Right now, we are in the throes of Kate’s Second Annual Best Reprint of the Year poll, and Kate has roped some of her fellow bloggers to post one or two selections from which all readers can select a winner. If, for some uncanny reason, you have decided not to vote for my first selection, … Continue reading THE REPRINT THAT JJ WILL LOVE: The Honjin Murders
locked room mysteries
IT’S BAAAAAAACK! My First Nominee for “Reprint of the Year”
In this perilous age of political craziness, where most of us are shaking our heads and muttering that invaluable Latin phrase, “What the fuuuuuu - ?” (translation: “I am stymied, Marcus Aurelius”), it behooves us to be grateful for small matters. For instance, it’s turning out to be a great time to be alive if … Continue reading IT’S BAAAAAAACK! My First Nominee for “Reprint of the Year”
THE REIGN OF PAIN STAYS MAINLY IN THE PLANE: Franco Vailati’s The Flying Boat Mystery
Trains and boats and planes are passing by They mean a trip to Paris or Rome For someone else but not for me The trains and the boats and planes Took you away, away from me I’m sure when Burt Bacharach wrote this melancholy song, he never imagined that the thing that “took you away … Continue reading THE REIGN OF PAIN STAYS MAINLY IN THE PLANE: Franco Vailati’s The Flying Boat Mystery
ACDC, PART EIGHT: Waving Through the (Judas) Window
For those mystery fans who may be in the dark about the title of this post, it’s a reference to Dear Evan Hansen, the award-winning musical about a lonely boy on the spectrum who one day decides to have a drink with his prospective father-in-law over a game of bows-and-arrows behind the locked door of … Continue reading ACDC, PART EIGHT: Waving Through the (Judas) Window
ACDC, PART SEVEN: Smashing the Teacups
After a lifetime of denial, I finally gave Carter Dickson a try a little over two and a half years ago. My experience was so pleasant that I picked up another right away. I based my choice on the fact that a trusted friend was posting a spoiler-filled piece on this one, and I wanted … Continue reading ACDC, PART SEVEN: Smashing the Teacups
THE MORLAND CONUNDRUM
A question for my fellow bloggers: do you ever start writing a book review before you finish the book? Maybe you write the introduction, giving background on the author or the history of the novel in question. Maybe you’re halfway through reading, and you’re getting a really good - or bad – feeling about how the … Continue reading THE MORLAND CONUNDRUM
TIC-TAC! TIC-TAC!: Paul Halter’s The Gold Watch
This is really a special event! For the first time, Paul Halter is releasing his newest work in English before it is published in French. And while the new book, The Gold Watch, er, clocks in at a typical 178 pages, its scope is nothing short of epic. Divided into two narratives - yet essentially … Continue reading TIC-TAC! TIC-TAC!: Paul Halter’s The Gold Watch
THE IRONIC FRAGILITY OF THE JAW-DROPPER ENDING
They are the solutions that you can’t forget, no matter how much you try. You desperately want to re-read and experience that delicious jolt you got the first time, but you can’t. There’s something so original or special or boundary-breaking about these books that often they end up at the top of many “best of” … Continue reading THE IRONIC FRAGILITY OF THE JAW-DROPPER ENDING
ACDC, PART FOUR: “Don’t Wanna Be in the Room Where It Happened” in The Red Widow Murders
Before I conceived of this chronological Carter Dickson celebration, my experiences with Sir Henry Merrivale were more piecemeal. Even when I spotted and grabbed a lot of Carter Dickson novels on eBay and placed them carefully on my shelf in order of publication, I grabbed down She Died a Lady first because . . . well, … Continue reading ACDC, PART FOUR: “Don’t Wanna Be in the Room Where It Happened” in The Red Widow Murders
ACDC, PART TWO: HM = History + Mystery in The Plague Court Murders
“Logic and reason, when not tempered with imagination and sympathy and even childlikeness, produce ruthlessness.” (Douglas Greene) A Carter Dickson Celebration continues – some would say has its legitimate beginning – with 1934’s The Plague Court Murders. After all, as I discussed in our first installment, The Bowstring Murders, written on the fly for quick … Continue reading ACDC, PART TWO: HM = History + Mystery in The Plague Court Murders
Ah Sweet Mystery! 