Category Archives: Mysteries/Crime

Bluebird, Bluebird

Posted on August 11, 2018 by

Darren Matthews had every intention of becoming a lawyer, but, while he was in law school in Chicago, the lynching of James Byrd Jr., in Jasper, Texas, drew him back to his home state and a career as a Texas … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 5 Comments

Nothing That Meets the Eye

Posted on July 31, 2018 by

I read Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley novels (there are five of them, starting with The Talented Mr. Ripley, and they go by the collective name of the Ripliad) years and years ago, before I started this blog. Ever since, I’ve wanted … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime, Short Stories/Essays | 10 Comments

Death in Ecstasy

Posted on June 30, 2018 by

This is the fourth of Ngaio Marsh’s detective novels starring DI Roderick Alleyn, the smooth, nobly-born, well-educated man who actually works for the police force rather than being a private detective who generously contributes his services. I have to say … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 1 Comment

Island of the Mad

Posted on June 27, 2018 by

As the 15th (!) book in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series opens, Russell and Holmes are dealing with a minor domestic crisis—an indirect outcome of their previous adventures in The Murder of Mary Russell. But domesticity never lasts long for this … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Vanity Dies Hard

Posted on April 22, 2018 by

Sometimes, when I’m reading a novel by Ruth Rendell, I wonder why I even try reading modern mysteries and thrillers by anyone else. Sure, I’ve found a few people I like, but let’s get real — you never have to … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 9 Comments

Clouds of Witness

Posted on January 27, 2018 by

I began reading Dorothy Sayers about thirty years ago. Maybe even a little longer, actually, when I was around eleven or twelve. I started reading detective fiction with an alarming Agatha Christie binge and some of those Alfred Hitchcock story … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 13 Comments

The Shape of Water

Posted on January 17, 2018 by

Weirdly, I read this book, and it has nothing to do with the current film by Guillermo del Toro! Instead, it’s an Italian mystery by Andrea Camilleri, the first of a series starring Inspector Montalbano. A few months ago, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 13 Comments

Ill Will

Posted on October 27, 2017 by

When Dustin Tillman was 13 years old, his parents and his aunt and uncle were murdered. At the trial, Dustin and his cousin, Kate, testified against his adopted brother, Rusty. He claimed that Rusty was into Satanic rituals—it was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 11 Comments

The Mistress of Alderley

Posted on October 24, 2017 by

Caroline Fawley has retired from doing sitcoms and theatre — “Thank God!” she says. Her charming, attentive partner, Marius, has set her up in a lovely manor in the small town of Alderley, near Leeds, as his mistress. He is … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 2 Comments

Lockdown

Posted on October 20, 2017 by

My favorite Laurie King novels are those about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes, but I’ve enjoyed her standalone novels as well, so I was glad to get a copy of her new book, Lockdown through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program even … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 4 Comments