COVERING THEIR TRACKS: "Raymond Chandler Evening" - Robyn Hitchcock
There's a body on the railings That I can't identify And I'd like to reassure you but I'm not that kind of guyThis is a moody tune evocative of walking down those mean streets. The lyrics are nicely...
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Acquisition Madness, part 2
Here's part 2 of the books I purchased during the summer. Plus the best of the vintage paperbacks I picked up yesterday afternoon on the first day of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference Book...
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FFB: The Goddess: A Demon - Richard Marsh
THE STORY: John Ferguson witnesses the gruesome murder of his neighbor and gambling rival at the hands of a knife wielding cloaked figure. Moments later a woman appears at his bedroom window. He lets...
View ArticleCOVERING THEIR TRACKS: "Sherlock Holmes" - Sparks
Fog matters to you and me, but it can't touch Sherlock HolmesThis song has been covered a couple times by other minor indie rock groups, but the original by 80s new wave group Sparks is still the best....
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FFB: The Feast of Bacchus - Ernest G. Henham
Henry Reed had pitted his strength against the Strath and the influence of the house had triumphed.THE STORY: Henry Reed inherits the Strath, a dilapidated mansion in the rural hamlet of Thorlund, and...
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HALLOWEEN SPECIAL, part 1: Dark Ways to Death - Peter Saxon
It may say #2 on the cover,but this is definitely the first book.There was a time when trash fiction was all I would read to entertain myself. I’m sure it was the logical progression for someone always...
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FFB: The Listener - Algernon Blackwood
Untrodden by man, almost unknown to man, it lay beneath the moon, almost unknown to human influence, on the frontier of another world, an alien world, a world tenanted by willows only and the souls of...
View ArticleThat Really Drives You In-sa-a-a-a-a-ane!
Nothing beats an original.Happy Halloweento all you wonderful people out there in the dark! Be safe.------------------------------This post is by J. F. Norris and appears in its original form at Pretty...
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FFB: The Joss - Richard Marsh
THE STORY: Mary Blyth learns through unusual message delivery that her Uncle Benjamin has died and she is his sole heir. Part of her legacy is a dilapidated house in Camford street where she must take...
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NEW STUFF: Flavia de Luce Transformed
The good news: a new Flavia de Luce book is out. The bad news: she’s aged two decades in a single year.Alan Bradley originally envisioned this series featuring his precocious girl sleuth and genius...
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FFB: Grieve for the Past - Stanton Forbes
THE STORY: Fifteen year-old Ramona Shaw wants to be a writer. Her literature tastes are eclectic ranging from Hugh Walpole to Ellery Queen. Her dream would be to solve a mystery and write about it....
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TUESDAY NIGHT BLOGGERS: The Longbow Murder (a rerun)
The Tuesday Night Bloggers are saluting historical mysteries this month. I don't often read these anymore, but when I come across exceptional examples I tend to write about them here at Pretty Sinister...
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FFB: A Country Kind of Death - Mary McMullen
THE STORY: Frustrated Connecticut writer Philip Keane wants peace and quiet so he can finish his latest novel. But his sister-in-law comes for a visit, followed only hours later by an unannounced visit...
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TUESDAY NIGHT BLOGGERS: Fatal Flourishes - S. S. Rafferty
Another re-post from the archives. This week I'm re-running a review of a unique historical mystery book, actually a collection of detective stories set in Revolutionary War era America, as part of...
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FOND FAREWELLS: Jean Bowden (1920-2016)
Jean Bowden, whose mystery novel The Fetish Murders written as "Avon Curry"I reviewed here, died earlier this month. A reader of this blog who apparently was one of her neighbors was kind enough to...
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1975 BOOKS: Sex, Race & Crime
I know, I know. I'm a day late (and a dollar short as my mother would say. These days I'm several dollars short). But I have to get these written up and knocked off, so to speak. I read them and I...
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FFB: The Man Who Didn't Exist - Geoffrey Homes
THE STORY: Robin Bishop, California newsman, stumbles across a sport coat left on the beach late one night. Pinned to the jacket is a note that seems to indicate the owner of the coat committed...
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IN BRIEF: A Silver Spade - Louisa Revell
Julia Tyler is reluctant to accept the job as teacher of Latin at Camp Pirate Island in Maine. She’s been approached by the camp’s founder and owner, Mrs. Turner, to fill in for the previous Latin...
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FFB: Gallows for the Groom - D. B. Olsen
THE STORY: Professor Pennyfeather is summoned by Fatty Enheart, a long lost cousin, to a bird sanctuary in southern California where the cousin is employed. Enheart has a dilemma and it involves a...
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1960 BOOK: Sleep with Slander - Dolores Hitchens
Private eye Jim Sader deals with a lot of missing persons cases, but his latest is pretty odd to say the least. Seems that his new client, Hale Gibbings, wants Sader to locate a child who is apparently...
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