Amazon.com: The Texas Capitol Murders eBook: Bill Crider: Kindle Store: The classic novel of Texas politics and murder, available for the first time in more than 20 years!
It's the end of the '80s. The Texas capitol building is being remodeled, and there's a body dumped in the trash. There's a witness who needs to be eliminated, and there's a slightly strange governor who wants the Texas Rangers called in. Political intrigue, murder, romance, and humor with a Texas twang.
Yahoo! News: The family of writer Ken Kesey is reviving plans to restore his original psychedelic bus in time for the 50th anniversary of its passengers' LSD-laced trip across America.
Stephanie Kesey said Friday she has created a foundation to raise money for the restoration as a tribute to her late father-in-law.
Quick Hands: Wayne D. Dundee: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Survival was tough in the mining camps of the Colorado Rockies in the late 1800s. On the lonely, rugged trails that ran between camps, it sometimes got even tougher.
As a take-on-all-comers boxing champ who headlined a traveling medicine show, McMahon knew all about surviving in the ring. He could always count on his training and physical skills—foremost being the amazing quickness in his hands—to gain him a victory.
But out on the trail, where there were no rules and conflict wasn't neatly contained inside a boxing ring, McMahon suddenly discovered it was going to take more than his pugilistic skills and lightning fists to save him and his companions from going down for a fatal ten-count.
Country singer Jack Greene dies in Nashville - CBS News: Jack Greene, a longtime Grand Ole Opry star whose song "There Goes My Everything" won single of the year from the Country Music Association in 1967, has died. He was 83.
The song showed off his deep voice, made him a star and earned him the CMA's male vocalist of the year award in 1967. Greene performed regularly on the Grand Ole Opry beginning that year.
My Amazon bestseller made me nothing: My novel shot to the top of the site's bestseller list last summer. You won't believe how little I got paid
Some of the azaleas in my neighborhood in Alvin bloomed early this year, starting near the beginning of February. Some of them did wait until the traditional time, however.
Stewart Sterling, Dead of Night, Dell, 1950
The '60s at 50: Frank Zappa appears on "The Steve Allen Show," using bicycles as musical instruments.
Check it out here: PWG
Hat tip to Sandra Seamans.
abc7chicago.com: The violin played by the bandmaster of the Titanic as the oceanliner sank has been unearthed, a British auction house said Friday.
Survivors of the Titanic have said they remember the band, led by Wallace Hartley, playing on deck even as passengers boarded lifeboats after the ship hit an iceberg.
Hartley's violin was believed lost in the 1912 disaster, but auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son say an instrument unearthed in 2006 and has undergone rigorous testing and proven to be Hartley's.
Michael Bracken is looking for information about crime writer Dan A. Sproul. If you happen to know any members of his family, Michael could use your help. Click the link below for the whole story.
CrimeFictionWriter: Dan A. Sproul unpublished short story
The Hollywood Reporter: Peter Meyerson, who co-wrote the first episode of the wacky NBC series The Monkees and then developed for television the ABC comedy Welcome Back, Kotter, died March 11 of natural causes at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 82.
Amazon.com: Blade of the Tiger (A Joe Hannibal Mystery) eBook: Wayne D. Dundee: Kindle Store: This is a story about a knife. Not just any knife—Jim Bowie's knife.
The Bowie knife is probably the most famous, most copied and duplicated weapon of all time. But the knife Connie had wasn't a copy or duplicate. It was one of Bowie's personal knives—the one he died fighting with at the Alamo.
Jim Bowie was a fighting man, in the truest sense. Specifically, he was a knife fighter—certainly the greatest of his era, maybe of all time. His fighting style was so balls-out aggressive and ruthless that many took to calling him Bowie the Tiger. Hence, his knife became the Blade of the Tiger ... or El Hoja del Tigre, in Spanish.
I didn't know Connie before she showed up in No Name Bay. And I didn't know anything about this knife before Connie was killed for it. So you might say this is none of my business.
