GOING THROUGH PAUL HALTER’S SHORTS

Maybe it’s due to the mad whirl of school starting up again, but I’m having a hard time focusing on murder mysteries. I’ve been juggling a Carter Dickson, a Rex Stout, and a Theodore Roscoe, and I can't finish any of them. I’ve lost my follow-through! Maybe there’s just too much teacher stuff running through …

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PSYCHO (1960): The Finest Cut of All

This month, over at Past Offenses, Rich is gathering bloggers together to celebrate the mystery fiction and cinema of 1960. It’s not a year particularly suited to my tastes, and as I trolled the lists to find something, the only title that called out to me was the Alfred Hitchcock film, Psycho. I wrote briefly about …

EUREKA! Found a Halter I Like

For those of you who know me, and for both of you who follow this blog, you will immediately understand that this post’s title does not refer to my love of horseback riding (went twice – fell off the horse both times) or wearing brief tops. (I guard my assets well.) No, I am referring …

“THE LOOK ON A PERSON’S FACE”: Christie’s Murder Is Easy

1939 marked the conclusion of the most prolific decade of Agatha Christie’s career. Coming off nine straight novels in a row featuring her Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot (including the classics The A.B.C. Murders and Death on the Nile), Christie ended this streak with two stand-alone mysteries that shared one trait – both were concerned with …

THE BLOODSTAINED PAVEMENT, PART II: Agatha Christie and Variations on the Serial Killer

Hereby stand warned: In discussing mystery fiction in any sort of depth, including plot points and motivations, certain spoilers may arise that could affect a first-time readers’ enjoyment of the books under discussion. Proceed at your own risk. The modern serial killer tale is typically a crime novel or procedural rather than a mystery, and …

THE BLOODSTAINED PAVEMENT, PART I: Agatha Christie and the Serial Killer

I am honored to be included by Curtis Evans, along with Noah, Bev Hankins, Moira Redmond, Helen Szamuely, and Jeffrey Marks, all bloggers par excellence, as a member of the Tuesday Night Bloggers, in honor of that Mistress of Mystery, Agatha Christie. For those of you new or new-ish to Christie’s work, The Thirteen Problems …