Summer is fast approaching – the official start is Thursday, June 20 – and that’s when the living is easy, COVID surges, a mammoth tornado season, and imminent elections-from-hell notwithstanding. I hope you are settling in for a nice spot of warm weather (but not too warm) and that you have plans on the horizon for an … Continue reading “WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS . . . ” An Agatha Christie Starter Kit
ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS: Two More Columbo Adventures
Believe it or not, this is my first time watching Columbo, and as I’ve been skipping all the guy murderers to focus on the gal murderers in preparation for the upcoming Distaff Columbo Draft with Sergio and Nick, I can’t say my viewing is making me an expert on either the series or its lead character. Skipping around as … Continue reading ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS: Two More Columbo Adventures
BEAUTY AND THE (RAINCOATED) BEAST: TWO MORE COLUMBO ADVENTURES
“How could I have known that murder could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?” (Walter Neff, Double Indemnity) The film Double Indemnity plays quite a bit in the background of Columbo’s second pilot episode, “Ransom for a Dead Man.” Why not? It contains one of the most fascinating murderesses to appear onscreen. Ace attorney Leslie Williams may … Continue reading BEAUTY AND THE (RAINCOATED) BEAST: TWO MORE COLUMBO ADVENTURES
!TNEMECNUONNA DETREVNI NA (AN INVERTED ANNOUNCEMENT!)
I just learned that this space has passed 500,000 views! Not too bad for a little blog that’s only been chugging along since 1827. Thanks to every one of you who has dropped by to check the place out. I’d like to return the favor with an announcement! You’ve followed along as the three amigos, … Continue reading !TNEMECNUONNA DETREVNI NA (AN INVERTED ANNOUNCEMENT!)
FOUL PLAY, THE FAIR PLAY WAY: My Book Club Reads The Maze
“In a ‘fair play’ puzzle plot mystery, the author provides the reader with all the clues, allowing the reader to match wits with the detective. All the pieces of the puzzle are hidden in plain sight.” (Gigi Pandian, for Crimereads) “This is a fair story. If you get the right answer – not merely a guessed answer, … Continue reading FOUL PLAY, THE FAIR PLAY WAY: My Book Club Reads The Maze
MEA CULPA: The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
Okay, the “mea culpa” is mine. In February, I promised you a series of seven reviews, one a month, of all the Perry Mason titles related to marriage. And here I am, head bared, shamefaced, to tell you that you will not be getting seven reviews. You’re getting eight. Here’s the deal: on the 14th … Continue reading MEA CULPA: The Case of the Stuttering Bishop
I DO, I DO – OH NO, YOU DON’T! The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom
If you only associate Perry Mason with the TV series that ran successfully for nine seasons, you could be forgiven for assuming that author Erle Stanley Gardner wrote traditional whodunits with a legal setting – a murder is committed, the wrong person is arrested, and then Mason gathers all the suspects together in court and … Continue reading I DO, I DO – OH NO, YOU DON’T! The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom
THE TRACKS OF MY TERRORS: Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect
Poor Ernest Cunningham! Saddled with a dysfunctional family, each of whom have been responsible for somebody else’s death, the “how-to-write-a-mystery” author risks arrest and death at the reunion from hell in a snowbound Australian ski resort when the Cunningham clan is targeted by an insane serial killer! Oh, but lucky Ernest! He survives, unmasks the … Continue reading THE TRACKS OF MY TERRORS: Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect
“I’ve Got a Little List . . . “: THIRTY-NINE CLASSIC MYSTERIES
After months of preparation, it was on a rainy morning on May 4 (and we’re talking rain from California to London, folks, with a soggy Pennsylvania in-between!) that three mystery nerds scholars gathered together, albeit virtually, to play a game that would determine which titles from the Golden Age of Detection were, according to Sergio, … Continue reading “I’ve Got a Little List . . . “: THIRTY-NINE CLASSIC MYSTERIES
A NOT SO BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Close to Death
“I had the opportunity to chat with Mr. Hawthorne for a short while before we came in and I can safely say that the next hour is going to be a treat. He is called in to solve only the most difficult cases and, from what I understand, he succeeds every time. He has made … Continue reading A NOT SO BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Close to Death
Ah Sweet Mystery! 