Or you might say I take it kinda personal when some sonofabitch murders somebody right in my back yard.
Mary Roberts Rinehart, The Man in Lower 10, Dell, 1950
TV VET MALACHI THRONE DEAD: Batman’s FALSEFACE, It Takes a Thief’s NOAH BAIN – the man of a thousand and one faces -- movie/TV vet MALACHI THRONE dead at age 84.
The sad news was announced on Facebook by “Justified” and "Supernatural” star Jim Beaver who wrote, “My good friend Malachi Throne died last night. One of the finest actors and finest people I've been fortunate enough to know.”
E Nesbit: Queen of Children's Literature on AbeBooks: It is interesting to conjecture whether we would still remember E. Nesbit today if she had not penned The Railway Children. Undoubtedly her greatest success, it is the one book that everybody has heard of, even those with little more than a passing interest in her life and works. This is in no small part due to the successful 1970 film adaptation starring Jenny Agutter, Dinah Sheridan and Bernard Cribbins.
But take away The Railway Children, and there is still a remarkably rich legacy, which includes 10 novels and 11 short story collections for adults, 29 volumes of poetry and nearly 40 books for children.
I'm not sure what the story is on this book. The edition pictured here contains two novellas about a hood called Ryan or Irish. The front cover says "First Time Published in the U. S.! The back cover says "two pulse-racers never before published in the U.S." The two novellas were, however, published in Cavalier magazine years before the book came out, at least according to this website, which also gives three items as the contents of the book. Though the photo is of the book I have, mine has only two novellas, one of of which is different from the one mentioned on the website. Google Books has excerpts from that edition, and obviously it's not the book I have. What does all this mean? I have no idea. Maybe Max Allan Collins does.
Oh, one other thing. My copyright page says the book is "published by arrangement with E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc." As far as I can discover, there was no Dutton edition of the book.
The two novellas in my book are "Me, Hood" and "Return of the Hood." The first one has Ryan pressed into service by the cops and the feds, and the MacGuffin is, well, nobody's sure. Ryan's job is to find it. Lots of others are looking, and a deadly Mafia assassin is on the job. If you don't guess who the assassin is, you've never read anything else by Spillane.
"Return of the Hood" has a different MacGuffin, a bit of microfilm stuck in a capsule. The capsule is passed to Ryan by a spy, a woman who's about to be shot because, well, he looks like the kind of guy who can protect it. Ryan promptly loses it. He follows quite a bloody trail to get it back. In the process he's [SPOILER ALERT] totally helpless twice and gets rescued each time by the same woman.
I got a kick out of both stories, though there are some offhand remarks in both novellas that are so politically incorrect that I doubt they'd be published today. And I think everyone can agree that the back-cover blurb is one of the all-time greats: "Me, Hood! You, Corpse!" Classic.
Amazon.com: THE SHADOWS OF DEATH (Killer Kindle) eBook: NIGEL BIRD: Kindle Store: THE SHADOWS OF DEATH is the latest collection from the prize-winning author Nigel Bird (SMOKE; IN LOCO PARENTIS; DIRTY OLD TOWN AND OTHER STORIES).
His brilliantly observed slices of life allow us to visit places we may not normally choose to enter and to walk a few miles in the shoes of others.
From the opening story here, set in the concentration camps of Poland in World War 2, through to the finale (the curious tale of a fortune-telling machine) you'll be compelled and maybe more than a little disturbed by what you've found.
The Big Goodbye (Soldier Mysteries): Michael Lister: Amazon.com: Books: Someone is following Lauren Lewis.
She ducks into the office of PI, Jimmy “Soldier” Riley, not to hire him, but to find out if he’s the one following her. Back when they were lovers he told her if he ever decided to, she’d never know he was there.
It’s1940’s Panama City, Florida. The world is at war, and the growing panhandle paradise is doing its part. Tyndall Field is training pilots. Wainwright Shipyard is building battleships. The Naval Section Base is protecting vessels in the Gulf. The Dixie Sherman Hotel is hosting celebrities such as Clark Gable. Harry Lewis, a wealthy banker, is running for mayor, unaware his wife is running for her life.
