When I was struck with the idea last year of reading and “ranking” the twelve Miss Marple novels, it was more of an excuse to revisit the lady and think long and hard about each of her books than it was to come up with a “definitive best of” list. All art – even murder … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE: Settling the Scores
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!!
2023 REPRINT OF THE YEAR, PART II: The Birthday Murder
Every year, Kate Jackson hosts a celebration over at her blog, Cross-Examining Crime, of all the classic mystery titles that have been republished during the year. She invites all her blogging friends to nominate two of their favorite titles for the honorific of Reprint of the Year. It’s a lot of fun, and there are plenty … Continue reading 2023 REPRINT OF THE YEAR, PART II: The Birthday Murder
RANKING MARPLE #12: Nemesis
“Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everlasting stream.” (Amos 5:24) In the early days of World War II, with bombs continually threatening to burst over her ultramodern London flat, Agatha Christie decided to write Hercule Poirot’s last case. She put a lot of thought into how she would end the career – … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #12: Nemesis
2023 REPRINT OF THE YEAR, PART 1: The Case of the Rolling Bones
“‘Gosh, Della, can’t you scare me up a good mystery?’ Della Street said, ‘I’ve handled all the routine mail. This is the important stuff which needs your personal attention.’ Mason pushed the mail to one side. ‘Shucks, Della, I hate letters. Letters are inanimate. I like people. People are animate. I like to puzzle with human … Continue reading 2023 REPRINT OF THE YEAR, PART 1: The Case of the Rolling Bones
DO YOU WANNA KILL A SNOWMAN? Book Club Reads The Sittaford Mystery
As those of you reading this who also follow some of my blogging friends may have realized, what happens in Book Club does not stay in Book Club. The best part of Book Club is the clubbers themselves. We have decided that it doesn’t matter whether we love or hate a book – it’s all about the … Continue reading DO YOU WANNA KILL A SNOWMAN? Book Club Reads The Sittaford Mystery
RANKING MARPLE #11: At Bertram’s Hotel
“What more perfect image could Agatha have used for the disappearance of the world she had known? How wrong – how utterly wrong – were those who believed that Agatha Christie was a fossilized creature, suspended in an England that was forever 1932, comfortably taking tea in a firelit lounge: the very setting that Agatha … Continue reading RANKING MARPLE #11: At Bertram’s Hotel
BOOK CLUB STICKS TO PROCEDUR-AL: Henrietta Who?
I confess that I’ve had several mysteries by Catherine Aird sitting on my shelf for a few years now without having enough gumption to pick one up and read it. But thanks to Book Club, that has been remedied, and I have to say this writer may have a long career ahead of her. Actually, Kinn Hamilton … Continue reading BOOK CLUB STICKS TO PROCEDUR-AL: Henrietta Who?
FA LA HA HA HA: The Christmas Appeal
“It’s a panto in a church hall, Elsie, what’s the worst that could happen?” In her acknowledgments at the end of The Christmas Appeal, author Janice Hallett reveals that she never had any intention of writing a sequel to her stunning debut novel from 2021, The Appeal. It was not until she sat down and began to … Continue reading FA LA HA HA HA: The Christmas Appeal
HAVE A HOLLY GIALLI HALLOWEEN
Tis the scary season, and I have a problem: as a boy, I loved a good horror movie, but as a curmudgeonly man, I have become fear-averse. More specifically, I have become viscera-averse! All the hacking, stabbing, piercing, gouging, rending, tearing, slicing and dicing have done me in (er, emotionally!) I have such distaste for … Continue reading HAVE A HOLLY GIALLI HALLOWEEN
Ah Sweet Mystery! 