The butler did it. A few years ago, in what turned out to be a hopeless attempt to keep up with Curtis Evan’s rapid-fire re-introduction of forgotten GAD crime authors to modern audiences, I downloaded works by several of these august personages. My method of choosing was non-scientific: either the title or the blurb caught … Continue reading RICH MAN/POOR MAN/BEGGAR MAN/THIEF: Only One Can Crack the Closed Circle
THE SQUARE PEG/ROUND HOLE CONUNDRUM, or Putting Poirot in His Place
The other day, my buddy Kate at Cross Examining Crime tried to get my goat! This is rich, coming from the woman who raises goats herself! But Kate is also a writer, writers get metaphorical, and knowing what a champion of Agatha Christie I am, Kate saw fit to warn me that not all folks … Continue reading THE SQUARE PEG/ROUND HOLE CONUNDRUM, or Putting Poirot in His Place
THE REIGN OF PAIN STAYS MAINLY IN THE PLANE: Franco Vailati’s The Flying Boat Mystery
Trains and boats and planes are passing by They mean a trip to Paris or Rome For someone else but not for me The trains and the boats and planes Took you away, away from me I’m sure when Burt Bacharach wrote this melancholy song, he never imagined that the thing that “took you away … Continue reading THE REIGN OF PAIN STAYS MAINLY IN THE PLANE: Franco Vailati’s The Flying Boat Mystery
IT DON’T MEAN A THING IF YOU SLAY WITH NO SWING: Finding Murderous Inspiration from the Great American Songbook
When I’m at work, teaching drama students and musical theatre students and film students and credit recovery students (don’t ask!) and producing two musicals and one play a year and acting as department co-chair for the Visual and Performing Arts . . . well, there doesn’t seem to be much time for Golden Age anything! … Continue reading IT DON’T MEAN A THING IF YOU SLAY WITH NO SWING: Finding Murderous Inspiration from the Great American Songbook
ACDC, PART EIGHT: Waving Through the (Judas) Window
For those mystery fans who may be in the dark about the title of this post, it’s a reference to Dear Evan Hansen, the award-winning musical about a lonely boy on the spectrum who one day decides to have a drink with his prospective father-in-law over a game of bows-and-arrows behind the locked door of … Continue reading ACDC, PART EIGHT: Waving Through the (Judas) Window
THUNDERHEAD, or How YA Dystopian Fiction Helped Me Escape the GADoldrums
With Thunderhead, the second novel in his Arc of a Scythe trilogy, author Neal Shusterman continues to put a damper on the notion of immortality. C’mon, people! Did you think that if we ended war and want (and government – we don’t need that anymore!) and came up with the technology to install microscopic nanites into … Continue reading THUNDERHEAD, or How YA Dystopian Fiction Helped Me Escape the GADoldrums
THE MEN WHO TOOK A BREAK FROM EXPLAINING MIRACLES (The Second Conversation)
On the last day of June this year, I had the great good fortune to spend hours and hours in the company of two learned friends talking about Agatha Christie. If you turned into last week's episode of The Men Who Explained Miracles, JJ and Dan's blog about impossible crimes, JJ and I discussed the impossible … Continue reading THE MEN WHO TOOK A BREAK FROM EXPLAINING MIRACLES (The Second Conversation)
THE MAN WHO MET THE MEN WHO EXPLAINED MIRACLES: Part I
You all know I went to London and met a lot of people and saw a lot of presentations and had a lot of fun and bought two books that sort of stank . . . a lot. But the absolute highpoint of my trip was a Monday night at the end of June, in … Continue reading THE MAN WHO MET THE MEN WHO EXPLAINED MIRACLES: Part I
TAKE THE Q. PATRICK CHALLENGE: The Cases of Lieutenant Timothy Trant
Sometimes our good fortune is a result of mere proximity. I discovered Carr sitting on the bookstore shelves to the left of Christie, and I found Patrick Quentin to the right of Queen. Regarding the latter: at the time, all that was available were the first six Peter Duluth mysteries, published with these nifty Avon covers … Continue reading TAKE THE Q. PATRICK CHALLENGE: The Cases of Lieutenant Timothy Trant
ACDC, PART SEVEN: Smashing the Teacups
After a lifetime of denial, I finally gave Carter Dickson a try a little over two and a half years ago. My experience was so pleasant that I picked up another right away. I based my choice on the fact that a trusted friend was posting a spoiler-filled piece on this one, and I wanted … Continue reading ACDC, PART SEVEN: Smashing the Teacups
Ah Sweet Mystery! 