With a secret to hide and a husband running for mayor in a city exploding and expanding like no other time in history, Lauren doesn’t want trouble, but she’s about to get a double-barrel full of it. Only one man can help her, and though it might destroy him, he doesn’t mind. Better to die than be the walking wounded.
The story of a guy, a girl, and a gun, The Big Goodbye is Florida Noir at its finest.
CBS New York: The elevator at Woodside Station in Queens was only in operation 58 percent of the time.
That is because it has been urinated on so much, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have said urine has actually rusted the floor and gotten into some of inner workings of the lift, causing problems.
Sony and Scott Rudin Developing Feature Film Adaptation of GOOD TIMES | Collider: Good Times is headed to the big screen. Sony Pictures and producer Scott Rudin (The Social Network, No Country for Old Men) are developing a feature film adaptation of the popular 1970s CBS sitcom Good Times, and Deadline reports that Phil Johnston (Wreck-It Ralph) has been tapped to pen the script.
NYPOST.com: A Greek national was able to slip a stun gun past inept TSA agents at Kennedy Airport yesterday after using it in the alleged rape and assault of his ex-girlfriend in Queens, authorities said.
William O'Farrell, Causeway to the Past, Dell, 1951
Giganta!
The link goes to a few 1974 ads for Giganta. The photo is one I took yesterday of the Alvin Giganta, still lookin' good.
You can’t get this book from Amazon: One of the ways in which bookshops can fight back against online retailers is to give the customer something more than just the book itself
Soundcheck Blog: Orange County Register: Original Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr, who anchored the British band's seminal first three albums, died in his sleep Tuesday night after a long battle with multiple sclerosis. He was 56.
Burr joined the future giants of metal in December 1979, jumping ship from his previous group, Samson, at the suggestion of Dennis Stratton, a guitarist whose time with Maiden would end within a year. But Burr stayed on until 1982, powering the band from its raw self-titled 1980 debut and its equally lean-and-mean follow-up, 1981's Killers, on through the trendsetting breakthrough The Number of the Beast.
The Saturday Books: Each edition of The Saturday Book provides a wonderful glimpse into the culture that shaped a nation with contributions from some very talented individuals. Readers were treated to short stories, poetry and art from the likes of Evelyn Waugh, P.G. Wodehouse, Graham Greene, Siegfried Sassoon, John Masefield, Cecil Beaton, Edward Ardizzone and Robert Gibbings. The books were designed for casual reading and contained both serious and frivolous content with real English flare.
The Boat House: Stephen Gallagher: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: A dark love story, and a disturbing tale of a divided soul. In the days leading to the fall of the Soviet empire, a young woman with a deadly secret slips unnoticed into the West. And when Alina Petrovna first appears in Three Oaks Bay it's clear that her frail, luminous beauty is likely to cause some ripples in the surface calm of the peaceful resort town.
For Pete McCarthy, the boatyard worker who gives her shelter, she's an enigma. A complex, well-meaning young woman with a difficult past. Someone whose mystery deepens as the season gets under way, and the deaths by drowning begin...
Hugh Lawrence Nelson, Dead Giveaway, Dell, 1951
chicagotribune.com: Twinkies return expected by summer, new Hostess owner says
Peter Banks Dead: Original Guitarist From Yes Dies At Age 65: Peter Banks, the original guitarist for the British band Yes, died on March 7 at the age of 65, reports USA Today.
A post on his official website stated that Banks died from heart failure and was found in his London home after he didn't show up to a recording session.
York church leader abused in Richard III burial row: The head of historic British church York Minster has contacted police after receiving hate mail, intensifying the row over where the recently-discovered remains of King Richard III should be buried.
