FOR THIRTEEN PAGES, THE GAUNTLET IS THROWN

“I know there are lots of talented bloggers in this group. I have a suggestion for a future post: A proper rebuke to Raymond Chandler's essay, The Simple Art of Murder. For those of you who haven't read it, it's 13 pages and free online as a pdf. It is a scathing indictment of everything this …

CATS WITH MANY TALES: The Misadventures of Ellery Queen

In their introduction to The Misadventures of Ellery Queen, their new collection of “pastiches, parodies and potpourri” featuring America’s favorite classic sleuth, co-editors Josh Pachter and Dale C. Andrews address three questions: Who is Ellery Queen? What is a pastiche? What is a parody? I’ll let you read their answer to the first question for …

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 …

FIVE BOOKS TO READ BEFORE THEY’RE SPOILED FOR YOU – The Random Edition

Summer is winding down, and the hallowed halls of education will soon be opening their doors. Except for me, who has been stuck in the classroom for nearly three weeks now. Whatever happened to the agrarian calendar? At the beginning of August, Ben, that scintillating John Dickson Carr enthusiast over at The Green Capsule, presented …

THE LOVE DETECTIVES: Hammett’s The Thin Man

REPORTER: Say, is he working on a case? NORA: Why, yes – REPORTER: What case is it? NORA: A case of Scotch. Go in and help him. I rarely venture into hard-boiled territory, but I have always had a deep fondness for Dashiell Hammett. I bought myself a copy of his Five Collected Novels years …