It’s February 28, and I know exactly what you’re doing: you’re waiting with bated breath for 306 more days to go by, the amount of time it will for the Puzzle Doctor and Kate at Cross Examining Crime to finish sifting through the respective books they’ve read all year (about 2000 for PD, and 6953 … Continue reading BEATING PUZZLE DOCTOR AND KATE TO THE PUNCH: The 2021 Mystery of the Year
John Dickson Carr
FAST FORWARDING INTO ‘21
“Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent.” (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes) Does anybody want to hear me vent about 2020? Because, you know, I can do it, and I will . . . that is, if anyone wants to listen. To be honest, however, … Continue reading FAST FORWARDING INTO ‘21
FANGS FOR THE MANORYS: The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire
It has been forty-five years since we could all savor the prospect of a “Christie for Christmas.” Alas, that time is passed, so I propose a new tradition: a “Byrnside for Boo-time!” The classic-style impossible crime mysteries penned by modern-day scribe James Scott Byrnside are, by turns, mystifying, sometimes fear-inducing, and most of the time … Continue reading FANGS FOR THE MANORYS: The Strange Case of the Barrington Hills Vampire
IT’S SHORTS WEATHER: Perusing Bodies From the Library 3
So far, August 2020 is not sorting itself out to be the summer of anyone's lifetime. In another galaxy, long ago and far, far away, I would be reveling in memories of a marvelous July trip to London and New York, meeting old friends and cramming in as many intense discussions of a GAD variety … Continue reading IT’S SHORTS WEATHER: Perusing Bodies From the Library 3
MAY I SUGGEST YOU READ A MURDER MYSTERY?
I have to admit I’ve been stressed for about . . . three and a half years. Bernie Sanders said recently that the current health crisis is “on the scale of major war,” but I’ve felt battle-scarred, mostly by tweet, for some time now. And now, thanks to COVID-19, I’m in exile: our schools have … Continue reading MAY I SUGGEST YOU READ A MURDER MYSTERY?
MURDER GETS GRAPHIC: The Detection Club, by Jean Harambat
Far be it from me not to cave into peer pressure. When Kate Jackson reviewed the English translation of a French graphic novel placing seven members of the famed Detection Club into an actual mystery, I snapped like a long bean. Despite the fact that the English translation of this comic book mystery is … Continue reading MURDER GETS GRAPHIC: The Detection Club, by Jean Harambat
IT’S BAAAAAAACK! My First Nominee for “Reprint of the Year”
In this perilous age of political craziness, where most of us are shaking our heads and muttering that invaluable Latin phrase, “What the fuuuuuu - ?” (translation: “I am stymied, Marcus Aurelius”), it behooves us to be grateful for small matters. For instance, it’s turning out to be a great time to be alive if … Continue reading IT’S BAAAAAAACK! My First Nominee for “Reprint of the Year”
AN ACDC INTERLUDE: Introducing Colonel March, Looking Pretty Good in a Pair of Shorts
Those of you who are good enough to follow my adventures through the treasure trove that makes up A Carter Dickson Celebration will know that we last left off in 1938 with The Judas Window. The next novel, Death in Five Boxes – a first timer for me – will follow in due course. Both … Continue reading AN ACDC INTERLUDE: Introducing Colonel March, Looking Pretty Good in a Pair of Shorts
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
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
Ah Sweet Mystery! 