The Last Round of Archie Mannis (Fight Card): Jack Tunney, Joseph Grant, Paul Bishop, Mel Odom: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Chicago 1925
Amidst the violent, bloody boulevards of gangland Chicago, Archie Mannis uses his fists to rise from the shadows of St. Vincent's Asylum For Boys. Forging a reputation from his earliest amateur bouts, Archie’s fists carry him through the Great Depression and into the heat of The War In The Pacific. Back home, his fistic skills put him once again on a championship road. But there are dangers lurking – the sweet taste of morphine, crooked fight promoters, and a bitter enemy whose hatred has festered since their hardscrabble childhood.
As Archie Mannis faces his last round, legendary boxers, famous writers, Hollywood celebrities, and notorious mobsters are all part of the mix – waiting to see if Archie will still be standing in the ring when the final bell clangs ...
Written in the style of the great fight biographies found in the sports pulps of the ‘40s and ‘50s, The Last Round of Archie Mannis will have you cheering from ringside ...
Writers at Their Typewriters
Yes, it's an annoying slideshow.
Max Murray, The Queen and the Corpse, Dell, 1951
EW.com: NBC has lured John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons) for the period pirate drama Crossbones, a series in the works for next season. Malkovich will play Edward Teach, a.k.a Blackbeard, who “ruled over the pirates, thieves and ne’er-do-wells on the Bahamian island of New Providence in the early 1700s.”
Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Homes: Harry Stamps
Hat tip to Deb.
Okay, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I talked about this movie last week. But that was Disney's other Robin Hood movie. This one's the animated version, and it's truly overlooked because, like the other one, people don't seem to get as big a kick out of it was I do. Maybe it's just because I like Robin Hood movies, but I thoroughly enjoy this one.
Allan-a-Dale is back, voiced by Roger Miller, because when you think of strolling British minstrels, Roger Miller is the first name that comes to mind. Some of the other casting might make you scratch your head, too, but they're all great. Trust me. Peter Ustinov is Prince John, Terry-Thomas is Sir Hiss (a character that really cracks me up), Phil Harris is Little John, Andy Devine as Friar Tuck, and Pat Buttram is the Sheriff of Nottingham. That's what we Texans call a Duke's mixture. It works a lot better than you might think. I'm not very familiar with Brian Bedford, but he's an excellent Robin Hood.
All the usual Robin Hood tropes are here: the archery contest, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor, Prince John taxing the peasants, Friar Tuck in prison, and so on. And this time it's a musical. I love the songs, and some years ago Jayme Lynn Blaschke gave me the soundtrack CD. I think I'll play it right now.
Maybe I'm the only one who likes this movie, but that's okay. I'm the only one who likes a lot of 'em. You could give it a try, though, and see what you think.
SleepBetter Lost-Hour Economic Index: On March 10, the United States and a number of other nations will move their clocks forward one hour, as Daylight Saving Time begins. The spring time change can lead to (at minimum) fatigue and sluggishness due to losing an hour of sleep. But, how much money does it cost us? SleepBetter.org investigated, and created the Lost-Hour Economic Index.
I've really enjoyed reading the books Lee Goldberg has written about Mr. Monk, the obsessive compulsive detective, and I've mentioned a lot of them on this blog. Knowing that this was the last one he'd be writing, I've held off reading it for a while because I hated to see him end his run. I know the series will be continued by another writer, and the books will probably be fine, but they just won't be the same. Goldberg managed to do a great job of giving the books clever mysteries and good characters, but he did something even more difficult. He gave them humor and heart. Not only that, but he took the characters beyond the television series and gave them lives of their own. They changed and developed over the course of the series in ways that were believable and intriguing.
In Mr. Monk Gets Even, Natalie Teeger, Monk's erstwhile assistant is working as a cop in New Jersey, busting detergent thieves, while her daughter, Julie, has taken her place at Monk's side in San Francisco. Monk is, as usual, involved in murder cases, with one of them involving a serial killer. Meanwhile, his old nemesis, Dale the Whale, manages to get out of prison for surgery and then escapes, even though escape should have been impossible. Adding to Monk's troubles is the fact that for the first time, he appears to have identified the wrong killer.
