I’ve been waiting to read this one for quite a while. I can be even more specific: I started waiting on April 25, 2019, the date my buddy JJ posted his review of James Ronald’s 1936 novel Murder in the Family. I probably get more fruitful suggestions out of JJ than any other mystery blogger, but what happens … Continue reading MIDSOMER MONSTROUS: Murder in the Family
The Golden Age of Detection
ACDC, PART TWELVE: (Thumbs) Up Periscope for Nine- and Death Makes Ten
Considering how much I have loved John Dickson Carr for the past fifty years, it never ceases to baffle me that I purposefully, and with extreme prejudice, decided to ignore the work of one Carter Dickson. It was nothing more than a childish whim, one that in 2018 I began to rectify by tackling the … Continue reading ACDC, PART TWELVE: (Thumbs) Up Periscope for Nine- and Death Makes Ten
THE 2023 ROY AWARDS: Time to Vote!!
After several exciting weeks of my fellow bloggers and I posting our nominations for this year's Reprint of the Year, it is finally time to vote! All you have to do is follow this link to Kate Jackson's place, look over the list, and vote for up to three titles. Of course, you shouldn't have … Continue reading THE 2023 ROY AWARDS: Time to Vote!!
THE MASTER OF MANIPULATION: Tom Mead’s The Murder Wheel
“There’s far too much strangeness in the everyday to bother with making things up. Take the Ferris wheel for instance. If I sound dubious about it, it’s because it was a very literal-minded crime. That means one weapon, one victim, and one suspect. And the crime scene is what you might describe as ‘hermetically sealed.’ … Continue reading THE MASTER OF MANIPULATION: Tom Mead’s The Murder Wheel
HOW TO SURVIVE A CLASSIC CRIME NOVEL
Imagine, if you will, that I was a book reviewer for the New York Times, and my boss – a scarlet-taloned woman named Glenda DeLage – pulls me into her office and purrs: “Bradley, I know your propensity for classic detective fiction. Why don’t you take the newest publication from the British Library, How to Survive … Continue reading HOW TO SURVIVE A CLASSIC CRIME NOVEL
BIG WHOOP: The Murder on the Links Turns 100
“When Conan Doyle popularized Sherlock Holmes in The Strand of the nineties, he lit such a candle as the publishers will not willingly let out. Not a week passes which does not bring a 'detective' story from one quarter or another, and . . . among the later cultivators of this anything but lonely furrow the name of Agatha … Continue reading BIG WHOOP: The Murder on the Links Turns 100
RE-BRANDING (ENTR’ACTE): The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries
Welcome back to our revisit of the glorious and all-too-brief canon of mysteries by the wonderful Christianna Brand. Last year, we covered the first five novels, and in 2023, we will tackle the final five – including the one novel I have never read and another I have absolutely no memory of whatsoever. All in … Continue reading RE-BRANDING (ENTR’ACTE): The Spotted Cat and Other Mysteries
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
THE 2022 ROY AWARDS: Making My Case for Jezebel
For some time now, my friend Kate has been hosting an end-of-year celebration over at her place, Cross Examining Crime, of all the wonderful classic mystery reprints that have appeared over the past year. For 2022, the list is longer than ever, and for that we really have to thank the wealth of small presses … Continue reading THE 2022 ROY AWARDS: Making My Case for Jezebel
Ah Sweet Mystery! 