If you have had the good fortune to dive into honkaku and shin honkaku mysteries, you will be thrilled to learn that, in Japan, high schools and universities have murder societies, whose members are all devotees of the Golden Age of Detection. They meet regularly to wallow in every aspect of classic crime, and then some of them grow … Continue reading CRIME SOLVING WITH CANAPES: The Adventures of the Puzzle Club
FRACTURED FAIRY TALE: The Better to Eat You
Every month, my Book Club selects a different classic mystery to read. Even with all the terrific books out there, it isn’t as easy a task as you might think. For one thing, most of us are bloggers, and we read a lot of this stuff. Then again, our tastes vary, and it’s well nigh impossible to … Continue reading FRACTURED FAIRY TALE: The Better to Eat You
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
FROM PAGE TO (SOUND)STAGE: Classic Mysteries on the Radio
Here’s what it feels like to grow old: A few years ago, I had to acknowledge the fact that I had not owned a record player for a decade and that the hundreds of albums I owned had caused the top shelf of my upstairs closet to buckle and that I had replaced all that … Continue reading FROM PAGE TO (SOUND)STAGE: Classic Mysteries on the Radio
KRIMES FOR KIDS (WITH A CHRISTIE TWIST): Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen
As the sages are fond of saying: good things come to those who read Christie. Had I not picked up my first Agatha Christie novel (And Then There Were None) at the tender age of eleven, I might not have devoured the author’s entire canon by my twenties, re-read her voraciously, and set myself up … Continue reading KRIMES FOR KIDS (WITH A CHRISTIE TWIST): Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen
TO BE CONTINUED: Adapting the Modern Mystery
Here’s a quiz: Write down the name of the first Agatha Christie mystery novel you read. Now turn to the person on your left and compare answers. (The chances are about 1 in 66 that they will match.) Next, write down the name of the first Louise Penny novel you read. Now turn to the … Continue reading TO BE CONTINUED: Adapting the Modern Mystery
GIVING THANKS FOR GLASS ONION
You’ll excuse a guy for grousing about the good ol’ days of Hollywood’s Golden Age, when actors were treated like chattel and had to grind out film after film in order to earn those Beverly Hills mansions. Between 1931 and 1939, Bette Davis made 41 movies, Jimmy Cagney made 30, and Joan Crawford 22. Humphrey … Continue reading GIVING THANKS FOR GLASS ONION
THE THREE FACES OF ESG
“We’re a dramatic people. We’re not like the English. The English want dignity and order. We want the dramatic and the spectacular. It’s a national craving. We are geared to a rapid rate of thought. We want to have things move in a spectacular manner.” I read classic mysteries as an escape, so it was … Continue reading THE THREE FACES OF ESG
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE: Agatha Christie’s Military Men
Happy Veteran’s Day, everyone! Since the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, when Our Side struck an armistice with the Germans at the end of World War I, we have honored the men and women who served their countries around the world. (Armistice Day had an official name change in 1954 at … Continue reading THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE: Agatha Christie’s Military Men
THE BOY FROM U.N.C.L.E.: The Arctic Railway Assassin
Tell me it’s not true, Maya! Say it isn’t so, Sam. Et tu, Elisa . . . ? There is a myth in the literary world that authors (and illustrators) are people, too, and that they must be allowed to go where their imagination and passion takes them. I think those who believe this are … Continue reading THE BOY FROM U.N.C.L.E.: The Arctic Railway Assassin
Ah Sweet Mystery! 