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!
Life
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
ELEGY FOR BEAU
“Someone who holds you too close/Someone who hurts you too deep/Someone who sits in your chair and ruins your sleep/And makes you aware of being alive . . . “ Animal lovers are unabashedly unapologetic about it. Too bad for you if you don't get it, we say. People measure their lives in significant chunks. … Continue reading ELEGY FOR BEAU
MYSTERY AND HISTORY: The First Classic Murder Case
It’s a new month, so the Tuesday Night Bloggers are changing the subject! Throughout November we will be discussing mysteries that have some connection to history. I would like to modestly boast that this was my idea, and I sold it as a topic broad enough to encompass a variety of perspectives. Yet, while my … Continue reading MYSTERY AND HISTORY: The First Classic Murder Case
THE CAPE AND THE COWL: The Ultimate Costumed Detective
Murder at Mystery Castle has everything you could desire in a Golden Age detective story. Take one exotic setting: an ancient medieval castle that has been taken apart and reassembled, brick by brick, on island cliffs overlooking a modern American city. Add a powerful victim, one James Barham, munitions manufacturer, who has invited four guests … Continue reading THE CAPE AND THE COWL: The Ultimate Costumed Detective
THE CASE OF THE PERILOUS POLITICIAN
I am not a political writer, so tackling this business of Donald Trump through my perferred métier of murder mysteries and musicals seems apt. In my lifetime, I have never seen so bizarre a drama unfold in the top echelons of politics, and I survived George W. Bush! America is essentially run by a two-party … Continue reading THE CASE OF THE PERILOUS POLITICIAN
NOW APPEARING IN YOUR KINDLE 99¢ BIN
I had planned to title this post, “One Cranky Voice Among Many,” because today is my one-year anniversary as a blogger. But then I thought, “Okay, you made a small hoopla about your 100th post only a couple of weeks ago, so enough is enough! Plus, you’re not really cranky, just opinionated.” What has one … Continue reading NOW APPEARING IN YOUR KINDLE 99¢ BIN
A CENTENARY CELEBRATION (with special guests!)
Coming up just ahead of my first birthday as a blogger, I am excited to present my one hundredth post. A mere eleven and a half months ago, I was a mere shlub brimming with excitement to have discovered a community of readers, writers and thinkers who were just as obsessed with a love for … Continue reading A CENTENARY CELEBRATION (with special guests!)
Ah Sweet Mystery! 