A further complication is that Ambrose, Monk's brother, is getting married, and of course that will be a big change for both Monk and Ambrose, who don't like change, and a lot of others. Comedies are supposed to end with a wedding, and that's what happens here. It's a fine conclusion to Goldberg's work with Monk and his friends and family. The title of the book, given Monk's proclivities and given the way that the story concludes, is perfect.
I've mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of books that mingle first- and third-person narration. Goldberg does it so skilfully here that I have no complaints. I've never seen it done better. Heck, I've never seen it done as well. Congratulations to Goldberg on leaving the game as a big winner.
Rosamond Marshall, Celeste . . . the Gold Coast Virgin, Dell, 1950
Amazon.com: The Texas Capitol Murders eBook: Bill Crider: Kindle Store: The classic novel of Texas politics and murder, available for the first time in more than 20 years! 
Quick Hands: Wayne D. Dundee: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: Survival was tough in the mining camps of the Colorado Rockies in the late 1800s. On the lonely, rugged trails that ran between camps, it sometimes got even tougher.
As a take-on-all-comers boxing champ who headlined a traveling medicine show, McMahon knew all about surviving in the ring. He could always count on his training and physical skills—foremost being the amazing quickness in his hands—to gain him a victory.
But out on the trail, where there were no rules and conflict wasn't neatly contained inside a boxing ring, McMahon suddenly discovered it was going to take more than his pugilistic skills and lightning fists to save him and his companions from going down for a fatal ten-count.
Some of the azaleas in my neighborhood in Alvin bloomed early this year, starting near the beginning of February. Some of them did wait until the traditional time, however.
Amazon.com: Blade of the Tiger (A Joe Hannibal Mystery) eBook: Wayne D. Dundee: Kindle Store: This is a story about a knife. Not just any knife—Jim Bowie's knife. 
E Nesbit: Queen of Children's Literature on AbeBooks: It is interesting to conjecture whether we would still remember E. Nesbit today if she had not penned The Railway Children. Undoubtedly her greatest success, it is the one book that everybody has heard of, even those with little more than a passing interest in her life and works. This is in no small part due to the successful 1970 film adaptation starring Jenny Agutter, Dinah Sheridan and Bernard Cribbins. 
Amazon.com: THE SHADOWS OF DEATH (Killer Kindle) eBook: NIGEL BIRD: Kindle Store: THE SHADOWS OF DEATH is the latest collection from the prize-winning author Nigel Bird (SMOKE; IN LOCO PARENTIS; DIRTY OLD TOWN AND OTHER STORIES). 
The Saturday Books: Each edition of The Saturday Book provides a wonderful glimpse into the culture that shaped a nation with contributions from some very talented individuals. Readers were treated to short stories, poetry and art from the likes of Evelyn Waugh, P.G. Wodehouse, Graham Greene, Siegfried Sassoon, John Masefield, Cecil Beaton, Edward Ardizzone and Robert Gibbings. The books were designed for casual reading and contained both serious and frivolous content with real English flare.
The Boat House: Stephen Gallagher: Amazon.com: Kindle Store: A dark love story, and a disturbing tale of a divided soul. In the days leading to the fall of the Soviet empire, a young woman with a deadly secret slips unnoticed into the West. And when Alina Petrovna first appears in Three Oaks Bay it's clear that her frail, luminous beauty is likely to cause some ripples in the surface calm of the peaceful resort town. 
Amidst the violent, bloody boulevards of gangland Chicago, Archie Mannis uses his fists to rise from the shadows of St. Vincent's Asylum For Boys. Forging a reputation from his earliest amateur bouts, Archie’s fists carry him through the Great Depression and into the heat of The War In The Pacific. Back home, his fistic skills put him once again on a championship road. But there are dangers lurking – the sweet taste of morphine, crooked fight promoters, and a bitter enemy whose hatred has festered since their hardscrabble childhood. 
