Broadly speaking there are two kinds of mysteries: closed and open ones. The closed form is what most folks think of when they think of a mystery story: a murder or other crime is committed and the reader (or viewer) doesn’t find out who the culprit is until the end when the detective reveals all. … Continue reading Rian Johnson’s Homage to Columbo
Mysteries
The James Joyce Murder
In 2013 I found myself moving from a house in the Wissahickon neighborhood back into an apartment in Center City Philadelphia, and sadly one of the casualties of that move was the need to rid myself of most of the 2,000 plus books that I had acquired. Included in that hoard were the almost complete … Continue reading The James Joyce Murder
Fatal Detective
I don’t like stupid people. And when I say that, I mean I don’t like them in real life (I do my best to avoid them, although sometimes that’s just not possible), and I don’t like them in works of fiction. Of course, I make an exception for comic characters, who can be equal parts … Continue reading Fatal Detective
Anyone For Tennyson?
I’ve been a fan of Agatha Christie’s whodunits ever since I was a teenager, and I’ve probably read 90% or more of her mystery novels, many of them more than once. One way of dividing up her stories is to classify them as those where I forget most of the plot (including whodunit) after a … Continue reading Anyone For Tennyson?