murder mystery – Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old

Review of “The Notting Hill Mystery” by Charles Warren Adams

Plot: In January of 1858, insurance agent Ralph Henderson finally sends his report to the secretary of the — Life Assurance Association he works for. He is investigating the death of one of the insured, Madame R**. Her husband, Baron R**, has a policy for her for £ 5,000 (?). He had four such policiesContinue reading “Review of “The Notting Hill Mystery” by Charles Warren Adams”

Review of “The Name of the Rose” 1986

Struck with a bit of nostalgia, the dearly beloved and I chose a movie we’d both seen in the theater back in the day. I read the book, which, as always, was better than the movie, though I liked the movie. Plot:William of Baskerville (Sean Connery), a Franciscan monk, and his assistant, novice Benedictine monk,Continue reading “Review of “The Name of the Rose” 1986″

Review of “Harbour Street” by Ann Cleeves

Plot: Detective Joe Ashworth is on the Metro, bringing his daughter Jessie home from a school program. The train is crowded because of the holidays. Joe noticed a couple necking. A well-dressed elderly lady boards, and Joe wonders why someone with money didn’t take a taxi. Bad weather stops the train, and the passengers exitContinue reading “Review of “Harbour Street” by Ann Cleeves”

Review of “The Black Cat” (1941)

Our last pizza and bad movie night of the year! We watched the flick with a black cat snoozing on the couch on his bed between us—after we finished the pizza. Unfortunately, the little guy can’t be trusted around pizza. The Plot: Elderly, infirm Henrietta Winslow (Cecilia Loftus) has called her family together to letContinue reading “Review of “The Black Cat” (1941)”

Review of “A Haunting in Venice” (2023)

For our traditional Saturday pizza and bad movie night, we watched a recent flick, an updated Agatha Christie murder mystery. Plot: Famous Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh), who emigrated to England, has lost his faith in God and retired to post-WWII Venice, no longer investigating, despite the long line of people seeking hisContinue reading “Review of “A Haunting in Venice” (2023)”

Review of “The Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions: The Ultimate Miss Phryne Fisher Story Collection”

The Stuff: This is a collection of short stories involving Miss Phryne Fisher, an Australian lady detective of the 1920s. She is independent, knowledgeable, wealthy, and liberated. This contains seventeen Miss Phryne Fisher murder mystery short stories. IMselddomHO, the short form doesn’t let the mysteries develop as well as the novel. Not all the storiesContinue reading “Review of “The Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions: The Ultimate Miss Phryne Fisher Story Collection””

Review of “Clue” (1985)

This is our latest Saturday pizza and bad movie offering for a rainy evening. We didn’t have the thunder and lightning the flick showed—or any of the murders—but we had every bit of the downpour. Plot: In 1954, six strangers arrive at an old mansion in the middle of nowhere, having received a dinner invitationContinue reading “Review of “Clue” (1985)”

Spring Clean #18

This is the next group of books to go to the library. The end is in sight. The current shelf is nearly clear. The single remaining shelf is only half full. I will miss these books, but I like the idea of other people enjoying them—and having shelves to put stray books on. The Stuff:Continue reading “Spring Clean #18”

Review of “Tension” (1949)

This is a slightly different take on our Saturday pizza and bad movie night, a noir from 1949. Plot: Lt. Collier Bonnabel (Barry Sullivan), standing outside the door to the homicide (“a fancy word for murder”) division, introduces himself to the viewer. He says the only way he knows to break homicide cases is tension.Continue reading “Review of “Tension” (1949)”

Review of “The Third Man” (1949)

This is this week’s Saturday night pizza and bad movie offering. The pizza and wine were good, and so was the movie, which we borrowed from the library. Plot: American writer Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) arrives in post-war Vienna at the invitation of an old friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Lime has promised Martins aContinue reading “Review of “The Third Man” (1949)”