adventure that is President Trump. And … Continue reading FOUR FILMS TAKE US OUT OF THE DARK
COMING HOME: Two Examples From Agatha Christie’s Post-War England
Critics of classic mysteries complain that these tales lack any grounding in reality. People die horrible deaths - sometimes a great many people during the same country weekend - but nobody seems particularly put out, unless you count the irritation one feels about having to put off one’s golf game in order to be interrogated … Continue reading COMING HOME: Two Examples From Agatha Christie’s Post-War England
Ah Sweet Mystery! 