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The Man Who Could Not Shudder - John Dickson Carr
US 1st edition (Harper, 1940)In slowly working my way through the works of John Dickson Carr I think I may have found a book to surpass the devilry and ingenuity of He Who Whispers as my favorite of...
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Family Matters - Anthony Rolls
“Everything was foreseen – everything except what actually happened…”Robert Arthur Kewdingham, recently out of a job as an engineer for a manufacturing company, retreats into a private world occupying...
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FFB: The Body - Richard Ben Sapir
Good Friday. Today Catholics all over the world will attend special masses on this holiest of Holy Days of Obligation and remember the passion of Jesus Christ, the suffering and humiliation he endured...
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More Thoughts on The Body
Here are my notes taken while reading the beguiling novel The Body (reviewed yesterday) transcribed in digest format. This book more than any other I've read in a long time elicited some penetrating...
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IN BRIEF: An Easter Egg Hunt - Gillian Freeman
US 1st ed., (Congdon & Lattes, 1981)Easter Sunday, 1915. The students at Madame Pennington's private school for girls have decided to have a charitable fundraiser for the Red Cross. The...
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The Kentish Manor Murders – Julian Symons
Here’s a great example of not judging a book by its title. Turns out The Kentish Manor Murders (1988) is not at all a country house detective novel. It’s the title of a manuscript that is supposedly...
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The Devil Made Them Do It
Ira Levin, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer all must be doing gymnastics in their graves.A few nights ago I saw a trailer for the upcoming TV movie remake of one of my all time favorite...
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FFB: That Cold Day in the Park - Richard Miles
Later US Paperback (Pyramid, 1974)I first came to know That Cold Day in the Park (1965) in its effectively creepy and sometimes heartbreaking movie adaptation starring Sandy Dennis in the lead role....
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COOL FLICKS: That Cold Day in the Park
It's all about Frances.Gillian Freeman has taken Richard Miles' character of Madame and a handful of key scenes as a springboard for an exploration of an oppressive and claustrophobic kind of...
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NEW STUFF: Syndrome E - Franck Thilliez
Syndrome Eby Franck Thillieztranslated from the French by Mark PolizzottiPenguin BooksISBN: 978-0-147-50971-037 0pp. $16.00April 29, 2014There is a certain type of crime novel that wants to be...
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FFB: The Glass Spear - S. H. Courtier
Australian 1st edition,(Invincible Press, 1950)Sometimes the discovery of a forgotten writer yields such a surprising variety of interesting work it's both a blessing and a curse. Exhibit A: Sidney...
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LEFT INSIDE: Chicago Stadium Club Menu
This was left inside a book Joe picked up at one of our many book sale visits. The book, Single Family Home Plans, is a collection of architectural floor plans. The menu inside indicates that the owner...
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FFB: Foam of the Daze - Boris Vian
Tam Tam Books ed., English translationCurrently in its 3rd printingThe fantastical world of Boris Vian’s L’Ecume des Jours (1946) -- punnily translated as Foam of the Daze by Mark Harper -- is...
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JACKET REQUIRED: Maternal Instinct
A collection of maternally themed dust jackets (plus one pulp magazine) for Mother's Day.1st UK edition1st US edition1st UK edition1st US edition------------------------------This post is by J. F....
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FFB: Miss Fenny (1957) - Charity Blackstock
Two teenage boys skipping out on their English class on the last day of school come across a horrible sight while walking through Braxham Wood -- a skeleton half buried in a pile of leaves and wearing...
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FFB: The Burnt Orange Heresy - Charles Willeford
I love nothing more than a good skewering of the intelligentsia. Charles Willeford has written one of best in his often irreverent depiction of the 1970s art world as reported by James Figueras, an art...
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LEFT INSIDE: Celmer's Books Envelope
Another odd item I've found inside a book is this business reply envelope for a defunct used bookstore in Chicago. Celmer's was run out of a private home in the Buena Park neighborhood throughout the...
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NEW STUFF: The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair - Joel Dicker
The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affairby Joël Dickertranslated from the French by Sam TaylorPenguin BooksISBN: 978-0-14-3122668-3643 pp. $18.00May 27, 2014It may be unfair of me but all the while...
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The Glass-Sided Ants' Nest - Peter Dickinson
“That was the whole trouble with police work. You come plunging in, a jagged Stone Age knife, to probe the delicate tissues of people’s relationships, and of course you destroy far more than you...
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FOUND BOUND: Sherlockians Take Note
While researching an obscure book and the opinions it received at the time of its original publication I serendipitously discovered the following quiz in a 1951 issue of The Saturday Review. If you...
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