Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, made his debut in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and thereafter appeared in a series of short stories in The Strand Magazine. The character has been dramatized scores of times and imitated and pastiched and parodied both affectionately and otherwise. Apparently, it didn’t take long, as this story from … Continue reading The Adventure of the Table Foot
Mysteries
Brokenwood
I believe I’ve mentioned The Brokenwood Mysteries previously, but as the show has entered its 12th season, I thought I’d give it another shout out. It’s a police procedural set in New Zealand, and while it’s subject is murder mysteries, it always has an ample dose of light comedy. What I especially enjoy about it is … Continue reading Brokenwood
August 6, 1930
Joe was born on January 5, 1889, in Easton, Pennsylvania, the eldest of four children of Irish immigrants. Educated at Lafayette College and Columbia University, Joe met Stella, who was married, but they fell in love and with his legal education, he helped her get a divorce, after which they wed. Joe began his legal … Continue reading August 6, 1930
Dial Seven for Agatha
Regular readers will note that there are certain recurring characters in this blog. It’s rare that I go more than a few weeks without a mention of Stephen Sondheim, for example, or Isaac Asimov. Not quite at their frequency but still an often mentioned personage is the Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Christie. Hard as … Continue reading Dial Seven for Agatha
What’s the Matter with Rachel Bennette?
“I like a good detective story, but, you know, they begin in the wrong place! They begin with the murder. But the murder is the end. The story begins long before that—years before sometimes—with all the causes and events that bring certain people to a certain place at a certain time on a certain day. … Continue reading What’s the Matter with Rachel Bennette?
What’s the Matter with Robert Graves?
Quote of the day: Very few of us are what we seem.—Agatha Christie Robert Graves, the writer of the novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God, which were turned into the successful BBC TV series I, Claudius, became friends with Agatha Christie and her husband during World War II when they found themselves neighbors. Although they dwelt in … Continue reading What’s the Matter with Robert Graves?
The Mother of the Detective Novel
Quote of the day: The opportunity for doing mischief is found a hundred times a day, and of doing good once in a year.—Voltaire Everett Raymond had been a junior partner in the law firm of Veeley, Carr & Raymond for about a year when a young man appeared at the office in the temporary … Continue reading The Mother of the Detective Novel
It’s Always the Coverup
Should you ever be in the market for what is known as a page-turner, you might want to give John Sandford’s Lucas Davenport series of thrillers a try. He’s been writing them since 1989’s Rules of Prey, although I’ve only been reading them for the last three or four years. There are 35 books in the … Continue reading It’s Always the Coverup
Mare of Easttown
I’m afraid I’m very late to the party on this one, as Mare of Easttown was originally shown several years ago, but as it was produced by the same folks who are doing Task, which was partly filmed in my neighborhood, I figured I ought to give Mare a look. I had tried watching it when it was … Continue reading Mare of Easttown
Nightmare in Yellow
Here’s another short short story from Fredric Brown. This one could very easily have been adapted for the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television program, as it's exactly the kind of grimly ironic tale that that show used to specialize in. Of course, it would have had to have been fleshed out to turn it into a half … Continue reading Nightmare in Yellow