A MESSAGE TO MICHAEL (ON A TWO-TOON DAY)

You can tell summer vacation is going well when it races by. I’ve been busy! I’ve been playing a LOT of bridge. I wish I was getting better faster . . . but I do have to mention that I came in second a week ago in the 99er’s division at a local tournament. (Gimme a …

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GETTING CLOSER TO THE DREAM!

Almost exactly a year ago, I reported to you that I had enrolled in an evening course on Scandinavian crime fiction at Stanford University. If you follow my exploits with any regularity, you all know how that turned out! (above) The mood evoked when reading a Scandinavian crime novel. My professor was an extremely affable …

AN APOLOGY – AND A REQUEST FOR CINEMATIC ASSISTANCE!

First of all, my friends, I want to apologize for being largely silent during the month of February. There are many reasons for that, and I won't go into any of them here. Suffice it to say, I'm here, get used to it! And I hope I will be publishing much more in the coming …

MY FIRST 2018 OBSESSION

Happy New Year everybody! This time of year calls for reflection on the past, followed by the making of resolutions to guide us into the future. One of the hardest resolutions for a follower of GAD fiction to make is to stick with the times, and for me that is doubly difficult when it comes …

THE FACE OF ME BEING MAD: The Crooked House Movie

Last week, I wrote about Agatha Christie’s novel Crooked House. I wrote about it because last year it was announced that finally – finally! – a movie would be made based on this, one of her darkest titles. The announcement came close on the heels of another revelation that Kenneth Branagh would be remaking Murder …

GENRE TRANSCENDANT: A Quartet of Great Films

Christmas is just around the corner (he said two days before Thanksgiving!), and that means movie studios are about to inundate the theatres with their “prestige” films, hoping these will receive consideration for the big awards (the Golden Globes, the Oscars, and the Independent Spirit). Every year, this period where good movies are released shrinks …

THE EVIDENCE OF THE TATTERED PAPERBACK: Fifty Years of MotOE and Me

Two hundred posts are something to celebrate. It’s time to talk about the book that changed my life. The fact that Agatha Christie is my favorite author has as much to do with her place in my own history as her position as one of the greatest mystery writers of all time. She did not …