Sad news from New York – Murder Ink, arguably the oldest bookstore specializing in mystery fiction, is succumbing to high rent.
“The store is a landmark, because it was the very first in America that specialized in mystery fiction,” said the owner of Mysterious Bookshop and a New York Sun columnist, Otto Penzler. “It’s indicative of [...]
Filed under: Odds and ends on December 20th, 2006 | No Comments »
Fans of the Holmes canon have always been perplexed by some of its creator’s later-in-life activities, like championing odd flavors of spiritualism and believing in fairies. A new book says the cause was likely medical.
Dr Andrew Norman, a GP turned writer, said that the Edinburgh-born author inherited the condition from his father, who died in [...]
Filed under: Odds and ends, Readings on December 18th, 2006 | No Comments »
This review of the new biography “The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero” gives a bit of detail on the great magician’s relationship with Sir Doyle – and the tug-of-war between two great intellects on matters of faith.
The second, more successful theme is the account of Houdini’s encounter with spiritualism, and [...]
Filed under: Non-canon, Odds and ends on December 11th, 2006 | No Comments »
The Independent Online is reporting a new batch of Holmes reprints, in time for the holidays … looking forward to seeing the design of these.
Headline’s own miniature classics operation continues after the “reinvention” of Jane Austen as chick-fic. The publisher has turned to Arthur Conan Doyle, a writer of ‘timeless intelligence”, according to Alexander McCall [...]
Filed under: Odds and ends on December 8th, 2006 | No Comments »
Here’s a great short novel that I discovered at the wonderful manybooks.net – not a Holmes story, but it will definitely appeal to Holmes fans. Very clever, very well paced … you’ll find the full text inside this post for your enjoyment!
The author, by the way, is Earl Derr Biggers, 1884-1933, later known for his [...]
Filed under: Non-canon, Readings on December 6th, 2006 | No Comments »
A nice overview of one of mystery fiction’s most challenging writers, John Dickson Carr. His work is as demanding as it is rewarding.
He stands as one of the great masters of the golden age of English detective novel, and adhered strictly to the rule of fair play towards the reader. No vital clue, available to [...]
Filed under: Non-canon, Readings on December 3rd, 2006 | No Comments »
Here’s a nice read from NPR on another puzzle-solver with an incredible track record. Gardner’s books don’t receive nearly enough credit … they are, by and large, excellent examples of fair-play puzzle mysteries.
Filed under: Non-canon, Odds and ends on December 2nd, 2006 | No Comments »