It’s Leap Day, everyone! Every four years, we gather together 1440 minutes and set them before the people. It’s a gift of time! It’s an acknowledgement of our limitations at monitoring the whirl of planets and the time flow of the cosmos. To me, it’s more unnerving than Halloween and more deserving of celebration. When … Continue reading THIS TIME CARR DRIVES THE BUS: The D.A. Draws a Circle
MIDSOMER MONSTROUS: Murder in the Family
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
MY YEAR WITH BRITBOX: The Arrow Points to Sherwood
This was supposed to be a post about Sherlock Holmes. Recently, while ranking the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movies with my buddies Sergio Angelini and Nick Cardillo, I admitted that I had never watched the series starring Jeremy Brett, arguably the David Suchet of Holmeses! I must say that the boys took me to … Continue reading MY YEAR WITH BRITBOX: The Arrow Points to Sherwood
THE BIG FOUR: Podcasts About Christie
It was twenty years ago today . . . Well, okay, twenty years ago last Monday when Ben Hammersley coined the term “podcast” in The Guardian. And I paid no attention. Maybe that’s because ten years passed before podcasting really took off with the debut (in October 2014) of Serial. And everyone listening in their cars or … Continue reading THE BIG FOUR: Podcasts About Christie
CONSPIRACY THEORY: The Seven Dials Mystery
“’It’s impossible . . . The beautiful foreign adventuress, the international gang, the mysterious No. 7, whose identity nobody knows – I’ve read it all a hundred times in books.’ ’Of course you have. So have I. But it’s no reason why it shouldn’t really happen . . . After all – I suppose fiction is … Continue reading CONSPIRACY THEORY: The Seven Dials Mystery
WEDDING BELLE BLUES: The Case of the Curious Bride
“I’ll never forget the way he kissed me just before he beat it with all of my money.” On a fateful day in 1930, a young woman walked into the San Francisco offices of private detectives Sam Spade and Miles Archer. Miss Wonderley asked them to find her missing sister, who had gotten herself involved … Continue reading WEDDING BELLE BLUES: The Case of the Curious Bride
BOOK CLUB STICKS TO PROCEDUR-AL: Exit Lines by Reginald Hill
When it comes to procedural mysteries, I’d rather watch ‘em than read ‘em, although there was a time when I read quite a few of them. I had a good long run with Ed McBain more years ago than I can remember, and I think that around the same time I read one or two of … Continue reading BOOK CLUB STICKS TO PROCEDUR-AL: Exit Lines by Reginald Hill
LOVE AND MARRIAGE (AND MASON AND MURDER)
February 5th marks the anniversary of my parent’s wedding! Mom and Dad shared a love for the ages, and today would have been their 69th anniversary. Every morning for more years than I could count, I would call my folks and serenade them with the immortal anniversary theme from The Flintstones. (You can listen to it here.) My … Continue reading LOVE AND MARRIAGE (AND MASON AND MURDER)
KNOX, KNOX! WHO’S THERE? CRIPPEN & LANDRU!
Let me be among the first to wish a happy thirtieth anniversary to one of our most beloved small presses, Crippen & Landru. Founded in 1994 by author and scholar Douglas Greene and his wife Sandi, and named after two of the most deliciously infamous murderers in history, C&L has spotlighted the best in short … Continue reading KNOX, KNOX! WHO’S THERE? CRIPPEN & LANDRU!
MY YEAR WITH BRITBOX: “Nine” Twists and Turns
As I seek out new mysteries to watch that will thrill me with their twists and turns, the biggest turn I’ve made from my initial exploration into Britbox is that the best twists seem to come from the non-mystery series. And so, I’ve set aside the tepid whodunnits of Sister Boniface, given up on Father Brown … Continue reading MY YEAR WITH BRITBOX: “Nine” Twists and Turns
Ah Sweet Mystery! 